1. stars sweater 2. cardigan  3.  simple shirt 4.  linen cotton dress

We are already to the fifth day of kcwc! Don’t hang up your hat even though it’s Friday! Kids Clothes Week goes a full 7 days. I know weekends can be busy. Maybe you’ve pushed yourself too hard this week and are feeling a little burnt out, or missed a day this week, but don’t stop now when the end is in site! The point of this challenge is not to make beautiful kids clothes–though that does of course happen–it is to sit down in front of your sewing machine a little each day. And it is a big challenge! When the couch or the computer are calling, it can be very hard to ignore them. I know you have two good hours left in you this weekend. I, for one, have about an hour’s worth of threads to clip.

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the fabric: a shockingly nice jersey stripe I found at Joann’s

the pattern: Rae’s Flashback Skinny Tee! I have made a ton with this pattern for kcwc and I have more planned. I stole this idea from the lovely dress Heather made last kcwc. I wish I would have made the bodice shorter. And well, the arms are a little short, but I did size a 5T pattern up for my 7 year old before I realized Rae had put out a big kid sized Flashback Tee. Even will all that, I still like how it turned out–and she loves it!

the sewing: Nothing to it. Really you need to try this pattern!

1. cardi 2. kcwc pants 3. wings for my little girl 4. glitter dot dress

I know I express my sheer amazement at your sewing ability every year, but seriously! do you see those clothes up there? It’s like art. You guys are amazing! Amazing!

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I am not so amazing today, as my youngest–mr. big belly pictured here–woke up at 2am throwing up. Why do children only get sick in the middle of the night? Argh. Blerg. I am mostly incomprehensible because of it, so we’ll keep this short and sweet.

the sweater

the pattern: Rae’s Flashback Skinny Tee! I made it a little wider in the body (i.e. not so skinny) because the fabric didn’t have a ton of stretch.

the fabric: a shrunken cashmere sweater that was once my Nana’s.

the sewing: There is nothing easier than sewing with felted sweaters. I was going to add a blue pocket and maybe blue cuffs, but it was looking too trendy and really there’s nothing wrong with a basic cashmere sweater. I wish I had one.

the pattern: the pattern I always use from Happy Homemade Vol. 2 and to be honest, I think getting a little sick of it. I did change it up a bit this time with a long pintuck down the front of each leg–you can see it in the first picture. It makes for nice “little man” pants.

the fabric: I think it’s called no-wale corduroy–the weight of corduroy without the bumps. Purple, obviously.

the sewing: Easy peasy, except the back pockets are totally uneven. Little boys move so fast, that no one will notice, I’m sure (I hope).

1. kcwc day3  2. a butterick dress experiment 3. flashback skinny tee 4. kcwc4

The flickr pool is bursting with beautiful hand sewn clothes!  How is your sewing going? Humming along? Or did you hit a snag? Are you ready to throw those pants (top, skirt, sewing machine) across the room?

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This tunic has been on my to do list for years…years! How is it that my sewing list is that long? Probably because things like ridiculously flowery leggings jump in line to get sewn first.

the leggings

the pattern: drafted a pattern off some good fitting leggings

the fabric: a maxi skirt I bought on sale at Target

the sewing: wham bam!

the tunic

the pattern: I bought this pattern at a thrift store when my daughter was still a toddler. Granted I barely knew how to read a pattern, much less resize one, but the topstitching and the little square pocket were too perfect (and it was 10 cents). Over the years the pattern has come out and written down as next on the list, but it always found its way back into the drawer. Now that my daughter is a size 6, I figured I better sew this sucker up once and for all.

the fabric: some really lovely wool blend that I was saving for a skirt for myself…for two years. There is still enough left for a skirt (I think), but now the fabric isn’t giving me the evil eye.

the sewing: The sewing went pretty well. It is a very basic pattern, but basic in 1975 is pretty advanced these days. I simlified the way they wanted me to put in the zipper–it doesn’t look perfect, but I didn’t rip it out ten times either. The direction for the pocket were in some alien language, so I totally winged it and it worked out just fine.  I’ll be honest, I’m pretty crazy for how this whole outfit turned out!

