Have you been following along with Jess and Kristin’s Vintage May? These two bloggers teamed up to show off handmade vintage-y kid’s clothes all month long. Many amazing bloggers have been making many amazing garments and tutorials too.  Today, hey, it’s me! Head on over to skirt as top to see more of this button up shirt made from a vintage sheets.

1. post  2. post  3. post  4. post  5. post  6. post 

While I was making this shirt, I started to think of all the other things I’ve made from vintage sheets. I used to be skeezed out by second hand sheets. All that yardage in awesome prints, though? Hard to pass up.  To over come my heebie jeebies, I wash the sheets a few times with extra hot water and let them dry in the sun. When you iron the sheets that thrift store smell appears again, but I power through knowing after I sew whatever it is I am making, I will never iron them again. All the projects above are new sheets made from old sheets (and one quilt). I’m a genius I know. We have extendable beds from Ikea, so the kids’ beds are all different weird sizes.

1.post  2.post  3.post  4.post  5.post  6.post  7.post  8.post 

Clothes from vintage sheets are much more fun. I think pajama pants from sheets and pillowcases are my favorite, but obviously I like a good floral tie too. More boy’s button up shirts from flowery sheets are definitely in my future.

I’m a little late with the last post of the week, sorry. Yesterday was so dark and rainy we couldn’t take any pictures (hence the wellies).

the fabric: this awesome star fabric is from JoAnn’s country club collection. I only remember the name because it’s hilarious. The fabric is a really nice bottomweight print, which I have the hardest time finding.

the pattern: half pants pattern letter S from Happy Homemade vol. 5 I’ve made the pants version of this pattern before–here–but added all kinds of piping and pockets.

the sewing: I made this pattern last summer, but never got around to finishing them. Ever do that? Well the half finished shorts don’t fit this year, but I liked the pattern so much I traced a bigger size. The pattern is nicely tailored and the tiny pocket is adorable, even if it’s totally useless.  I have to say, these skinny star shorts are pretty much the bomb: simple, long, good for school and play. I think this would work well for boys too, maybe in a size up from what they normally wear so it’s not so, so tight.

Each day in the flickr pool has been better than the last. On this, the final day of kcwc, your handmade clothes are pretty much blowing my mind. Check out these amazing garments:

1. yoke dress for kcwc

2. striped dress

3. robot baseball tee with rainbow stripes

4. organic cotton pj’s

Sometimes the idea is much more exciting than the actual outcome. But still matching, stripy pants and shorts are pretty cute

the pattern: same as these pants, letter o from Happy Homemade vol 2 in two sizes. This was totally the wrong pattern to use for the shorts, but the perfect one for the pants.  The idea I had for the shorts was something more like this, but then I got all wrapped up in saving the pockets from the original pants (see below). The front pockets were nice, slash pockets, but the back ones, I discovered later, were fake. It was a waste of time and energy and screwed up my plan.

the fabric: those pants up there. They were mine, but I felt like a fool every time I walked out of the house in them.

the sewing: I didn’t intend to get two garments out of one pair of pants. I was only going to make shorts and really to make the shorts I wanted to make–bloomers with a contrasting band–I shouldn’t have made the pants. Oh well. The little pants turned out super cute and the shorts are fine, I guess.

The flickr pool is bursting with amazing garments, many of them upcycled ones. Of all the discussions on flickr this week, my favorite has to be the one about all our mistakes and straight up sewing failures. Late at night, when I’m screwing up every possible way, it’s good to know I’m not alone!

1. pinafore made reversible 

2. top naii

3. raglan tee

4. stripe and color block top

Yesterday’s outfit was very subdued, but today we’re going color block crazy! I am very happy with how this whole outfit turned out. I didn’t imagine the skirt and the top going together when I made them, but they do! Michael Kors would say it’s very on trend (then Nina Garcia would tear it apart) and I suppose it is, but it’s still little kid too.

the pattern: ayashe blouse pattern by figgy’s

the fabric: vintage sheet

the sewing: For as complicated as this shirt looks, it wasn’t all that difficult. I did have to wrestle with the collar a bit, but it turned out well enough. My fabric cutting can get kind of sloppy and the collar’s measurements need to be exactly right to work. Next time I’ll pay a bit more attention when I’m cutting it out. There will be a next time, because really this was supposed to be a muslin. I made the 6/7 size for my 6 1/2 girl and it just fits, but I’m guessing it won’t by the end of the summer. The only thing I changed was to finish the sleeves in bias tape. Oh and I skipped the elastic at the bottom too.

the pattern: I didn’t really use a pattern, but kind of used this skirt as a guide.

the fabric: The top part is from an old shirt, the orange is some weird, slinky, cottony stuff I picked up at the thrift store, and the pockets are quilting cotton. Every bit came from my scrap bin.

the sewing: I saw this photo of a color block dress a while back on pinterest and immediately wanted to make a similar skirt or dress for my daughter. I picked through my scrap bin and came across the orange and light blue, which I loved together, but had very little of either. I pieced them together like a quilt and slapped some pretty aqua pockets on top. I fussed with the ratio of light blue to orange for far too long. Finally I said screw it, sewed elastic in, and called it done.

If you follow me on twitter or facebook you know already, but this is the biggest kcwc yet!  With 640 participants, not only is it the biggest kcwc, but it is almost twice as big as any we’ve ever had! When I ask you get to get the word out, wow! you really get the word out there!  You guys are awesome. The flickr pool is starting to fill up and any minute now it’s going to explode with amazing kid clothes. Here are today’s beauties:

1. me so crazy vintage twirl skirt

2. figgy’s sunki tunic

3. cars board shorts

4. houndstooth cardigan

edited to add: oops, just check the flickr pool and it already exploded.

1. girlies in pjs  2. Hand dyed, wool jersey vest and leggings 3.  raincoat 4. fishsticks and fries austin lee romper 5. pocket shirt 6. Peasant top and repurposed skirt 7. pockets 8. crazy stripey crawler pants 9. pink sweater II 10. gypsy forest 11. elephant and elbow patches 12.  Abby jacket 13. strawberry skirt 14. raw edged raglan tee–bamboo knit 15. school days coat  16. 90 minute shirts

Another KCWC has come and gone and you have made it amazing! One little nudge and suddenly all these cute kids have  closets full of beautiful handmade clothes.  The momentum this kcwc was unreal. Usually there is about a 50/50 split between the fizzle outers and the get ‘r doners, but it seemed like everyone was getting stuff done this fall.  No reason to let that good sewing mojo go to waste. I know you have a life to get back to, but don’t forget that just a little bit early in the morning or after the kids go to bed a couple times a week adds up to a lot of finished projects!

1. clever charlotte 2. too sweets 3. tea collection 4. charm stitch 5. crafty mamas 6. ida pearle 7. secret cake 8. sew many patterns 9. re+new by five green acres 10. vistaprint 11. little part 12. that’s me! want to be a sponsor?

I was very excited to see all the new faces this kcwc as well. You can find some great new (to you) blogs I’m sure either in the comments section of this post or from this flickr discussion.  We all need to support each other in our crafty endevors! You can continue to support your fellow sewist by subscribing to their blog (and mine right there in the sidebar)– it’s like a virtual pat on the back. A little encouragement can do a lot, just look at the kcwc flickr pool! And my amazing sponsors could use your support too. We are all in this together!