There are a bunch of projects that for some reason I never got around to posting this summer–probably because I was lying around in a pool of my own sweat, but now ahhhh fall is here and I feel human again.  And now my camera is broken, so all you are going to get for a while are whatever old projects I took pictures of. Sorry.

These shorts were a sucessful project all around: they looked like I imagined and my daughter loved them. I took a simple shorts pattern and added a long narrow triangle on the side (this is where my camera would come in handy), sewed a facing onto the triangles–a pink flower print that my daughter picked out–and then sewed the shorts up. They tie on both sides and the little pink flowers stick out just enough to be cute, but not cutesy. And hey, I made that shirt too. I made an adult size shirt I got at the dig n save into a kid size one: I took it in on the sides, reattached the (shortened) sleeves and hemmed the neckline.  I need to do this more often I think.

These shorts came from my well worn copy of Everyday Bottoms.  They are just plain old shorts, except they have a million details that made them take forever to finish:  pockets in the front, pockets in the back, flat felled seams, belt loops, double elastic casing, and then I had to go and use stripes so I had to (almost) match them.

But they held up all summer and will fit next year too. I’m crap at finishing garments properly; at some point I loose interest making it and just want the sewing to be over already, so I’m extra happy about these shorts. Everything is done on these shorts and stitched twice even.

These projects (and a few others I never took pictures of) are the products of leftover motivation from the kids clothes week challenge in the spring. It put me in the mindset that I didn’t need to buy any clothes for my kids because I could just make some silly.  There are almost a hundred of you signed up for the fall challenge already! Yee haw! Which is great because all that leftover motivation has gone stale and I need some of the fresh stuff.

p.s. some of you are having problems with the kcwc buttons and I really want to help, but I don’t know how.  If there are any of you more html savvy than I am could you head over to the comments and help them out. thanks!

After the resounding sucess of last spring’s kids clothes week challenge there was a call to have another when the temperatures cooled off a bit and I am glad to oblige.  The challenge will stay the same:

For one hour each day the week of September 20-26 work on making clothes for kids.

I’m going to soup it up a bit with a giveaway or two and maybe even a tutorial (if my camera is fixed by then). Mostly, though, it should be just like last time with scads of people sewing like crazy for their kids. If you didn’t participate last time or are on the fence this time, imagine what it would be like to have 200 people cheering you on and well, that’s what it felt like in the spring.  Just by working a little each day for one week you could have a beautiful winter coat made or all the christmas pajamas done or finally made something from that cute fabric you have been saving. Doesn’t that sound awesome?

I think most of us focused on sewing (and all the pattern tracing, fabric cutting, pinning, hemming and ironing that go with it) in the spring, but I don’t see why knitting and crocheting can’t count–though they are much slower going, so you can’t really be sure you will have a finished product at the end of the week, but then again, maybe the sewers can’t either! Warmer clothes can be a little more involved, but really pants are just long shorts–and I know you can make shorts. There was a fine showing of fall fashions from the southern hemisphere last time, so no whining that fall clothes take too long.

O.k. enough of me talking, time to sign up! Leave your name in the comments if you want to play along this fall. Feel free to take a button for your blog (you don’t have to have a blog to participate of course) and spread the word.

kcwc buttons:

(copy and paste the code under the buttons)

<a href=”http://www.elsiemarley.com/kids-clothes-week-challenge-fall-2010.html”>
<img src=”http://d1yops4utenhgf.cloudfront.net/kcwc_fall_button5.jpg”>
</a>

<a href=”http://www.elsiemarley.com/kids-clothes-week-challenge-fall-2010.html”>
<img src=”http://d1yops4utenhgf.cloudfront.net/kcwc_fall_button2.jpg”>
</a>

<a href=”http://www.elsiemarley.com/kids-clothes-week-challenge-fall-2010.html”>
<img src=”http://d1yops4utenhgf.cloudfront.net/kcwc_fall_button3.jpg”>
</a>

<a href=”http://www.elsiemarley.com/kids-clothes-week-challenge-fall-2010.html”>
<img src=”http://d1yops4utenhgf.cloudfront.net/kcwc_fall_button4.jpg”>
</a>

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kids clothes week reference:

inspiration and tutorial posts

• fall/winter clothes
• coats and sweaters
• warm things for baby
• hats, mittens and scarves
• halloween costumes

frequently asked questions

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Lake Michigan is so lovely–it’s like our little ocean here in the midwest.  It was hard to leave, but here we are back again and my daughter already in kindergarten (and me suddenly feeling like an old lady).  I promised updates on the fall edition of  the kids clothes week challenge and I am working on the buttons (graphic design not being my strong suit it takes a while) and the post, which you will get after labor day I hope–fitting because the summer will be officially over. Bring on Fall.

We are off to the lake for a week! I will be back with KCWC (kids clothes week challange, don’t you know) news and lots more.

See you then!

The other day we wrapped some tin foil in noodles. I thought they made for a pretty stylish necklace.

The project came from Todd Oldham’s awesome book Kid Made Modern. His first book, Handmade Made Modern, was decent, but this one is super fantstic. I think it’s aimed at kids around the ages 7-12, but there are some projects little ones can do and I would have loved it as a teenager–really even if you don’t have kids there are some super styish ideas you can steal.

In the book, Oldham takes mid century designers–Isamu Noguchi, Marimekko, Alexander Calder, Paul Rand, Charles and Rae Eames and so many more–tells you a little about them and their art and then presents a couple projects inspired by their work. The projects are organized by material–many of them recycled–or technique.   The printing, cardboard, tape and dye sections are some of my favorites, but I was taken by most of the projects.

I  didn’t mean for this to become a full on book review (I was just going to tell you about the noodles) but I think this is a fantastic craft book that is well put together and well thought out. And definitely not only for kids. If you feel like wrapping noodles in tin foil–you really don’t need the book for this project– but I would dab a little bit of glue on the noodle before you roll it up. We didn’t and I kept finding bits of tin foil around the house for the rest of the week.

Oh and look there is a kid made modern website with some extra projects and little videos, check it out!