Kids clothes Week - Pajamas

What!?! It was my birthday yesterday, and I was busy not posting. So, OK, I'm a day late, but the pajamas were finished in good time. Even if they do need to be tweeked. Sigh.

Soft summer lightweight knit pajamas in a fun print were on order for this week. Special order. From Raine. So here we go...

Which pattern to choose?

Well, I dug through my pattern box(es) and found this one, um, these. Pretty close to what Raine asked for. pull-over, v-neck, long shorts, short sleeves. check! Notice something else about the patterns? Took me a while to notice (and no telling how long I've had these, although the Butterick one is evidently a thrifted one, since it is, as the note mentions, cut down to size 12). Here, let me give you a closer look.

twins? You decide...

Yes, the fabrics on the garments the models for the patterns are wearing are the same. Similar style pattern, identical cover fabrics. Hmmmm....

Oh, well, onward. So I ended up using the Butterick pattern, really because I thought the 14 would be more the right size, but since it had been cut down, I just lengthened it for Raine.

summer pajamas

The shorts fit her great. Looking at the pattern again, I see that they make the top pretty loose, but Raine is just not very big around, and so she is swimming. Also, I might, maybe, have made the top a little TOOO long. Easy enough to fix, and I'm learning about my daughter's changing, growing body. She inherited narrow shoulders from me, and I will have to make some of the same adjustments for her that I do for me.

I also still need work on my lightweight knit sewing techniques. I'm just not happy with the the stretching as I sew on my Singer. I would like to try out some double needle on it, but will have to wair for the summer to build up my confidence to try it. Hope I can get better at them, because I would really like to work with them more.

Kid's Clothes Week Denim Jumper

After about 3 years of reading sewing blogs, I finally get into some kid's clothes week sewing! I've been reading a few of the bloggers, posting about the very cute clothes they are making for their very cute kids. Of course I love sewing for my daughter, but sometimes what I want to make does not go with what she wants to wear. Anyone else have that problem?

I have a stack of projects cut out for her. Since that is my least favorite part of sewing, I tend to cut out a pile, then sew them up at my leisure. Today, I tackled something that had been cut out for a while, and not for my daughter (who wouldn't wear it on a bet).

denim jumper/dress

I like sewing for kids, and occasionally will put together a few basic, versatile pieces to donate for kids who may need them. This time I put together a simple denim jumper dress, with a bit of lace fabric covering the yoke. I found some denim bias tape and used that to face the bottom of the armholes. I think this jumper will look totally cute on its own, paired with a t-shirt or even over tights or leggings and a turtleneck. There is a little bit of gathering of the body to the yoke of the dress, and it is a pretty basic design.

Tomorrow, I'm hoping to get some sewing done for Raine, and have something else to show off for kid's clothes week, this time Raine Style.

A New Skirt for Spring

I like khaki as a friendly, versitile neutral in my wardrobe, and not too long ago a friend of mine picked up a bolt of a khaki twill at a thrift store. She offered me half, and I took her up on it. It was a deal, and not just for something for me, but also I could make Raine some pants & shorts that are school uniform appropriate for school next year. The twill is lightweight enough for warm weather, and after washing was soft, with a kind of brushed side.

I looked through my patterns and picked out this one:

Apparantly, boxy to cover fat once seemed like a good idea

I thought the simple maxi in the top right corner would make a good and useful skirt, and actually looks like it has some shape to it. Elastic waist, kick pleat, easy (only 2 pattern pieces) with the slight inconvenience of no pockets.

So ,it is my first time to make a kick pleat, and mine came out well, although I think I should make another skirt and practice some more...

kick pleat and I matched up the hem on both sides pretty well. yay me!

The skirt fits well, and I'm looking forward to wearing it to school sometime soon. It isn't as full at the bottom as most of my skirts are, so I'm interested in knowing how I'll like it in the long run before I make some more, but I still think my cousin would like one. She wears skirts more often than I do.

tucked in the shirt so the whole skirt would show

Of course the skirt would look more fashionable on some one thinner, but that wouldn't be me. Maybe I should think about styling a little though... put together an outfit like I might wear to work, instead of my tie dye t-shirt that I just happened to have on...

Pattern Adaptation Fail

I've been working with Raine on some summer clothes for her. I've got a pants pattern that she likes pretty well, and looks good on her. I've made a couple of button-down shirts she will/did wear. I've made others though, that she would not. Even some I've consulted with her about, but when the time came to wear them, the answer was "no." Sigh.

This summer she is wanting some pull-over tunic-y style tops. That should be easy enough, right? Well, I couldn't find a pattern in my statsh that was exactly what she wanted, but I didn't let that stop me. It almost never does.

Here's the starting pattern

I dug out this pattern for a girl's top, thinking I could lengthen it suitably. It had a nice neckline detail in view G that I liked.

cute notch in the neckline

The top was  simple to cut out, and quick to sew up. Lengthening it gave it a nice, if subtle, fit and flair shape. I did bias tape facings at the sleeves.

All those dots confused the camera

It came out just as cute as it could be, notch in the neckline and all...

You can ALMOST see it.

The problem? It just doesn't fit Raine AT ALL. The neckline is too big, and reaches from shoulder to shoulder. The shirt is just too big around for her. I could fix that easily enough, if the neckline were better. The neckline didn't look too big until I had it all put together, and then I worried about it. She is my daughter after all, and got my narrow shoulders. Darn it.

Still the top is cute, and I won't throw it away. I will see if it will fit my niece, and if not, donate it to the battered women's shelter. It will fit someone, somewhere...

In the mean time, I have round two ready to go...

Messy desk

This is how my sewing table looked this morning:

Disaster area

Nothing could possibly be sewn here. There are projects and patterns and fabric and machines, and even some duct tape in view. Whew! What a mess!

When I thought about how my work area could get so piled with stuff, I had an epiphany. I sew almost every week. What with working and all, I don't sew every day, but almost every week. It is such good creative therapy. However, there are many weeks where I do not sew at that desk. In fact, I often don't sew at home.

I decided that I am a social sewer. I take one or other of those machines and pack them into my car, along with bags, boxes, baskets, and tubs of supplies (at times) and go somewhere to sew with friends. It's lovely, mostly - even if I don't get a lot of "my own" sewing done at these times. But sometimes when I get home, the piles accumulate.

So, today, I unpiled, and put away and organized. At least a little. At least the sewing table. I got out the basket of projects that I've cut out for my daughter

what to do?

I picked the project on top, because the serger had black thread on it, and I didn't want to take MORE time for rethreading. I went to work. about an hour later, I had a cute top put together. Had Raine try it on, and sigh. Meat for another post...

Got several things cut from that khaki fabric, including a skirt for me. Think it's time to rethread the serger!