A few weeks ago, with kid’s clothes week looming, I did not want to sew.  I really did not want to sew any clothes for my kids, though they did in fact need them (and still do!). Begrudingly I got out my sketchbook to figure out something to sew. The theme of KCW was storybook, so I got some of my favorites off the shelf.

One of which is by a friend of ours, Ida Pearle. Her book, A Child’s Day (affiliate link) is full of gorgeous cut paper collages depicting children acting, dancing, hiding, jumping, and playing their way through every letter of the alphabet. The clothes Ida created for the children in the book are stunning. Both the styles and the prints translate easily into handmade clothes–and they have! Mary Frances from this is marzipan made many outfits for her boys all based on pages from this book. (more…)

If you are interested in sewing kid’s clothes you have certainly by now heard of Willow & Co. It is a group of 8 amazing designers who have banded together to create seasonal children’s clothing pattern collections.  Their first collection is called Wanderlust: Glamping Edition and it has been praised up and down the internet.

Hayley from Welcome to the Mouse House invited me along on the Glamping Tour (thanks, Hayley!). I said yes right away and then took forever to decided what to make. There are dresses and tunics and ponchos and jumpsuits and oh! it was so hard to decide. In the end, (more…)

I am particularly excited about this dress. Mostly because I drafted the whole thing myself (pretty much on the fly) and it turned out even better than I imagined. The satisfaction of dreaming something up, struggling with it, and then making it work is like no other. And it is why I love sewing.

The inspiration for my daughter’s Easter dress was this amazing Marimekko dress.  You know those pictures that you keep returning to again and again (on pinterest or in magazines or wherever it is you find your inspiration)? Where each time you see them you fall in love with them all over again. The picture of that dress was like that for me. (more…)

We have had a very chilly spring here is Wisconsin this year. Thank goodness too, because this sweater dress has been on the to sew list since the fall! You know how it is: all the new, exciting projects always budge in line.

the pattern: Rae’s Flashback Skinny Tee , size 7. Obviously, I lengthened it. I also created more of an A-line shape by drawing an angled line from the armpit to the hem. Kristin explained how to transform the pattern into a summer dress for last spring’s KCW. Speaking of, did you see we kicked off a week of guest post-ers on the new kcw blog?

the fabric: an odd bit of sweater-y fabric I found in a thrift store in northern Wisconsin + a bit of a purple sweater (the one I used to make this cardigan).

the sewing: The main part of the dress came together super quick. The neckline tripped me up a bit. Mostly because I tried to use the neckline from the purple sweater. I had to rip it up and start again over. I also used the cuffs from the purple sweater, which I don’t like, but they aren’t awful so I skipped redoing them.

the fit: spot on! The last flashback skinny dress I made, I sized it up myself. It worked, but it wasn’t perfect. Rae has since sized the pattern up for bigger kids. The skinny tee is such a wardrobe staple, I know this pattern will get used for a long time.

The dress is getting worn–caught on film a few times, too! Paired with a polka dot tights, wellies, and a stocking cap one time. Another time she even matched her mama!

Today I am over at You & Mie for her series on Japanese Sewing Books. The series walks you through all the steps you need to know  from Japanese pattern books. They can be a bit intimidating, but they also can be a lot of fun. My post is all about finding your pattern and tracing it. Sounds easy, but there are some tricks you need to know. Hop on over to Cherie’s lovely blog for my post, and all the guest posts this week!

In honor of Japanese Sewing Books week, I sewed up this sundress from my favorite Japanese sewing book, Happy Homemade Vol. 2. Well, to be honest, I dug up this dress that I sewed most of last spring, then hemmed it and added buttons (in honor of Japanese Sewing Books week). Why I sew 90% of something and then abandon it is beyond me.

But anyway, it’s done and (still) fits! I’m going to do a form style report on this one, because 3 days into spring break and the children have run me ragged already. My brain is not functioning at full capcity.

the fabric: oh, the fabric is lovely. It is 100% cotton shirting I got from the good fabric store in my neighborhood. They have a lot of beautiful fabrics, but mostly in ugly prints. This tiny blue stripe was perfect, though. It’s a good weight too, just right for when (if?) summer comes. I went with polka dot buttons because it’s stripes + polka dots up in here, all the time.

the pattern: the pattern is from Happy Homemade Vol. 2. I sew from this book a lot; I talk about it a lot too.  I think it’s a great 1st Japanese sewing book. I’d love to do some sort of sew-along thing-a-bob with the patterns in the book. Anyone up for it? Maybe after KCW? Anyway, the pattern. The pattern was pretty simple, because, well the dress is pretty simple. I do remember the armholes being super fussy and weird.

the sewing: There was a little swearing, but there alway is, isn’t there? The fabric was dreamy. The striped bias tape turned out really nice, as did the bias cut bodice piece. I’d say not bad for a dress half done, abandoned, and (because it’s almost Easter, I’m just going to go for it and say…) resurrected. Ha!