When Rae asked me to talk a bit about sewing with knits, I thought it was odd, because I’m rather crap at sewing with knits. But then I looked back in my archives for pictures of things I’ve sewn and hey! it’s not that bad. My first experience with sewing with knits was pretty horrible.  Now it looks like I remember that failure more than any of the successful knit projects I’ve made, which is ridiculous. With that realization, I cut out a huge pile of knit fabric for this awesome undies pattern:

I didn’t finish them all, because my daughter is a little between sizes so I have to adjust the fit, but oof! the boy undies are pretty damn cute. The pattern is very clear and nicely laid out with plenty of pictures. I noticed she’s not selling it at the moment and I’m not sure why, because it’s a very popular pattern. It’s popular for a reason: you only need a little bit of fabric, old t-shirts are perfect, and if you screw up who’s going to see them anyway?

I wouldn’t say this is a beginner, beginner project, but if you’ve sewn with knits a few times then these shouldn’t be a problem. They come together quickly, but the waistband and leg holes take a bit of time. And people will look at you funny when (or rather if) you tell them you’re making your children’s underwear.

But come on, lighting bolt undies?! What little boy wouldn’t be excited about that?

Want to see all the kniterviews? Look here! and mine is here.

Whew! You made it! The last day of kcwc fall 2011. I hope it went well for you this year. All the clothes I’ve showed you so far I made two weeks ago, but this coat? I’ve been working on this beauty all week. An hour here and there at the sewing machine and finally the baby gets something to wear.

Here are all the details:

• pattern: same as the coat I made for his older brother (that one was still too big)
• elbow patches: from Kristin’s tutorial. At first I top stitched a diamond pattern on them, but an oval shape + diamonds = ham. He looked like he had big hams on his elbows!

• fabric: brown tweedy wool (same as these pants) found at a thrift store
• lining fabric: felted cashmere sweater

• buttons: wooden buttons from Joann’s plus one green one I’ve been saving forever.
• pockets: patch pockets lined with green and ironed to make faux piping like these pants again.

Here are some more pictures just because:

Did you have a good time during kcwc? Did you get a lot done? I love this pile of handmade clothes! Makes me want to do laundry (a little). I will be back tomorrow with a big round up of all the amazing things from the flickr pool. Here are the ones from today:

1. wraparound jacket
2. ottobre majava pants
3. ruitjes
4. unicorn dress

Wow, sorry I’m so late with a post today. I forgot about actual work :)

I am pretty proud of this little skirt. It’s a basic, a-line denim skirt with a flat front, a bit of topstitching, and some good pockets. Nothing flashy about it, but it just looks right. You know what I mean?

What is it doing in a circle of glittery gold? After kcwc is over and done I tell you all about it (hey, you might even want to subscribe…)

1. kcwc x hoodie
2. little boy jacket
3. reversible corduroy caplet
4. origami pocket skirt

These are a little over the top to be sure. But so are four year old boys. The patterns is from Happy Homemade vol. 5 modified it a bit, okay a lot. I stole the pocket pattern from a different project in the book and I threw piping in all over the place. The back pockets are my favorite.

I also totally wussed out on the zipper fly and just make a fake fly, that got all janky anyway. Being afraid of putting in a zipper is ridiculous, I mean a zipper isn’t going to kill me or anything. Whatever, here they are: crazy ass orange tight pants with bright blue piping.

He rocked them.

And here are today’s highlights from the flickr group (they are all a little muted today, maybe the rain is affecting me):

1. polaris
2. red riding hood dress
3. library jacket
4. snappy milo cables

only two more days to go!

I’m running a little bit late this morning (and there is sewing to do!) so just the deets on this one:

• idea: blatantly stolen from oeuf
• pattern: tee for two from patterns by figgy (the pattern is also in their new book)
• fabric: one felted cashmere sweater, the neckline and some scraps of another felted sweater
• skill level: easy peasy

When I was making this sweater a friend of mine (hi amanda!) was asking me about the mitten pockets but slipped and called them mockets. Now the top will always be known as the mocket sweater. I think it’s pretty catchy.

Here are todays pretties from the flickr pool:

1. lazy days skirt for fall
2. elbow patches
3. no-ruffle rosy pierrot tunic
4. fall basics

Someone commented that all these finished garments are making her look like a very slow sewer. I don’t want anyone to be discouraged this week. So I thought I’d tell her–and all of you–that I have been plugging away at a little coat all week and I am still nowhere near done. No plopping on the couch this evening (unless that is where you sew). Keep at it! Make yourself to sit down in front of your sewing machine and I promise you will have a finished garment by the end of the week.