I had a hard time picking photos from the Too Sweets pattern shop. There are just so many adorable dresses that Sophie makes for her little girl! Sophie is a talented pattern designer who has cute down pat, not to mention the little bit of awesome she throws in now and then–look at that jumpsuit!! And crocheted accessories?! She’s a pattern maker after my own heart. All the little girls in your life will be happy that you met Sophie:

1. How did you get into designing patterns?

Is it cliche for me to say it was because of my daughter? (And the fact that simple but cute clothing costs a lot more than one would think.) Being a new mom, I wanted something comfortable, functional, and modern for my daughter to bounce around in. Not having the financial resources to dress her in fifty dollar dresses she would outgrow in three months forced me into getting creative with her wardrobe. So, I decided to design my own simple stuff. And then share it with others!

2. Do you have a specific kind of child in mind when you are working on your designs?

I figure that most children appreciate being comfortable, so I keep that in mind most when designing patterns. Children are only young for so little time, and they deserve clothing that allows them the freedom to really be a kid. I know that sounds silly, but I’m all about function (as in, comfort) while still keeping things fashionable and reflective of a child’s personality. It’s for this reason I keep many of my patterns simple and open for alterations, embellishment, or whatever change one might wish to add.

3. How do you think children should dress?

It really depends on the child’s personality, I think. My daughter is already insistent on dressing herself (at the age of 2, lord help me), and I find that her taste changes daily. So, rather than battle her about clothing, I give her a nice selection of different styles I like: modern, understated, playful, comfortable, and not too matchy-matchy. That way we both win!

4. Do you think what you wear influences how you dress your kids or design your patterns?

I wear a pretty basic, primarily black wardrobe (fun, I know) where I don’t take many risks. Instead, I’d like to believe that in a way I’m living stylishly and vicariously through my sewing patterns; it’s much more fun dressing my daughter in styles I wouldn’t necessarily consider for myself! Plus I’m sure she looks way better in them than I would.

5. Do you also sew clothes for yourself?

I have yet to jump the intimidation-hurdle when it comes to sewing clothing for myself; I do however enjoy sewing home items and other things for my family and friends. We’re expecting baby girl #2 here in a few weeks and I have a ridiculously long list of items (clothing, blankets, bibs, etc) I’d love to sew for her.

6. What children’s clothes designers do you admire?

I really love Stella McCartney’s childrens lines, Imoga, crewcuts, Yeppar, Misha Lulu…to name a few. Target also carries some great clothing in which I am constantly finding inspiration.

Thank you so much Sophie! Check out Sophie’s etsy shop, Too Sweets, for all her patterns. And her blog, Much Too Sweet, for more goodness.

You might not have heard of Sepa Designs yet, but you will be happy that you now do!  Hagar is a professional pattern designer who started a small children’s line on etsy. She is a mother to three lovely children and lives in Israel.  Her designs are simple, but with just the right amount of detail to make them interesting to sew and beautiful to look at. So let me introduce you to Hagar:

1. How did you get into designing patterns for children’s clothes?

I’ve been designing children’s clothing for 9 years now for large Israeli companies. As a freelance designer, I sit behind the computer all day and send production files to be manufactured in China. During the past few years I have been loosing the excitement of designing and seeing kids wear my clothes because I didn’t feel a connection with the process. I am designing for a certain client (not my own style necessarily), behind a computer all day, rushing to get things done, didn’t feel the fabric at all…

When my daughter was born (almost 6 years ago), I spent a lot of time looking for inspiration to decorate or sew unique stuff for her. I came across this amazing community of people that I felt so connected to (even if they didn’t know of my existence…) on the internet: blogs, etsy, DIY tutorials, Martha Stewart… They were (and still are) so talented and I felt like I was learning so much from them.  I knew that some day I will try it for myself.  After my twin boys were born, and I was consumed with kids (literally, ah) I realized that designing for kids gives me a sense of fulfillment but I also wanted to design for myself, sew on my machine again and touch fabric! Thinking of a way to combine my strengths and my passion, I decided to make sewing patterns for kids.  It combines technical skills, sewing, graphic design, passing on of information and of-course designing. In my patterns I try to let the sewer become part of the design process themselves and give ideas to use the pattern in different ways.

Even though it is still not me who is making the actual jacket/skirt/pants, I feel so connected. I love the hand made process and the feeling of accomplishment that you get.

2. Do you have a specific kind of child in mind when you are working on your designs?

I do think that my kids influence my designs.  They will not wear anything that is not comfortable for them but they do want to wear: “jeans, like Daddy!” or to “look awesome/festive/groovy” (their words, not mine) like us.  However I am still is search of a unique “handwriting” and style that is my own.  It will take some time for me to find it, but I’m having fun in the meantime…

3. How do you think children should dress?

First of all I think that they need to feel comfortable.  But this means different things. My daughter would be the happiest child in the world if she could wear head to toe pink-fluffy-sequined-tulle-gathered-princess-gowns all day and everyday, but that would make my comfort level drop…

I think that children should still look like children and not style-iconic-fashionistas, but there are elements in grown-up clothing that fits them too. I do love bright colors on children and happy graphics that they can relate too.

