kcwc fall 2012: wrap up

October 17th, 2012

kcwc wrap up collage

1.mountain shirt  2.the fiesta dress  3.scrunchy apron 4.quilted baby gilet  5.sailboat top  6.squirrel tee  7.neon dinosaur  8.hannah dress  9.kitty jammies

Jaw dropping is how I would describe this edition of kids clothes week. 641 of you signed up and then proceeded to blow me away with your amazing creations! The flickr pool is full of beautifully made, simple, stylish clothes for kids. Just because the clothes are stylish though, doesn’t mean they take themselves too seriously. You have kids, so you know they light up when you put spaceships on their shirt or shoes on their skirt and it makes mamas laugh when there are numbers on their butt.

kcwc wrap up collage

1.grey polka dot top  2.upcycled pants  3.paperback writer pants  4.clover shirt  5.lemon-lime top  6.totally 80s  7.wollige klaas  8.matching dresses  9.retro boom box top

Could you feel the creative energy of everyone sewing together? We are scattered across the globe, but this week we came together to sew and cheer one another on. We all need to support each other in our crafty endeavors! You can continue to support your fellow sewers by subscribing to their blog, their instagram feed, their flickr photos, their facebook page, their whatever. A little encouragement can do a lot–for them and for you. I mean just look at the kcwc flickr pool!

kcwc wrap up collage

1.sandbox pants and envelope tee  2.horsey tee  3.raglan tee  4.walrus tee  5.oliver + s croquet dress  6.raglan   7.flashback skinny tee  8.blackbird butt  9.slouchy pants

Even if nothing turned out the way you wanted this week, or most things didn’t get finished, or the pants are two sizes too big, I hope you are inspired to keep sewing for your children. If things weren’t perfect, I don’t want to think you failed. This challenge sits you down in front of your sewing machine and gets you to sew a little, then maybe a little more. This momentum feeds your creativity: the more you sew, the more ideas come to you, the more you want to sew! I hope you had a good week and I hope the creative momentum takes you into next week and beyond!

I would love it if you told me what you thought of this kcwc: what could be better? what did you like the most? what do you want more of? what isn’t necessary? If you were in charge, what would you do? Anything! Everything! I want to hear it all!

 

kcwc fall 2012: day seven

October 14th, 2012

kids clothes week challenge day seven

1. envelope shirt 2. fox skirt 3. spring stripes 4. grey merino hoodie

Here it is, the last day of kids clothes week! Did you get frustrated and yell at your machine? Did you make some awesome clothes anyway? Did you think of a bunch of new things you want to make? Do you still have a bunch of things cut out and waiting for you on your ironing board? Or am I the only one answering yes to all these questions? I hope you had a good time this fall (or spring, for you southern hemisphere-ers). I will be back this week with a big kcwc wrap up. I leave you with some simple pajamas and my kids being ridiculous.

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pajamas

the pattern: the same one from Happy Homemade vol 2 that I always use. It’s pretty much been that pattern and the flashback tee all week! Shesh, maybe I need to branch out a bit.

bunny pajamas

the fabric: this beautiful bunny and moon fabric I fell in love with when I saw it here.

bunny pajamas

the sewing: Can you tell the bunnies are upside down on the pajamas on the right? Argh!! Oh well, he doesn’t mind in the least. I do have blue knit shirts cut out to go with these, but my serger and I had a little falling out and we’re not talking to each other.

Happy kcwc!

kcwc fall 2012: day six

October 13th, 2012

kids clothes week challenge day 6

1. shoulder patch shirt 2. mustard and grey 3. charlie shirt 4. half kindje

I woke up to a gray and rainy weekend–the perfect weekend to cozy up in front of the sewing machine! I hope it’s crummy weather where you are too :)

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corduroy sunki dress

the pattern: Sunki dress by Figgy’s patterns.

sunki dress

the fabric: pinwale corduroy in aqua and leftover purple fabric from these pants.

sunki dress back

the sewing: The sewing was challenging. I mean look at the dress! The pockets are definitely the coolest part of the design and they are also the hardest to figure out. Luckily, others have made them and written about it already. Laura from Charm Stitch has a particularly helpful blog post about putting the pockets together (thank you Laura! you saved me!).  Once I made the pockets correctly I felt like a sewing genius, so everything else came together without much swearing. The arms are pleated and fussy–and mine aren’t perfect. The zipper was surprisingly simple. You put it in the same way you put in a zipper on a pillow, which seems somehow wrong, but it’s done and functional so you don’t hear me complaining.  The dress is a little short, but it still works for scrambles in the woods.

sunki dress in action

kcwc fall 2012: day five

October 12th, 2012

kids clothes week challenge day five

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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play dress

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

flashback skinny tee dress

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!

stripey dress

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

 

kcwc fall 2012: day four

October 11th, 2012

kids clothes week challenge day 4

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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a cashmere sweater and purple pants

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.

upcycled cashmere sweater

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.

purple pants pockets

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).

fall and cashmere days