Posts Tagged ‘kids’

guest post: tutorial for a cuffy outfit

I want to welcome Sophie from Roubidou as our first guest poster this week! I have been watching her sew tiny, beautiful clothes all through her pregnancy: quilted jackets and fuzzy vests and amazing ensembles! Even though she was very, very pregnant, she agreed to write up a tutorial for us. And wow, what a tutorial it is! A cuff is a lovely detail and now you can put it on a shirt, a jacket, a pair of pants, or all three. After you’ve finished reading the tutorial she made, go have a look at the lovely baby she just made! Congratulations Sophie!
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Hello dear Elsie Marley readers,

When Meg asked me to do a little tutorial for KCWC I was pleased as punch not only for an opportunity to be a guest on one of my favourite blogs but also to be part of this autumn’s sewing frolic after all (our daughter is supposed to arrive on the 10th). I sewed the outfit to introduce three slightly different types of cuffs and hope you can follow the instructions without too much effort. I’m a self-trained dilettante so the tutorial below is merely what worked for me.

Happy KCWC,

Sophie

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Shirt:

1. Sew the shirt as indicated by your pattern ignoring the instructions for the sleeve finish. Look at the given seam allowance and the sleeve finish method of the pattern, calculate the length of your cuff plus seam allowance to determine how much you’ll shorten the sleeve before adding the cuff and placket. To save fabric you could do this before cutting the fabric. If you have your little client ready and willing have her/him put on the garment to tailor the sleeves according to his/her measurement.

2. Make a pattern for you placket and cut out the placket twice (you’ll want mirroring plackets unlike the ones in the photo).

3. Place the placket with its ride side onto the wrong side of the sleeve and sew a little rectangle. Slash through the placket and sleeve down centre right between the stitches and carefully clip to the corners of the rectangle.

4. Turn the placket to the right side of the fabric and press. Now it’s likely to become a bit finicky. I very much prefer sewing for kids since it is so much quicker, pieces are easier to handle and you need less fabric. But sewing this placket, especially for a size 2 shirt, I wished I was sewing an adult sized shirt. To help you through this fabric origami it might be good idea to have a ‘real’ shirt with a placket lying next to you for visual guidance.

5. Fold back the long edge of the shorter side of the placket and pin in place. Then sew the folded edge in place stopping at the top of the gap. Tie the thread ends securely on the wrong side.

6. Next, fold the other side of the placket across the shorter side and press under the long edge. Fold back so that the pressed-under edge is on the sewing line and pin in place. Now, fold under the top pointed end,and press. Sew the long folded edge and make sure the underside of the placket is not caught in the stitching. Stitch an X at the end of the placket. Finish by tying the thread ends on the wrong side.

7. Now, gather the sleeve, stitching along the sleeve line with the longest stitch available on your sewing machine. Pull on the threads to manipulate the sleeve.

8. Cut out the cuff in the desired size. I used a one-piece cuff cut from the fabric in one piece and applied fusible interfacing to the half of the cuff that will be the upper cuff. Fold the seam of the non-interfaced side and press. Next sew the cuff onto the sleeve, right side to right side and trim the seam allowance. It’s important that you have an overlap as large as your seam allowance on both sides.

9. Fold and press the cuff to itself, right side to right side, so the folded side of the cuff comes to the sleeve-to-cuff seamline. Sew the ends in line with the two openings, cut the seam allowance, and press the seams open.

10. Trim, turn and press the cuff to the right side. I sewed the folded under cuff in place by machine, but if you want an invisible finish for your could,  hand stitch the folded edge on the inside with a blind-stitch or a slip-stitch.

11. Make a buttonhole on the upper side of the cuff and sew a button on the underside of the cuff. Repeat for the other sleeve.

Jacket:

1. Sew your jacket bearing the same alterations in mind as with the shirt.

2. Now on to the band cuff. Cut the cuff in the desired size, you’ll have two pieces of different fabric per cuff. Since the outside fabric is already thick I didn’t use fusible interfacing, depending on your fabric you might want to apply interfacing to the upper cuff. Pin the two pieces together, right sides facing, and turn under a seam allowance on the under cuff and press. Stitch the lower edge together. Trim and press open the cuff. 