4. Do you think what you wear influences how you dress your kids or design your patterns?

My kids usually wear what their grandparents and aunts buy them (I don’t have time to go shopping, and they get great stuff). But in creating my patterns I do try to keep a balance of different factors aside from the design aspect.  I want them to be accessible to as many people as possible by keeping the instructions clear and detailed, the fit a bit on the roomy side, the sewing difficulty to a minimum and an added value of a template/stencil and styling options. This usually sets the tone of the design more than the way I dress. Did that make any sense? Well, to tell you the truth, I’m usually in my pajamas most of the day anyways…

5. Do you also sew clothes for yourself?

I used to. A great deal actually, but as time passes I have less and less time to do that. I’m sure that in a few years I will get back to that. It was fun.

6. What children’s clothes designers do you admire?

There are many clothing labels that I love. Not necessarily for kids but that have a handmade look, sense of humor or somehow seem like they have an effortless chic to them. In no particular order these are just a few:

• bobo choses
• keti keta
• diesel
• queteen cante
• bonpoint

But there are so many gifted crafters, designers and makers of things on the web that have been such a big inspiration to my life these past few years.

I owe them and you a big thank you.

So thank you.

And thank you, Hagar! Check out Hagar’s shop on etsy and maybe add a pattern or two of hers to your KCWC list!

Next week is the Kids Clothes Week Challenge! Are you making big lists of what you’re going to sew? In the past during in the week leading up to KCWC I posted sewing tutorials and beautiful children’s clothes for inspiration. But this year I’m putting all that good stuff on Pinterest. Pinterest, if you don’t know, is a new bookmarking site where you can easily post pictures of things you like and it will automatically link back to where you found it. It is an incredibly handy tool. For KCWC I’ve created a few boards that I will continue to fill with amazing kids clothes. One is full of sewing tutorials and the other gorgeous clothes:

• sewing for kids
• kid clothes

The photos in this post are some of the awesome tutorials and clothes I have found so far. You can follow me on pinterest to see when I post more.

If you’re not on pinterest or have no interest in joining, no worries. There is plenty of inspiration out there, like  all the round ups I’ve done for KCWC in the past. Now in one handy spot:

SPRING CLOTHES

• boys clothes tutorials and inspiration
• girls clothes tutorials and inspiration
• details tutorials and inspiration
• baby clothes tutorials and inspiration

FALL CLOTHES

• fall clothes tutorials and inspiration
• coats and sweaters tutorials and inspiration
• warm things for baby tutorials and inspiration
• hats, mittens and scarves tutorials and inspiration

And if that isn’t enough there is a flickr group full of clothes too! If you are signed up (if not, what are you waiting for?) you should join the elsiemarley flickr group if you haven’t already. That’s where we show off all the things we’ve made all week and check it to chat while we’re not at our machines.

There is one more big of KCWC goodness, if you can believe it. All this week I will be posting interviews with children clothes pattern designers. They all are amazing women with small business on etsy and most of their patterns are in PDF format. So you get to meet some fantastic creative people and then, if you like their patterns, you’ll have them right away! Not bad, eh? The first interview will be up later today, so stay tuned….

I don’t know if you’ve seen what is going on at Grosgrain this month, but it’s pretty amazing. Kathleen has asked bloggers from all over (me included!) to draw up a sewing pattern, so everyday until June you get a fabulous free pattern! All of this is working up to a new blog for Grosgrain and more free patterns–hers! If you haven’t seen the amazing dresses she’s made you are in for a treat and you will be just as excited as I am about making them.

see what I mean? and her kid’s clothes? even better:

You can see all of her creations here. And you can check out my pattern for Knot Shorts while you are at it. Maybe even make some or at least put them on your list for KCWC. Do you have a list yet?

Before easter is gone and we’re on to the next holiday (MayDay! MayDay!) I wanted to show you this little project my kids and I did. A little while back, I saw this picture:

and I thought it was the happiest thing ever. Eggs in the mail! How awesome is that? The photo led me to this post on giverslog about how to send plastic eggs in the mail. So I picked up some big plastic eggs and we stuffed them full of balloons, chocolate eggs, bunny tattoos, and confetti. Then we taped them shut and took them to the post office. My mailman was little wary and very picky about labeling, but in the end he stamped them and send them on their way.

We didn’t send them far, mostly around town, but I’ve heard they made it and were well received. Yay! It’s got me excited to see what else I can mail. At giverslog, AmberLee has a whole category called happy mail, where she mails all kinds of awesome things: a shovel, a frisbee, a bottle. Getting mail is still super exciting for me–probably because growing up in the sticks it was the only thing that happened all day–but it just got so much better.