Sorry, little behind schedule today because I went out with my wonderful husband to celebrate our anniversary last night, but I’m up an caffeinated now, and the winners of the big butt baby pants and the toddler back pack patterns have been announced!

Sometimes you don’t need anything fancy you just need a plain old pair of pants. These are made with some nice, heavy wide wale corduroy and I used the same pattern as these shorts I made, only longer. Of course they are too long and too big all over really, but the boy grows like a weed, so they might fit at the end of the winter. Still, he loves them (hence all the wrinkles) and now says gray is his favorite color–wonder who he got that from?

For today’s giveaway Liesl from Oliver + S has kindly offered their new Music Box Jumper pattern! I think everyone who sews children’s clothes is crazy for Oliver + S patterns. And how could you not be? They are beautifully designed, well written, and come with their own paper doll!  The purl bee recently showed off a version of the Music Box Jumper in corduroy (liberty corduroy!) and it couldn’t be more perfect.

To enter the giveaway today, I’d love it if you tell us something about an Oliver + S project you’ve worked on or a story you have about working with patterns or even what has caught your eye in the flickr group so far. Good Luck!

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The winner IS

#42: UK lass in US

Congratulations!

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I got these two pairs of PINK! and YELLOW! cords at the gap this summer for 3 bucks each and knew right away I wanted to turn them into pants for my kids. Last year I made pants for them out of my husband’s old jeans (sort of like this) but the rise was too low and they never wore them–my son called them, without any malice, his “falling down pants.”

I wanted to get the fit right this time, but the stinkers were sleeping when I made these so I got all fancy with the pockets while I waited. There are two patch pockets on the back of each pair and a little pocket in front–a star for my son and a heart for my daughter.  When they tried them on they both complained that the pocket was too small. Wouldn’t you be excited to have a star pocket on your pants? Whatever. They fit.

I used a pretty bit of printed corduroy for the elastic casing on the pink ones and this crazy awesome vintage scrap I had for the yellow pair. This is a super easy way to make use of those jeans you never wear, but can’t get rid of for some weird reason. Cute recycling. My friend Mary Jo over at Five Green Acres put a little upcycling twist to kids clothes week; check it out if you are making big clothes into small clothes this week.

Made by Rae Giveaway!

Today’s giveaway is from the fabulous Rae from Made by Rae. She is hilarious and down to earth and a damn fine seamstress. She kindly offered up two patterns for kids clothes week: the big butt baby pants and the toddler backpack. Both patterns are PDFs, so you could even add them to your list for this week (ha!). Just tell me which one you would rather have in the comments and I’ll choose two winners! The toddler backpack is full of nice details: pockets and piping and padded straps and little loops for hanging. And the big butt baby pants, while also being extremely fun to say, are versatile and useful and super cute. Decisions, decisions.

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The winners are

big butt baby pants: #10 Shannon

toddler backpack: #55 Stephanie from neuroses galore

Congratulations!

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The kids clothes week challenge is here! Gather up your supplies and your ambious list of things to sew and carve out an hour to work on it today. Then hop over to the flickr group and show us what you’re making. Be sure to check back here because as a special treat I have lined up a giveaway for everyday this week! Lots of them have to do with sewing children’s clothes, but some are just cute and I wish I could win, but I’ll let you have all the fun.

I have to confess did my sewing last week so I could have some things done to show you this week. There are some smarty pants out there who did all their cutting out ahead of time, so the flickr group is already starting to fill up with cute handmade clothes. This little number is the dress version of the Tee for Two pattern from Patterns by Figgy. It’s an amazing pattern for a simple raglan sleeve shirt in knit fabric, done on a plain old sewing machine, with all the seams on the outside and the hems left stylishly (and effortlessly) raw.

This means the shirt will be comfortable, itch free and definitely worn. It also means that you have to sew with WRONG sides together, which is very clearly stated in the directions, but it turns out there is some automatic mechanism in my brain that will not let me sew with wrong sides facing because I had to unpick the same seam three times before I got it right. It’s not like I was tired and not paying attention either: I had coffee in my system, it was mid-morning, quiet even, but my brain kept flipping the fabric behind my back.

If you think you can sew the seams on the outside without your brain short circuting, then you should leave a comment to win this very pattern. That’s right Shelley from Patterns by Figgy has generously donated the Tee for Two pattern for the first giveaway.  The shirt can be long sleeved or short sleeved, or even a dress with a little gathering at the front and flutter sleeves–super customizable and for boys and girls sizes 12mo.-6/7. So leave a comment with some ridicuous sewing desaster you’ve had, or your grand plans for the week, or the weather report, or just say hi. I will use the random number picker thing tomorrow and post an update on this post with the winner.

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THE GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!

The winner is #62, Rebecca from The Prepared Family. Congratulations Rebecca!

I used random.org and if I knew how to show you the little picture of the number picker I would, but I promise it said 62.

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My mother didn’t care for halloween, to put it mildly, and really I don’t blame her: whining for expensive costumes that last for one night, demanding different ones at the last minute, coming home with a pillowcase full of candy and then belly aches and sugar melt downs for days.  I can feel the hate for halloween in my genes, but I try to fight it. As long as I treat halloween costumes as quick and dirty projects then I’m not mad when they are rejected or ripped or ugly or whatever.  A lot of people love halloween though and thank goodness because they make awesome costumes for us to ogle.

amazing and creative handmade halloween costumes

1. Baby Woodpecker, 2. Devil(ed) Egg, 3. Jedi Robe, 4. lace crown, 5. Star wars birthday courtesy of oliver and s and ottobre, 6. angry/suprised owl, 7. Infant Elvis Costume, 8. week 9.2, 9. in lieu

This is just a small selection of the fantastic tutorials out there for kids’ halloween costumes. The creativity and the construction of these costumes blows me away. If you know of any good tutorials (or have made some yourself) please leave a comment linking to it.  And get ready because the challenge starts on Monday!

hilarious halloween costume tutorials

1. strong man 2. freezer paper skeleton costume 3. sock monkey 4. pukka costume 5. care bear costume 6. frankenstein 7. happy mutant three armed baby 8. last minute kids owl costume 9. daisy costume

I know it not cold enough for mitten and hats yet, but it will be–even though somehow every year I try to convince myself that it won’t get that cold, what am I thinking? I live in wisconsin! We better make some cute things while they are little enough to actually wear them (unlike teenagers) and I’ve scrounged up some pretty fantastic tutorials for winter gear. I’ve made the martha stewart hat a bunch of times and if you can get the sizing right it is quick and stylish and warm to boot.

beautiful handmade hats, mittens and scarves

1. Dog Hat I made today toddler, 2. Handmade Holiday: mittens for Avery, 3. 12-09 Brown OrgFlwer Cap 1 Full, 4. Felt Mittens with Knitted Cuffs, 5. Button Me Up Scarf , 6. kid’s patchwork scarf::2, 7. snarves, 8. Make It Yourself, 9. Mittens, baby variation

wonderful tutorials for warm winter gear

1. cozy slippers 2. muff 3. felt hat 4. balaclava 5.yarn scarf 6. sweater mittens 7. wool scarflet 8. felt mittens with knit cuff 9. patchwork scarf

I’ve been thinking about making a kids clothes week challenge FAQ page, so if you have any burning questions be sure to send them my way in the comments or in an email (elsiemarleyblog@gmail.com).