Ruffle top - Happy Homemade Kids Vol 2

Hello and happy new year! I'm hoping to do a bit of a review of the past years craft, but in the meantime I wanted to try to get through the backlog of things that I have made but haven't blogged...



This sweet little top, made for my little girl (middle child) is another pattern from my copy of the Japanese pattern book Happy Homemade Kids Vol 2. It's the third pattern I've made from this book (others here and here) and I do like the style of the book, though I think you need a reasonable amount of sewing experience to use it as the descriptions are brief and assume a certain amount of knowledge.



My girl chose the fabric herself on a trip to Spotlight with me and her sister. I had to have a little laugh to myself at how reflective of their personalities both my girls choices of fabric were :-) This little firecracker of a kid chose this unusual bright teal coloured fabric shot with silver metallic threads, while her sister chose a sedate floral cotton :-).



It was a strange fabric to sew with as when it was ironed the metallic threads sort of kink with the heat then need to be straightened out again. It behaved unpredictably but ended up quite sweet and full of personality... hmm!

I'm considering adding another tier to the top though as it's a bit short, but she loves it. And I'm strangely looking forward to seeing what her next choice of fabric will be...

Kids bucket hat

We were due to go away recently and  I did my usual pre-holiday rush around shopping for things. You know how it goes: one child needs socks, another has outgrown her shoes, someone else has been making do with something that now desperately needs replacing... at least that's how it goes in our house - holiday time highlights all those little things that need to be done!



I had planned on buying my boy a sun hat as I didn't want to stay up til all hours the night before sewing (which I must admit I've done many many times). But I couldn't find anything I liked for a price I was happy to pay, so I gritted my teeth and got on with sewing one (after some grumbling to the Mr about how I'd prefer to be sewing anything else ;-). I really don't enjoy sewing bucket hats - all that easing in around the circle trying not to get puckers does my head in, and come to think of it I don't enjoy easing in at any time - I like those top patterns where you attach the sleeve cap to the bodice and then just sew from the sleeve right down to the hem. I know it's not the 'correct' way to do it but saves a lot of frustration!



Anyway, I used this pattern which I've used before and is fine (I think most use the same easing-in method), and remembered this time to add a heavy interfacing to the brim to keep it stiff. The fabric I used was some leftover scraps of Ikea fabric that I'd screen printed and used for Abby's baby bag. Incidentally I've finally added a link to my tutorial on the right.

And speaking of Abby, have you seen her blog post announcing that she's doing a month of handmade present ideas for men and boys in November? What a great idea. I think this hat would be a good one, if only I could get over my dislike of easing in!

Little red riding hood costume

I have such a backlog of stuff to blog, I wish I could just think the post and it would be done :-), none of this taking pics, editing, writing etc etc, it just appears. Maybe one day it will be possible, who knows!

Anyway... a little project I worked on several weeks ago were costumes for the girls' book parade at school. Big girl went as Pippi Longstocking, which was pretty easy, mainly just doing hair and pulling together a few clothes, but little girl was adamant right from the start that she wanted to be Little Red Riding Hood... this would need a bit more planning. And because it's her first year at school I wanted to make it all fun and nice for her.



I thought it wouldn't be too much to do...



First I made a little red cape from the 'Reversible play cape' pattern in my much-used copy of the book Growing Up Sew Liberated. I used a mid weight cotton for the outer layer and lined it with red polyester satin. Instead of adding a button to fasten the cape I made 2 strips of bias binding and sewed them between the 2 layers.



Great for twirling in apparently :-)



And a little skirt and apron from some stash fabric: the gingham skirt is just a rectangle joined with a seam and an elasticised waist. Then I made the apron by sewing a lace trim to a piece of white cotton and adding a waistband with Velcro at the back. I added her white skivvy and she was excited to wear her favourite red shoes to school :-)



She then said she'd have to have a basket with red apples inside and a little cloth on top... well, I admire her attention to detail, though it did give me more running around to do (that seems to be a kid's job these days!!).



I'd definitely recommend the cape pattern to anyone looking for a play cape, it's a quick, easy sew with great results - lots of bang for your buck!

