Recently my daughter has been into pink. Waaaay into it. Especially when it’s paired with purple. Oh, barf. Pink has never been a color I’ve been attracted to and though I’m sometimes strangely drawn to purple, it’s not my favorite either. Together? No way! Sewing something you hate is no fun, but sewing something that will end up being hated is even worse.

So I came up with a compromise: a salmony pink paired with burnt orange. Boom! We both love it. The pink is a thrifted sweatshirt fabric that is super soft on the inside–sweatshirt fleece maybe. Is there such a thing? And the orange is an old tee shirt. The pattern is completely made up and I’m not super happy with it, but I think it’ll do.

It’s a raglan sleeve with a high-low hem. I haven’t been able to get this shirt that Brienne made out of my head. There was going to be a lot more color blocking going on, but in the end it was too much. I love the idea of striped cuffs, but I liked this shirt more with 3/4 length sleeves. My daughter did not agree, so I made the sleeve hem big enough to roll up. It’s all about compromise these days.

The gold polka dot leggings were easy peasy. The only mishap came when I went to hem the bottoms. Instead of pressing a nice crease, my iron melted the damn fabric. Luckily they melted in just the right place, so they’re not too short. I serged the bottoms and called it a day.

Stylish, comfy, pink: this outfit ticks all the boxes.

If you’d like to know more about these items, you can see all the details on their KCW page: sweatshirt and leggings.

Yes, I know, KCW is over–very much over. But hey I went in cold and started too many things (as per always) so I needed another week to finish things. Plus, dear Lord! the cold! and the sickness! Will winter ever end?!

No, it won’t. At least not for 2 more long months, which is why I made these warm pants for my son. They look like wool, but are actually polyester, and they’re lined with flannel. I used the Jacob pattern by Zonen 09 and some lady’s very stylish slacks from the 70s to make these cozy dancing pants. She must have been a very tiny lady, because the waistband practically fit my 7 year old!

I had to reuse the waistband, because I barely had enough fabric to eek out the rest of the pants. It looks a little weird with the [fake] fly opening one way and the [fake] closure opening the other. But I’m 99% sure no one is going to notice.

I had a different top planned for this outfit, but then I found this striped sweater I had cut out already. I realize he looks a little crazy…

…but he loves it (the crazy and the shirt). The shirt is upcycled from a ladies sweater and made with the Flashback Tee pattern. Both the pants and the sweater came from this crazy thrift store called the Dig&Save. All the thrift store rejects go there. You have to dig around in giant bins to find anything and everything is priced by the pound.

It’s an odd place, but a treasure trove of fabric. You really have to dive in (almost literally) and trust your instincts. I was drawn to these polyester pants, but as I was sewing them I had a moment of fear: Is he going to be teased because his mom so obviously made his pants.

Do you worry about this? Cherie from You & Mie started a great conversation on instagram about kids dressing themselves–do you let them? do you edit the craziness? do you encourage it? do you feel pressure to dress them just right? I think the hashtag was #realkidsrealclothes if you want to join the conversation.

I obviously encourage the crazy, but maybe it’s time I pulled back. Grade school is tough. As a parent, it’s hard to know when to lead and when to let your kids figure it out on their own. They are little, but they’re big, but really they’re little. Agh! All of this from a pair of polyester pants.

I am plodding along this KCW. Some days sewing is simply a pleasure, but this week it seems more like a chore. Creative energy is an odd thing: it comes and goes, it can perk you up like coffee, or destroy you when it’s not there. I’m happy to say, I am putting in my hour every day. Even though I’m a little grumpy when I do it.

So what have I done? So far made some piles and traced a bunch of fabric. Then yesterday I cut out all my fabric. There was a bit of upcycling happening–old man pants => little man pants. And today I did some pre-sewing. I’m not sure that’s actually a thing, but let’s make it one. Pre-sewing: all the little sewing you need to do before you get to the big sewing. My pre-sewing today was pockets and piping, hoods and darts,  an elbow pad or two thrown in there somewhere. You get the picture.

How is your creative energy these days? Running on high? Non-existent? Hiding?

I completely missed day two of KCW. I was laid up in bed, sick. The awful bug that had been making all my children barf at 2 in the morning finally caught up to me. Ugh. Today I rallied, if only for a bit.

Enough to trace some patterns and even draft one of my own. Pattern drafting with two kitties on the prowl is difficult to say the least. If I hadn’t told you already: we got two kitties! They are adorable, but they are a lot more interested in what I’m doing (read: in the way) than our dog ever was.

Still a few patterns were traced and even some fabric was cut. I’m moving slow this KCW, but as long as I’m getting my hour in every day I’m doing okay.  Have you been checking in on the KCW blog? There have been some lovely garments featured for day one, two, and three. Go see!

It is day one of Kid’s Clothes Week! Because I was at Alt Design Summit for most of last week, I am going in cold. Very cold. Today I spent my hour staring at fabric. I used to think standing there staring at fabric was a waste of time, but I’ve discovered it’s an important part of the process. If I skip this step I’m never quite satisfied with the end product.

If I let myself stare and don’t stop myself, wonderful things happen.  A lot of the times I  get my own way and screw things up either because of self doubt or comparing myself to others. Today I trusted my judgement and chose whatever fabric jumped out at me. And look what jumped: Pink!? I’ve never been a pink girl, but my daughter has been choosing it more often these days. Looking at this pile, a salmon-y pink paired with orange is actually kind of awesome. Throw in some gold polka dots and it’s time to get this KCW party started.