1. pink 2. kcwc day 3 3. mini boden knock off 4. gingham top 5. triangle shirt 6. 7. variation on MADE 8.tee for two dress 9. pear me top 10. pants 11. keyhole top 12. summer breeze back 13. summer kiss dress 14. sweet flower shorts 15. strip skirt 16. little dude jeans

The spring kids clothes week challenge has come and gone and what an awesome week it was! Look at all the amazing sewing you did in just a week! I tried to make a garment a day and got a little overwhelmed in the end. I should have stuck to the challenge and aimed for an hour a day. It’s that little nudge that makes me fall in love with sewing again–the manic sew until 2 in the morning is what burns me out :) But you, you listened to the challenge and quietly chugged along on that machine and turned out some stunning kids clothes. No princesses or googly eyed cartoon characters in sight. Instead you used beautiful colors and bold patterns and simple, stylish silhouettes. Do you hear that, giant kid clothes maker corporation? This is what mothers want their kids to wear!

may sponsors

1.from the red kitchen 2. ida pearle 3.melon dot kids 4.crafty mamas 5.Magpie patterns 6.Fishsticks Designs 7.Wild Stitches Design 8.Gingercake 9.From Somewhere in my Imagination 10.{Re-New} 11.Sew Many Patterns 12. that’s me silly, I just had to make it an even twelve

Every kcwc seems to top the last and this one was made even better by my May sponsors! I am proud to be able to show off all of these wonderful indie shops and blogs. And I would love it if you could visit one or two. It is you (and me) who need to support small, independent businesses, because this is our community. A virtual community, but a loving supportive community nonetheless. And after this week, we know first hand how much work goes into all the designing and drafting and sewing and making! We don’t need Mr. Giant Corporation, we have each other.

For all of you that participated, I have a little surprise. Tell me a little something you liked (or didn’t like) about kcwc this year, or something you made that you were particularly proud of, or how you flaked out completely after that first hour, or what you are already planning for fall, and you will be entered to win one of two prizes: the fantastic Charlie Tunic pattern by Rae and the fantabulous  I Love Paris doll kit by Erika. I’ll announce the winner Friday May 20.Extended until Monday May 23 (5pm CST). Good Luck! And thank you so much for making another amazing KCWC!

I am just under the wire with this post. Today is (was) the last day of the kids clothes week challenge and I am all challenged out. With the little bit of sewing mojo I had left,  I managed to finish–well almost finish–this tank top for my son today. I’m not totally on board with the whole sewing with knits thing yet, but I picked up a bit of the softest blue striped knit at the thrift store and I had to at least try. So I faked it and pretty much made it.

A matching one for his little brother is in the works. The shorts I eeked out from some random thrift store yardage as well. I had to use some scraps for the pocket, but it’s kind of a cool detail I think. They are from the same pattern I’ve been using all week and I think I could sew it in my sleep at this point.

It was a stripey kind of day in the flickr pool. I want to eat that little shiso baby up, she’s so cute. Check out all the matching outfits Mimi made for the whole shiso family!

1. fashion show sunday 2. flat from shorts 3. sailboat top 4. linen pants

It’s been a pretty damn fantastic week, I have to say. But there will be much reminiscing and showing off and patting each other on the back this week, and maybe even a prize or two. Did you have a good time? Or do you never want to look at your sewing machine again?

This is going to be a short and sweet post. Hey, like these shorts. They actually started long, but then looked weird long. So they have cuffs thanks to this fantastic little tutorial, but now I’m thinking maybe they would look better without them. I don’t know anymore. I do know I rocked some serious topstiching action on these suckers (With orange thread, somehow it looks red in the photos). Oh and these are for my daughter. I think my son could rock the purple shorts, but he asked for orange.

1. 015 2. elephant hats 3. damage control 4. bellies are cuter

A little nuttiness from the pool today: elephant hats and dino hoodies! So many amazing handmade clothes on flickr! You guys rock.

This is to let you know it’s not all wine and roses and finished garments in these parts. The photo is from a couple days ago, but I am well on my way to recreating it today. And tomorrow and the next day. Kids clothes week is a full week, not a work week, don’t ya know.   If you can take more than an hour on the weekend, fantastic, if you can only just squeeze out an hour each day that’s fine too. But you’ve got lots of hemming to do, I bet, so plan accordingly! Nothing like finding a beautiful pair of homemade pants jammed back behind stacks of fabric because you never got to hemming them–not like I would ever do that :)

1. playdate dress 2. dancing pants 3. new lined pants 4. reedreeder

You guys are a lot less lazy than me when it comes to actually finishing the garment, I mean look at these lovely pieces! Those pants in the bottom corner make me want to go to the thrift store and pick up some grandpa pants to size down for my son. What about you? Do you sew something start to finish or in fits and starts? Have you completed one garment this week or there a bunch lying around waiting to be finished?

One last bit of goodness from the kcwc flickr pool. Jean made these beautiful wings for her daughter, based on these gorgeous pictures and this tutorial. I love how her daughter is practically in flight! Jean said she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to give her children wings. You can read all about it in her post about making them on her blog, The Artful Parent.

Just some simple board shorts today. Though now that I look at them, they look more like old timey golfing slacks. Am I subconsciously trying to get my son on the course before he’s even held a golf club? He can rock the style without playing the game, right?

The pattern is from Happy Homemade vol. 2 again. Lots more of them cut out and ready to sew up, too. I told you you were going to get sick of this pattern. It’s got simple, easy to put together slash pockets and a totally useless, but awesome fake fly. Seriously, I love the fake fly. Makes the pants look a little more pulled together, a little less becky homecky.

1.garden party frock 2. sun hat 3. skirt that swings 4. smocked sundress

oops! I realized as I was putting this collection up that it’s all girl clothes today, but there are some fantastic boy clothes in the flickr mix too. Like this slammin red parachute jacket and these stylish jeans and this adorable baby sweater. I find that boys are a bit harder to sew for the in the summer. Maybe it’s because all those easy, summery dresses are calling to me to sew them up. What about you? Are you sewing frilly dresses or twenty pairs of boy shorts?