 

3. Then sew the short side ends together, trim and press again. 

4. If you want to gather the sleeve before sewing on the cuff, do so now. Then sew the sleeve to the upper cuff, right sides facing. Trim and grade the seam. 

5. Press the seam allowance towards the cuff. Turn the cuff inside along the foldline, wrong sides facing. On the inside of the sleeve sew the under cuff in place either by machine or handstitch.

6. Repeat for the other sleeve and that’s it. 

Pants:

1. This cuff is sewn very similar to the shirt cuff. The main construction difference is that this is a lapped cuff which is used for bound or faced openings. I didn’t use any of these openings since I lined the pants and had my raw seams of the opening sandwiched between the lining and the main fabric. With a lapped cuff you’ll have to sew the cuff onto the knee sleeve with an overlap where the button will be. Sew your pants bearing the same alterations in mind as with the shirt

2. Now to the cuff. Start by sewing a line of piping (with your zipper foot) long enough for two sleeve cuffs. Then cut the cuffs in the desired size (i simply used a cereal bowl to trace the round edges). You’ll need four pieces altogether, I used the same fabric inside as outside in order not to distract from the piping. Pin the piping to the right side of one sleeve cuff. Stitch close to the stitching line on the piping, sewing with your zipper foot.

3. Turn under a seam allowance on the under cuff and press. Place the under cuff over the piping, right sides facing an sew the outer line of the cuff close to the previous stitch and the piping again with your zipper foot. Trim, turn and press the cuff.

4. Now attach the cuff to the knee sleeve as you did with the shirt but leave a seam allowance on one side and an overlap (long enough for your button) on the other side. Sew the cuff to the knee sleeve as you did with the shirt. Fold and press the cuff to itself, right side to right side, so the folded side of the cuff comes to the knee-sleeve-to-cuff seamline. Sew the shirt end in line with the opening and trim. Sew the overlap end along from the knee-sleeve to-cuff-seamline and then down to the cuff. Clip the corners and press the seams open. Push to the right side and finish the edge of the under cuff either by hand or machine.

5. Make a buttonhole on the upper side of the cuff and sew a button on the underside of the cuff. Repeat for the other knee sleeve.

And ready is a cuffy outfit.

Posted October 3rd, 2011 in tutorials. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , .

bunting tag tutorial

Next week is the kids clothes week challenge! Have you signed up? Do you have a plan? Are you making piles of fabric? My list consists mostly of pants, coats, and some shirts. Not particularly exciting, but it’s what my kids need.

This week I wanted to have a slew of tutorials to get everyone excited to sew next week. There are so many good tutorials out there for simple pants and shirts already. Like these–

tutorials for basic kids clothes

  1. simple pants pattern
  2. basic coat pattern
  3. ringer shirt tutorial
  4. hoodie to pullover refashion
  5. kimono pattern
  6. raglan shirt pattern

So instead of patterns and tutorials for pants or tops, I’ve asked some super fantastic children’s clothes makers (and bloggers) to come up with tutorials for details you can add to basic pieces: patches, hoods, pintucks.  Sounds awesome, right? This week will be like the pre-game party for kcwc!

bunting tag tutorial

I’m going to kick it off with a little detail tutorial of my own: the bunting tag tutorial. I try to remember to put tags in all the clothes I make, because if I don’t my son will inevitably wear his pants backwards. The elsie marley tag I have is gray–nice and subtle, but not very noticeable to a four year old. So I’ve had to come up with other, more visible tags to use. Bunting, banners, triangles on strings, whatever you call them they are everywhere, so I figured why not put them in your pants?

the bunting tag tutorial

bunting tag materials

Materials

  • bias tape–double fold, single fold, it doesn’t matter just use what you have
  • pins
  • scissors
  • iron
  • an article of clothing to put your tags in

bunting tag tutorial steps 1 and 2

Directions

1.  Cut five 2 inch pieces of bias tape. You can use all the same color or different colors, whatever you like. Oh yeah, that is some metallic gold bias tape up there!