Little girl merino wool cardigans

I've realised lately that some of my sewing endevours seem to be emotionally driven. A recent example: my big girl was due to go on a sleepover party. I'm happy for her that she enjoys going to sleepovers, but I have to admit that I don't much like having her away from me overnight... it just makes me feel slightly anxious. I know that one day the ties will need to be cut, but for now stretching them can be a little hard for a sook like me.  So... with just hours until she left I decided that my girl might get cold and that she definitely needed a new cardigan to take with her. It was a race against time, but I thought I might just be able to do it. Of course what I was doing was distracting myself and also making something from me for her to take with her.


I'd recently bought a metre of beautiful fuchsia coloured merino wool from The Fabric Store to make myself another Briar, and as it was very wide I figured I could also get a cardigan for my girl from it. The wool would be super warm (she feels the cold) but lightweight and easy to stow away in her bag when not in use.

When I'd finished it she loved the cardigan, the sewing had distracted me and I'd got to use more of the merino wool. Win! Of course her little sister then wanted one :-) Luckily I happened to have a small amount of another merino wool in the stash, this one a deep orange colour. This time around I was not under so much time pressure and got to do a better job.


I used the popular Flashback Skinny Tee pattern as a base shape to adapt. First I slashed the front pattern piece down the centre, then rounded the corners off. I wanted a clean, simple look so bound the edges in the same fabric. I had intended to add a button closure but as they sat so well I didn't bother.


These were such a satisfying sew (aside from the emotional stuff ;-), pretty easy to sew and quite quick too. And I can't rave enough about merino wool and how much I love to use it: it cuts well, sews well, is warm and soft and lovely to wear.



Here's my little girl wearing her cardigan on Mothers Day, doing some dance moves for the camera ;-)

KCW bubble shorts

On Sunday night I ended my sewing for KCW by finishing a pair of shorts for each of my girls.

One of my favourite things about KCW is discovering new patterns. I'd been looking for a shorts pattern for the girls over summer, something practical but pretty, with a little detail but not too complicated... but couldn't find anything I really liked. Then the other day I noticed popping up on the Flickr feed Bubble Shorts by Elegance & Elephants (find the pattern here), and it looked perfect :-) It was also available as a downloadable PDF, which I like, and it arrived in a flash - yay!

* After our talk about 'modelling' for pics this week this is what they gave me, hee hee :-) *

Even though we are in autumn and heading for cool weather I thought the girls could wear these year round with the addition of leggings or tights. I love the layered look. Not sure if I could get away with it myself, though I do have the Sewaholic Thurlow pattern sitting in my stash and may investigate ;-)

Once again I used linen from my stash (I seem to have been subconsciously hoarding linen!). I think the pattern lends itself to the unstructured (ie: crumpled) look of linen. I'm also thinking of making some for big girl in a light flannel for winter. I think big girl wasn't convinced about the chocolate brown when I first showed her the fabric. I tried to explain that it is a great base for wearing with other colours and luckily she was happy when they were finished. I think my point about it being more 'grown-up' helped too, as this is obviously a desirable thing when you're 8!!

* photo bombing her sister's pic. Please excuse the school holidays unbrushed hair and general scruffiness :-)

Phew, well with KCW over again for now I enjoyed a bit of time away from the sewing machine last night, but I do have lots of other things I'd love to make for the kids. The poor boy missed out this time and desperately needs pjs, so that should probably by on my list next!

If you were in on KCW I hope you had a good time too. Looking forward to the next one already :-)

 

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KWC Japanese pattern pullover parka

Yesterday was the last official day of KWC and I finished off a couple of things that I loved sewing - show you tomorrow :-) And before that I finished this little top for my big girl.

This top was on my initial KCW list (the list changed quite a bit ;-) and is a pattern I've been wanting to try for a while now. In fact I bought the pattern book 'Happy Handmade Home Vol 2' based on how much I loved this little pattern, the 'pullover parka' (pictured here also with her shorts made from the book for the last KCW. Read about them here).

My girl is 8 now and I'm finding that I'm looking for patterns that are not too little girlish but also not too teen-looking. She's getting to that tricky age. So I thought this design would be nice for her, and on a practical level a good autumn top to throw on over a t-shirt. I chose this mid weight blue/purple linen from my stash which we both love. Thank goodness the days are gone where everything needs to be pink!!