1. faux fur vest 2. kcwc dress  3. stripe leggings 4. gingham shirt

Welcome to day two of the Kids Clothes Week Challenge! I hope you found an hour (or more) yesterday. The sewing momentum is starting to build, I can feel it. Have you seen the flickr pool yet? Some amazing handmade clothes are popping up there (and even some tutorials)!

To keep the momentum going into next week–and beyond–Liesl, of Oliver + S fame, has offered you, my lovely readers and kcwc sewers, 20% off all their paper patterns! The offer ends right after kcwc ends (midnight ET on October 15), so if there is some pattern you’ve been eyeing, now’s the time to snatch it up! The coupon code is KCWC20–just type it in when you check out!

Okay, what did I sew? An upcycled shirt and some basic lined pants for my five year old boy. I really didn’t intend for these two things to be worn together when I sewed them, but my son had other plans. Let’s start with the shirt…

pattern: Flashback Skinny Tee by Made by Rae

fabric: I sized down an old shirt of mine that never fit quite right.

sewing: The t-shirt material is the super thin jersey. I love wearing it (and so does my son) but I get nervous sewing with it. There were a few incidents where my sewing machine  decided to eat the fabric rather than sew it, but it worked out in the end. I loved choosing all the different colored ribbing to finish the shirt. Boy’s clothes you see in stores can be so serious (gray, blue, gray, blue), so it’s nice to make something silly and happy–like little boys!

pattern: My go-to pants pattern from Happy Homemade vol. 2. I’ve made it so often I just drafted a combination of the boy’s shorts pattern (i) with the girl’s pants pattern (o) for each size.

fabric: Big gingham on the outside and olive jersey on the inside!

sewing: I can sew this pattern in my sleep, which is what must of what happened because I ending up with two left legs when I sewed the lining. I didn’t mark the right side of the jersey fabric and it is hard to tell right from wrong on solid jersey. Whatever, no one is going to see it, right? Trying to get the lining to sit right in the pants was super fiddily, but now that they are sewn up you can’t tell the pants have two left legs (I hope).

He can’t at least!

1. heart leggings  2. new shirt for D  3. Lala’s fall coat 4. corduroy music class skirt

I think it is only right to start with your creations, not mine. You are the ones sewing into the wee hours of the night or in the morning–all 535 of you!  Different time zones have given some of you a head start. Others (like me) started early for one reason or another. So don’t be discouraged by the finished garments in the flickr pool already. As kcwc begins, I do want to say one thing:

Have patience with yourself!

This challenge is about putting in a little time everyday doing what we love (but may have forgotten that we love it). If you sew two right legs together, or have to unpick a giant seam, or can’t understand the directions at all, don’t freak out and go for the ice cream. Put that project aside and pick up one you are more comfortable with or one you are super excited about. Then maybe revisit the other project the next day, or ask a question on flickr (the kcwc discussion is here). We are all here to help each other and motivate each other! Okay, let’s go!

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In the spring I filled out a simple form for each of my projects and it went so well I’m going to do it again. Feel free to do the same as it makes quick work of blogging–leaving more time for sewing!

the pattern: The pattern is the apron top from Carefree Clothes for Girls. It is simple, but with many details that make it just right for my little bit sweet, little bit tough, (still) little girl. Looking back in the blog, I’ve sewn up many pattern from the book for her: a princess dress, a play dress, and a winter coat.

the fabric: The main fabric I used was drop cloth from the hardware store. The suggested fabric was sail cloth and I though drop cloth was a good stand in. The bird fabric on the pocket was leftover from another simple top I made.

the sewing: The sewing was actually more involved than it might seem. The apron has so many bits to hem–not my favorite thing in the world–so that took forever, but there were other bits that were fun. The pattern called for rivets in the pocket corners and a little scrap of leather sewn onto the front. My fabric store had rather crummy looking rivets, so I used one half of a snap instead. While I was there I found some good looking jean buttons and I used one for the back closure. Have you ever used jean buttons before? They are hammered into the fabric–super cool.

Oops, I almost forgot I made the leggings too! The pattern is the Sunki leggings by Figgy’s. The fabric was some orange interlock from my stash. And the sewing was so easy and fast that I may never buy leggings again!