2.  Open up one side of the bias tape and iron it flat. Then fold up the folded side to make a triangle–see above photo. 

bunting tag tutorial steps 3,4,5

3.  Turn the triangle over so the fold is in the back. Line them up in the order you like.

4.  Check to see if the triangles are evenly spaced by placing a piece of paper over the raw edges (the bit of cardboard that comes with bias tape works well for this).  This also lets you see what the tag will look like when it’s sewn into your clothes–the triangles overlapping no longer shows and it looks more like a proper bunting.

5.  Pin the triangles and sew or bast them together.  Trim the raw edges to about 1/4 inch.

bunting tags!

6. Insert the bunting where you would normally put a tag (the back, duh) and sew that sucker in. Ta Da! A bunting in your pants!  Now your kids won’t put their clothes on backwards and while you are folding the laundry you’ll smile a little when you see these little tags .

 

 

Posted October 2nd, 2011 in tutorials. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , .

felt masks

handmade owl, elephant, and cat masks

A little friend of ours turned 3 last week. I had the damnest time coming up with something to make for him. He’s got a super crafty mama, so that lucky boy is kitted out with capes and bags and awesome appliqued shirts. And all the other things you would make for little boys.

handmade felt cat mask

I figured the dress up box could always use a few more things, so I sewed up these felt masks. I started with a mask template I made from a paper plate and then went crazy with a bag of felt scraps.  There was a lot of white, gray, and orange felt in the bag, so out came a cat, an elephant, and an owl.

handmade felt elephant mask

I had the best time making the elephant. His ears are extra wonky and homemade, but I’m so in love with his pompom headpiece I don’t care. It was sort of a last minute addition too. If I had thought of it earlier I would have dressed him up more!

handmade felt owl mask

Mostly I made up the patterns as I went along except I did steal the owl mask idea from Martha (she’s got so many ideas, she won’t notice). These were so fun to make and halloween is coming up so fast, I might have to make some more.  I might even go crazy and write up a tutorial. But which one? Or should I make something else?

 

Posted September 26th, 2011 in craft. Tagged: , , , , .

kcwc fall 2011!


kcwc button for fall 2011

It’s time again for another edition of KCWC: kids clothes week challenge.  KCWC is a twice-annual event where I challenge you to commit to sew children’s clothes for an hour each day for 7 days. Fall is coming (at least in these parts) and my kids could use some cozy pants and sweaters–and pretty soon we’ll need hats and mittens too! All that sewing is a little overwhelming, but I am always amazed at how much I get done by putting in a bit of time every day.

kcwc button for fall 2011 (spin)

If you have more questions about how KCWC works, you can jump over to the FAQ page. Then jump back here and leave a comment on this post telling me you are in! That’s all it takes. Then on the second week of October there will be hundreds (really, hundreds) of people cheering you on to make awesome clothes for your kids.

kcwc button for fall 2011 (blue)

In the mean time, feel free to browse around the elsiemarley flickr group for inspiration–join the group so you can post pictures for this one–and look at my posts from older KCWCs! If you have a blog, you can copy and paste the button below (fancy, html code to come when tech support/husband returns).  So leave a comment and sign up! spread the word! sew like crazy!

 

kcwc fall 2011 buttons:

kcwc-button-fall-2011

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kcwc_button_fall_2011

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kcwc_button_fall_2011

 

Posted September 13th, 2011 in kcwc fall 2011, kids clothes week challenge. Tagged: , , , , .

the end of summer

Here are a few bits from our summer I never got around telling you about:

animal parade

waking up to a parade of animals

muffin tin lunch

living on muffin tin lunches

giant bubbles

making giant bubbles

chalk paint

painting with chalk

popsicle stick sculpture

making popsicle stick sculptures with pompoms and mama’s hot glue gun.

monkey cupcakes

eating monkey cupcakes

cycropia

and staying up too late to watch people dance in the trees.

There were of course many trips to the beach and weekend festivals and backyard sprinkler days and huddled by the air conditioner watching movies days. And I think it was a pretty good summer all and all. All three kids were home with me full time and managed not to lose my mind until the last week or so. I tried to have at least one project a day–here is my kid craft board on pinterest that I used a bunch–sometimes just as simple as cutting up some fruit for lunch, but it helped give our days some structure.  I hope your summer was wonderful! Now bring on fall.

Posted September 6th, 2011 in kid art. Tagged: , , .