I made a few small changes to the pattern. Firstly I used french seams to finish the edges. See how the hood flops open in the above pic? I hated the thought of seeing ugly overlocking (serging) every time I looked at it, so I did this as a French seam, and once I'd done that, thought I might as well do them all in the same way, and they turned out really well.
The sleeves in the pattern are 3/4 length, and I lengthened them a little for a bit more coverage, and I also added some elastic to them for a pretty look and so she could push them up her arm. I also added elastic to the hem. The pattern called for a string tie but I thought that would annoy her (and me, who would probably end up helping her with it each time (gotta think ahead for easy dressing, I find ;-).

Of course the linen was lovely to sew with and presses like a dream. Ahh, I love linen. See how it drapes in the above pic? So pretty, I think.
OK, back tomorrow to show you my other creations. I've so enjoyed this KCW.

KCWC prep

It's Kids Clothing Week time again - yay! And there's now a dedicated blog. Fancy!

I think this may be the third (or fourth?) time I've participated. It seems to come around so quickly, and sometimes it's a good timing for me whilst other times it's not. This time is not so great in that it's school holidays and so the kids are going to bed late, I'm extra tired each day and there's often prep to do for the next day's activities. But... the kids could do with some autumn clothes and I do love being part of the KCWC community - so much inspiration and fun!

So, here's my wish list to date. I'm sure it will change but gotta start somewhere:

* Pull-over parka for the big girl from this Japanese pattern book: Happy Handmade Home vol 2

* maybe another little cap for my boy after the one I made him last year went missing :-( Don't you hate that!

* Leggings for both girls

* Pyjamas for all 3

Phew! Well that all won't happen, but here's hoping that at least some of them materialise.

I would also love to sew the Sugar City Village Frock while my littlest girl is still small enough, but she is notorious for not wearing clothes that I have spent many hours labouring over, and this looks like a lot of work!

Are you doing KCW? Do you plan or just go with the flow?

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Rollie Pollies

This week I completed a project that ticked lots of boxes for me and left me feeling pretty satisfied, yay!

The starting point for this one was that we'd had 2 garbage bags full of those little bean bag beans hanging around in storage for ages and over time they'd gotten a few holes and leaked, arghh! Have you seen what a mess those pesky little white balls make? They get everywhere. But I didn't want to throw them out so I'd planned to make bean bag covers for them and encase them in fabric forever!

Sitting in my stash for ages has been Made's Rollie Pollie pattern, bought for this exact purpose. The pattern comes in 2 different sizes, and even though the small size is marked for children aged 1-2 and my kids are older (7, 5 & 3) I decided to make this size as I wanted them to be like little seats or poufs, portable and not taking up too much precious living room space, rather than big and slouchy.

I had intended to use the stripey fabric on the left for all of them but only had enough for one (I'd forgotten I'd previously made this duffel bag from some of it). So it was off to Ikea to choose some more. Big girl chose the ladybird fabric and I couldn't go past the lovely birdy design again. Then I ran out of beans after the first 2 so had to use some old stuffing from pillows... veering away again from my initial reason for making them! But of course I couldn't stop at two - I'd never hear the end of it!

The pattern includes instructions for making both the inner, to encase the beans, and then the removable outer with handle. I knew I'd need to have washable outers - these have had a lot of love and use in just this short time, but I must admit that by the time I was up to the third Rollie Pollie I was pretty over it and so the sewing was quite rushed. But they'll do fine.

And here's the other reason I wanted to make them pouf-like :-) Hope you have a relaxing, creative weekend!

Belatedly joining in on My Creative Space this week.

 

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Baby doll quilt set

Lately I haven't been feeling hugely creative as this 'settling in period' for our family seems to drag on: one kid starting preschool - many tears involved, one starting school - many tantrums involved, and one continuing at school - needing lots of motivation. So with the tiredness, tears and tantrums (sometimes theirs, occasionally mine too), by the time they are actually in bed at night and all the housework is done, I just haven't got enough mentally or physically to start a new project. Even if I really wanted to earlier in the day.

But, I had promised our lovely preschool director late last year that I would make some bedding for the baby dolls in their home corner. And considering that she has been dealing with my crying/screaming son a couple of times a week, sometimes peeling him off me and comforting him til he stopped crying, once even negotiating with him to get out of the car and come inside while I stood on the footpath despairing of what to do next, I decided it would be a nice time to honour my promise and get on with it!

I decided on making a pillow with pillowcase, sheet and quilt set.

They have 4 cute little baby baskets in the home corner so I made one for each in different fabric scraps from my stash (feeling better about the stash when I can use it for useful things like this :-)

Choosing the fabrics was so much fun.

