There are a bunch of sewing-for-yourself sew-alongs going on at the moment. It’s hard not to get swept up in all the bloggy excitement.

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Recently my daughter has been into pink. Waaaay into it. Especially when it’s paired with purple. Oh, barf. Pink has never been a color I’ve been attracted to and though I’m sometimes strangely drawn to purple, it’s not my favorite either. Together? No way! Sewing something you hate is no fun, but sewing something that will end up being hated is even worse.

So I came up with a compromise: a salmony pink paired with burnt orange. Boom! We both love it. The pink is a thrifted sweatshirt fabric that is super soft on the inside–sweatshirt fleece maybe. Is there such a thing? And the orange is an old tee shirt. The pattern is completely made up and I’m not super happy with it, but I think it’ll do.

It’s a raglan sleeve with a high-low hem. I haven’t been able to get this shirt that Brienne made out of my head. There was going to be a lot more color blocking going on, but in the end it was too much. I love the idea of striped cuffs, but I liked this shirt more with 3/4 length sleeves. My daughter did not agree, so I made the sleeve hem big enough to roll up. It’s all about compromise these days.

The gold polka dot leggings were easy peasy. The only mishap came when I went to hem the bottoms. Instead of pressing a nice crease, my iron melted the damn fabric. Luckily they melted in just the right place, so they’re not too short. I serged the bottoms and called it a day.

Stylish, comfy, pink: this outfit ticks all the boxes.

If you’d like to know more about these items, you can see all the details on their KCW page: sweatshirt and leggings.

I get caught in this kid clothes making cycle (it’s a long cycle, so stay with me):  When the season changes, I get really excited about making my kids clothes and make them like crazy. Then usually burn out a bit and take a break from all the making. While I’m taking a break my children either A. refuse to wear the clothes I’ve made or B. destroy the clothes I’ve made by wearing them.

This sends me into a “why do I make their clothes by hand anyway?” downward spiral. Meanwhile my children have grown and now actually need clothes that fit–rather than “need” clothes for the new season.

Inevitably, I end up at Target, where the pants are on sale for 8 dollars. Pants, mind you, that have zippers and pockets and belt loops–all of which take time and patience and way more than $8 in effort. I swear off making clothes forever!

Despite myself, I see something (again probably at Target, damn you Target!) so stylish and so simple, that I think, “well, I could make that.” And the whole cycle begins again.

orange and blue raglan tee

the fabric: two old shirts from the thrift store. The blue one was a V-neck. See the little part of the V peeking out? Even though it’s super wonky, it’s my favorite part.

the pattern: Tee for Two. The good ol’ raglan pattern from Figgy’s. It’s in the book, Sewing For Boys.

the sewing: I sewed this at the beginning of winter and it came together super fast, but now it’s been worn and washed and loved so much it’s coming apart a bit at the seams. ARGH!

The kids clothes week challenge is here! Gather up your supplies and your ambious list of things to sew and carve out an hour to work on it today. Then hop over to the flickr group and show us what you’re making. Be sure to check back here because as a special treat I have lined up a giveaway for everyday this week! Lots of them have to do with sewing children’s clothes, but some are just cute and I wish I could win, but I’ll let you have all the fun.

I have to confess did my sewing last week so I could have some things done to show you this week. There are some smarty pants out there who did all their cutting out ahead of time, so the flickr group is already starting to fill up with cute handmade clothes. This little number is the dress version of the Tee for Two pattern from Patterns by Figgy. It’s an amazing pattern for a simple raglan sleeve shirt in knit fabric, done on a plain old sewing machine, with all the seams on the outside and the hems left stylishly (and effortlessly) raw.

This means the shirt will be comfortable, itch free and definitely worn. It also means that you have to sew with WRONG sides together, which is very clearly stated in the directions, but it turns out there is some automatic mechanism in my brain that will not let me sew with wrong sides facing because I had to unpick the same seam three times before I got it right. It’s not like I was tired and not paying attention either: I had coffee in my system, it was mid-morning, quiet even, but my brain kept flipping the fabric behind my back.

If you think you can sew the seams on the outside without your brain short circuting, then you should leave a comment to win this very pattern. That’s right Shelley from Patterns by Figgy has generously donated the Tee for Two pattern for the first giveaway.  The shirt can be long sleeved or short sleeved, or even a dress with a little gathering at the front and flutter sleeves–super customizable and for boys and girls sizes 12mo.-6/7. So leave a comment with some ridicuous sewing desaster you’ve had, or your grand plans for the week, or the weather report, or just say hi. I will use the random number picker thing tomorrow and post an update on this post with the winner.

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THE GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!

The winner is #62, Rebecca from The Prepared Family. Congratulations Rebecca!

I used random.org and if I knew how to show you the little picture of the number picker I would, but I promise it said 62.

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