Yes, I know, KCW is over–very much over. But hey I went in cold and started too many things (as per always) so I needed another week to finish things. Plus, dear Lord! the cold! and the sickness! Will winter ever end?!

No, it won’t. At least not for 2 more long months, which is why I made these warm pants for my son. They look like wool, but are actually polyester, and they’re lined with flannel. I used the Jacob pattern by Zonen 09 and some lady’s very stylish slacks from the 70s to make these cozy dancing pants. She must have been a very tiny lady, because the waistband practically fit my 7 year old!

I had to reuse the waistband, because I barely had enough fabric to eek out the rest of the pants. It looks a little weird with the [fake] fly opening one way and the [fake] closure opening the other. But I’m 99% sure no one is going to notice.

I had a different top planned for this outfit, but then I found this striped sweater I had cut out already. I realize he looks a little crazy…

…but he loves it (the crazy and the shirt). The shirt is upcycled from a ladies sweater and made with the Flashback Tee pattern. Both the pants and the sweater came from this crazy thrift store called the Dig&Save. All the thrift store rejects go there. You have to dig around in giant bins to find anything and everything is priced by the pound.

It’s an odd place, but a treasure trove of fabric. You really have to dive in (almost literally) and trust your instincts. I was drawn to these polyester pants, but as I was sewing them I had a moment of fear: Is he going to be teased because his mom so obviously made his pants.

Do you worry about this? Cherie from You & Mie started a great conversation on instagram about kids dressing themselves–do you let them? do you edit the craziness? do you encourage it? do you feel pressure to dress them just right? I think the hashtag was #realkidsrealclothes if you want to join the conversation.

I obviously encourage the crazy, but maybe it’s time I pulled back. Grade school is tough. As a parent, it’s hard to know when to lead and when to let your kids figure it out on their own. They are little, but they’re big, but really they’re little. Agh! All of this from a pair of polyester pants.

You get two for one today. That is, if you are not sick of looking at pillows yet. You probably think I’m crazy for making all these, but I had been thinking about making a bunch of pillows for ages. It’s amazing how much time I can waste just staring at fabric. This week was a nice kick in the pants to just decide already, they are only pillows you know.

To answer a few questions:

• yes, I’m using pillow forms.
• yes, zippers are really easy. I used this zipper tutorial, but erin has a fancy dancy video tutorial that will talk you through each step.
• yes, I’d love a cup of coffee, thank you.

When I first saw the actual mociun tie front dress I think I was pregnant and it looked like some sort of godsend. A dress that is stylish and functional through pregnancy nursing and beyond? I mean that doesn’t ever happen. Then I saw it on cakies last year and she was pregnant and obviously thinking the same thing. Her post led me to Anna’s blog, wildflower::pretty, and she told me how to make it. Of course it took a year for me to actually get up the courage to start.

I made a muslin and thank god I did, because my first try turned out ridiculously poofy. I had to alter it a few times before it fit at least kind of right, but I forgot to alter the pattern I made, so then I had to take the whole muslin apart and use it as a pattern for the real dress. Then I was so nervous about actually making it that I cut it a little bigger than I should have. When I’m nervous I make things bigger, which isn’t so much of a problem with kid’s clothes, but I don’t want to bank on getting bigger to fit into my own clothes.  So I had to take it in a bunch, which fucked up the arm holes and left me with no extra fabric for pockets. And this dress really needs pockets.  I made it a little longers than Anna’s, which might make it a little dowdy, but I’m not big on knees.

But even with all of that I still really like it. It is the perfect dress for summertime and yes, for nursing too. I am definitely going to make another one, but I think I need some fabric help. I used a really lightweight shirting for this dress and it’s ok, but it’s doesn’t hang quite right–it’s a little stiff. I just noticed the original is silk crepe. Man, I know nothing about garment fabrics. All I know is that I like natural materials and I don’t like ironing. Can I have both or was polyester invented because ironing sucks?  Where do you go to buy fabric for clothes (no saying Mood you spoiled new yorkers)? There is a nice little fabric store in my neighborhood where the fabrics themselves are nice, but the prints tend towards the old lady end of the spectrum. How do you buy fabric online if you don’t know what it feels like? Any advice at all would be super duper appreciated.

I feel like I have to say something about ripping this design off, because I so obviously stole it. I love the clothes at mociun and have bought clothes from them before, but can’t really afford to do so. And I could have never afforded this dress, on sale or not.  Is that enough? I support small designers and I’m not copying their designs for profit, so why do I still feel crappy about it?  Imitation blah blah blah flattery, right?