And I should note that I use the term 'quilting' very loosely - I just used some batting between layers and stitched it to the base layer.

And then sewed and hand stitched coordinating bias binding on.

My girls chose this last fabric combo when I'd run out of inspiration and I really like it - always great to get the kids perspective :-)

Joining in with my creative space over here again and wishing you a minimum of tears and tantrums at your house this week!

 

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Girls harem pants

My lovely friend K showed me some gorgeous harem pants that she'd bought for one of her daughters just before Christmas. I was pretty impressed with them as a great summer alternative to skirts for girls, so when K suggested we take a pattern from them I jumped at the chance.

I made a pair for each of my girls for Christmas, these ones (for little girl) were the most successful. The fabric is a soft cotton poly mix from Spotlight. I thought the retro print would suit my little firecracker :-) who just happens to be starting school tomorrow!

Some little details I enjoyed adding were some little faux ties at the front which I added little bells onto for some jingle, and also the little tag at the back - simple but somehow pleasing!

She's had a lot of wear from these already. Apparently they are good for a bit of boogying, hee hee!

Here's my little sketch in case you're interested in the construction - 2 pieces sewn together (french seams for strength) with elastic at waist and ankles.

I'd quite like some in my size now, just need to find the right fabric...

As usual my creative space is happening over here.

 

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The batman (AKA 'my mum's a sook') backpack

The next couple of weeks are a bit anxious for me, with my little boy starting preschool for the first time, my little girl starting school for the first time and my big girl going into year 3.

In true form I have been making things. This seems to A: keep me busy so I'm not fretting about them and B: provide a little something of me to carry along with them as they make their way into the world away from me (pass the tissues, please).

So this little backpack was made for my boy to take along to preschool. I bought the Toddler Backpack pattern from Made by Rae and used a piece of Japanese produced Batman fabric. He had chosen the fabric on an outing to my favourite fabric shop quite a while ago. He had been so patient on this particular outing that when he begged me for it I felt I couldn't say no. But it's been languishing in the stash and he keeps asking me "where's my Batman fabric mum?" so I figured it was time to use it.

I love all the cute details in the pattern. Piping is something I've been experimenting with lately anyway so it was nice to have another excuse to do a bit of it. And I loved making the padded straps - so satisfying ;-). In addition to the pattern details I also added elasticised side pockets for his drink bottle and other bits (technique learnt on this bag) and also an inside pocket with Velcro closure.

I lined it with the same fabric I used for the piping. I wanted to use the Batman fabric sparingly so that it didn't overpower the bag design and I'm happy with the balance. I like the look of the sky blue against the chocolate brown and hopefully it has enough little boy appeal without being over the top. My sewing skills are going to be tested on this project - I'm hoping this backpack will last him the 2 years of preschool until he starts big school. We'll see!

And he certainly does love his backpack (phew!). When I gave it to him he was really pleased (be still my heart :-).

I loved this pattern and hope to make more backpacks in future. Of course my big girl asked for one too when she saw it "with birds and hearts on it please mum". Hmm.

Pop on over to my creative space for lots of creative goodness.

 

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Halloween trick or treat bags

Craft for kids has been at the centre of my creative space this week. There's been a lot going on but not much time spare to blog it.

Anyway... Here are some bags I made for the kids for Halloween to take trick or treating. Last year we had the plastic ones which I think I must have given to the charity shop in a clean-up, as I couldn't find them. They always annoyed me as they took up so much precious storage space, so when I decided to sew some (of course!) I wanted something easy to fold away to use the following years.

I used some stash velvet for the outsides (see, it's useful having a stash - she says, trying to justify it ;-). The grey was a piece from Ikea and the black was an old thrifted skirt. I drew some halloween shapes onto felt, cut them out and machine stitched them on. The lining is a pale grey cotton from the stash.

It's a shame I didn't think to get some pics of them stuffed with lollies, being held tightly by little hands. They looked pretty cute.

And they were fun to make too, though the deadline got a little tight at the last moment! And as usual the back of the appliqué is strangely more interesting. Have you noticed how that tends to happen?

We also made some of these little ghosts from lollipops, wrapping a circle of white paper around, tying it with string and then drawing eyes and mouth on. I can't remember where I saw the idea, but it was a nice little touch, we'll definitely do them again.

More creative spaces to check out over here.

 

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