I started following Meg’s blog, Sew Liberated, back when she was a Montessori teacher in Mexico. She’s moved back to the states and had a few boys since then, but her loving, teacherly voice is always present. Meg’s patient, creative Montessori spirit shows through not only in her parenting, but in her home and sewing too. If you haven’t seen her latest book, Growing Up Sew Liberated, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy!

At first, I had visions of using one of his dad’s old tee shirts to make him an indie-chic Flashback Skinny Tee. But then Finn entered the sewing studio. And, as we all know, almost-three-year-olds have very strong opinions about certain things. (Well, I’ll be honest – at first, he just wanted to cut the car fabric. Cutting, his all-time favorite activity, was just what I was about to do (with another fabric) so we went ahead and cut the car fabric together for his shirt.) In the end, I can most certainly say that this was our first creative collaboration.

He handed me pins, pulled out pins, and trimmed threads. Thanks to Rae and her super straightforward pattern, the boy and I had a lovely time together. I now have a sewing assistant.

Why stop at the tee, though, when the tee came together in less than an hour? Finn needed a pair of shorts, so I shortened the Basic Pocket Pants pattern from my book Growing Up Sew Liberated and altered the waistband so that I could use the knit fabric instead of the conventional woven-with-elastic method. I attached the stretchy knit waistband in the same way that you attach the collar to the Skinny Tee.

The boy and his pockets, which are always filled with sticks and weeds.

For Finn’s Skinny Tee, I opted for the 1 inch cuff finish, and used my all-time favorite lazy person’s finish for the shirt’s hem: Lite Steam-a-Seam2. Just apply the strip close to the raw edge on the wrong side of the fabric, remove the paper, fold up the hem, finger press, then make the bond permanent by pressing with an iron.

Happy sewing, everyone!

It’s hard to really get a sense of someone over the interwebs, but I think if Heather lived anywhere near me I would be on her doorstep quite often. She does so much, so well: mothering, cooking, sewing, knitting, dying, and a good deal more. All of it is done with a simple, “hey what if I did this” attitude.  Then whatever she ends up making is perfectly stunning. You can see all of her work on her blog, well-crafted.

Hey there! I’m honored to be included as a guest here on elsiemarley and am really looking forward to KCWC next week. My plan is to stick with making things my girl will really need and wear this summer. Since she pretty much only lives in knit tops and leggings, it was perfect that I got to give the Flashback Skinny Tee pattern a whirl! Because the pattern only goes to size 5, I had originally thought I’d give away the finished tee but it ended up fitting L perfectly and so we are both happy about that!

This pattern is an excellent basic. I stuck with a fairly straightforward version of it, with the only changes being the band at the bottom (really into that right now) and short sleeves. Oh the things you could do with this: asymmetrical hems, boat-neck, flared out and turned into a dress with elastic at the waist, shorten it and add a dirndle skirt (maybe using a woven). The possibilities are endless.

My big box of knits got dragged out from under the cutting table and despite it’s being full of beautiful col0rs, we went with this white one for two reasons: 1. It was the softest. 2. I had white thread in my serger. Three cheers for laziness!! To spice things up we did a little freezer paper stencil design on the front. I cut out tiny triangles in a grid pattern and we took turns painting each row to create a rainbow effect. We used this fabric ink instead of paints which turned out really nice.

It was good to sew with a knit fabric again—it’s been a while for me.  Although I am still doing battle with the “ripple effect” around the sleeve holes, I refuse to let that get in my way of creating a summer wardrobe full of knits for my comfort-loving girl! Maybe I’ll even use this pattern as the basis for all the clothes I make next week. That might be cool…

Don’t forget to check back each day this week for more KCWC inspiration.

Thanks again for having me Meg!

You were expecting another lovely guest post, I know. Somehow I forgot to schedule someone for Tuesday and then double booked Wednesday. Oops! Actually this gives me the opportunity to ask you something. Last fall’s kcwc we had 360 participants and last spring there were 450 people sewing! This spring we are almost up to 300, but I know we can do better than that.

So I am calling on you to call out all the sewers out there!

• If you are on facebook share the spring kcwc link: http://www.elsiemarley.com/kids-clothes-week-spring-2012.html 
• If you are on twitter, slap a hashtag on it #kcwc
• If you have a blog, blog about your plans or your piles of fabric or just tell people to sign up!
• If you are on flickr, join the elsiemarley group and get all your flickr friends on board!
• If you have friends with kids who sew, email them and tell them to join!
• Call your mom and tell her to tell all of her friends!

Let’s make this kcwc bigger than ever. The more people there are sewing next week, the more people there are motivating you, the more you’ll get done!  Ok, go!

KCWC gets started next Monday already! Do you have a plan? a list? a giant pile of fabrics on your ironing board? Before we are all up to our eyeballs in half finished garments next week, I thought I’d show off some beautifully finished pieces this week. Five very talented sewers (and bloggers) have agreed to do have a little pre-kcwc sewing party. I gave them all the same pattern–the Flashback Skinny Tee by Rae (thanks Rae!)–and I’m excited to see what everyone comes up with.

Today the lovely Anna from Noodlehead has popped in with two springy, matchy-matchy cuties.  This shirt, it seems, was made for dancing!

Hey! Kids Clothes Week Challenge is back,  I’m happy to be guest posting today!  I got to try out Made by Rae‘s Flashback Tee pattern!  I can tell you that if you have children in your life at all, you really should have this pattern in your arsenal.  Rae has every detail covered, so if you’re new to knits, you can jump right in and feel at home.  Seriously.

I did struggle with picking out my fabrics, I’ve got a huge tub of knits that I have stashed, for no real reason.  The only thing is that I didn’t really have anything that my girls liked.  Except this one print.  I love it!  I ordered it from Girl Charlee a long time ago and have been saving it for the perfect thing, this was it.  I made both a 5T and a 3T long sleeved out of 1 yard.  And if I ever complain that my kids wear matching clothes more than I’d like, you can kindly refer me to this post and tell me it’s my own fault.

Oh and I also busted my twin needle right before I went to thread it. Bummer.  Lucky for me there’s more than one way to hem a shirt, love that about sewing (and Rae‘s lovely tips).

I can’t wait to see all the awesome kids’ clothes coming up, thanks for having me us Meg!

1. quicky a-line skirts
2. euro swim trunks (pdf pattern)
3. boy’s tie
4. pieced scallop applique

I have piles of fabric and patterns and half started garments all over my kitchen table. There is too much for me to finish in one week, but I keep finding more things I want to make for my kids.  There are so many lovely things that people have made and even made tutorials for it’s hard to not want to sew. Here are a few tutorials that caught my eye this week (and one awesome pattern). I found these and so many more (too many?) on Pinterest. I’ve organized my boards a bit from last year:

• tutorials for sewing kid clothes
• kid clothes [handmade]
• kid clothes [mass produced]

1. brombeertje (care bear hoodie)
2. iro tee
3. marimekko tee
4. figgy’s ayashe top

These lovelies are all handmade. I’ll be posting more tutorials and handmade goodness on my pinterest boards all week, so follow me there if you don’t already. And leave your pinterest handle–if you have one–in the comments section. Or if you have a favorite tutorials leave that too! We are all hungry for new patterns!