1.by ashley cubly 2.by ressica jachel 3.by a p’s 4.by lgjcunha 5. by day7577 6. by sew responsible

One last KCWC photo montage. It was such a treat to see all the knot shorts that popped up in the flickr pool. They all turned out so well.  I’m so glad you all liked my little pattern. There might have to be more pattern making in my future.

I loved reading all you had to say about KCWC on the last post! There seemed to be equal numbers of those who took the challenge and ran with it and those who got bogged down and stopped, which is to be expected. Sometimes KCWC comes at the right time, creatively, and sometimes it doesn’t. I know I had to give myself a few pep talks during the week.  Sabine’s comment sums the week up nicely, I think:

SabineC says:

May 19, 2011 at 4:46 pm(Edit)

This was my second KCWC – and I fully intend to play along with the next one, too!
I started off well, the sailor pants for my son came out in just one day of “patterning” and one day of sewing – as I had hoped. The tunic I had intended for my little girl went all wrong, though. Started on Day 3, I had to unpick almost every seam after the fitting on Day 4…. And everyone knows that unpicking a seam goes w-a-a-a-y slower than sewing one! So that kind of took the wind out of my wings. A splitting headache on Day 5 prevented any sewing then.

So there I was, on Day 6, far behind on my schedule and feeling bad because of it. Until I realized that that was not the spirit of KCWC at all! Sure, it is nice if you manage to finish more projects, and, well, let’s face it, there’s something terribly addictive of showing (off) your pictures on Flickr, for the world to peruse and to cheer at your work (and your sense of pride ;-) ) But there’s something else.
I think that the KCWC is about giving you that little nudge to go and to KEEP going, using different motivators: the online “audience”, the inspiration you get from seeing all those other wonderful creations, the interviews and articles on the Elsie Marley Blog; the idea that one hour a day is (most of the time) really feasible, the personal drive from “within” that makes you believe that “Yes, I can do it!” and the pride that you feel when you do succeed.

So I single handedly opted to extend the KCWC and finished the tunic on, well, Day 8 and Day 10. Which meant no public cheering, but when my almost 2 year old daughter saw herself in the mirror with the tunic on, she went all “Oh! Mooooooi!” (*)
(and if that doesn’t give me the nudge to prolong the KCWC even more, then I don’t know what will :-) )

See you next time!

Sabine

(*) In case you are wondering: yes, “Mooi” is the equivalent of “beautiful” in our language ;-)

If you played along then of course you are a winner, but the ones who one the contest were #9 for the I Love Paris doll kit:

Katie Strong says:

May 19, 2011 at 12:18 pm

After flaking completely last Fall, I approached KCWC Spring edition with a zip of manic energy. It was great motivation to use up my stash, to put to use the cute japanese patterns I spent so much time tracing a few months back, and to share the images on Flickr. I loved checking out other moms’ (and dads’?) creations every day. The part I liked best? I think it really upped my confidence. My kids are actually wearing the stuff this time around, too. Added bonus. Thanks again!

and  #21 for the Charlie Tunic Pattern

Wendy says:

May 19, 2011 at 2:28 pm

I bottomed out after day two, simply because I didn’t want to make my own bias tape, and the nearest fabric store with the right color was 45 minutes away. But the challenge did get me started again, even though I didn’t finish anything. I will be better prepared in the fall; all of the gorgeous inspiration in the flickr pool has me planning already!

Congratulations! I’ll be in touch soon!

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.