KCWC Day 6 & 7

Leggings:

• pattern: Fancy Little Leggings by Birdiful Stitches


• size: 12 months


• fabric: gray french terry


• mods: none.

• pattern: Fancy Little Leggings by Birdiful Stitches


• size: 12 months


• fabric: blue jersey (reverses to gray)


• mods: double layered ruffles at hems.

Dress:

• pattern: Sweet Little Dress by Leile & Ben


• size: 12 months


• fabric: quilter's cotton prints; Kona cotton solid


• mods: Cut the bodice pattern a few inches under the arms and pieced in a "waistband" to shape; added two tiers; hemless finish.

I've so enjoyed this week of sewing! I got all the things I cut out last week sewn up, plus three pairs of leggings! Abigail has a sizable wardrobe of pretty dresses, skirts, bloomers, and leggings, most for this summer, I hope.

 

One whole week's worth of sewing! (I should point out, the blue ruffled skirt I'd already hemmed all the ruffles a few weeks previous)

KCWC Day 5 - RUFFLES!!

I think this is my favourite thing I've sewed up so far!



skirt:

• pattern: Layered Ruffle Skirt tutorial


• fabrics: random blue cottons scraps from other projects and navy sheer (organza?) from curtains


• size: I think about 12-18 months, though it can probably fit for a long time.

leggings:

• pattern: Fancy Little Leggings by Birdiful Stitches


• fabric: geek tee from some computer conference my hubby went to!


• size: 12 months. They look large compared to her 9mo Carter's leggings... will have to see.

I think I could use this set for her first birthday in August!

KCWC Day 4

Today I actually got a bit more done than this - I prepped the many ruffles for a skirt that I'll hopefully finish tomorrow. The pants:

• pattern: Child's Boutique Style Pants from Fleece Fun


• fabric: argyle fleece I've had in my stash for a looong time


• mods: added some contrast between the leg and the ruffle; trimmed 1.5" off the top of the pants pattern and added a contrasting waistband with elastic inside.

I also fixed a pair of tiny socks I knitted for Abigail when I was still pregnant. They finally fit her very little feet, but keep slipping off her tubby calves. So I hand-sewed a short length of lingerie elastic (I love this stuff!) inside the ankle, and now she can't get them off!!

KCWC Day 3

More Kids' Clothes Week Challenge stuff!



This morning I whipped together this little pleated skirt in the space of about 1/2hr! I didn't use a pattern - I based it on the sizing of a pair of  12mo pants. The camo is a medium-weight twill from my stash. I have no idea how it'll fit - looks maybe like 18-24 mo? Here's approximately what I did:

• measured the waist, cut an interlock waistband slightly shorter and 3.5" wide, cut a piece of foldover elastic a half inch shorter.


• serged the short ends together, right sides facing, with the elastic about 3/8" from the bottom edge, then folded the waistband with elastic inside.


• took the hip measurement of the pants, multiplied by 1.5 for skirt width, and measured down the pants for an approximate length.


• sewed the sides together, then made 1" deep pleats on the front and back, starting from the centre out, to approximately fit the waistband (left a few inches for stretching room).


• serged the waistband on, right sides facing, raw edges together.


• For the hem, I cut a strip of the purple stripes 2" wide by the width of the skirt and seam allowances (thanks for the stripes, Suzanne!). I sewed the short edges together, then folded it in half lengthwise, wrong sides together, and pressed. I matched the raw edges of the strip and skirt hem, right sides together, serged, then pressed the strip down on the outside.


• pressed the pleats flat on the outside, all the way down to the hem.

The gray dress is another variation on the Sweet Little Dress.

• size: 12 months


• fabric: random bottomweight from my stash - gray with flowers, reverses to solid gray


• mods: I cut the centre front of the front dress piece a couple of inches narrower, then cut a rectangle to fit the space, about 1.5 times the length of the dress. I gathered the rectangle on both edges and sewed in between the two front dress pieces, with the reverse side of the gray to the outside. The rest of the dress as per the pattern, except that on the sleeves I flipped the casing to the outside to show the gray reverse.

This fabric was a little too heavy to try this with. Gathering it evenly was really hard - the fabric has a lot of body and not much drape. I love the way it looks, but will remember to use lighter fabric if I want to try this again.

 

KCWC Day 2

Two little dresses are the result of today's sewing for Kids' Clothing Week. I love both of them!

green & pink:

• pattern: Leila & Ben Sweet Little Dress


• size: 12 months


• fabrics: cottons


• mods: did a rolled hem using my serger for the sleeves and neckline, then zigzagged the elastic about 1cm in from the edge, instead of doing a casing. Not sure I like the neck - might be a bit too ruffly by her face.

red & pink:

• pattern: Leila & Ben Sweet Little Dress


• size: 12 months


• fabrics: Andalusia by Patty Young for Michael Miller; coordinating quilter's cotton; pink organza


• mods: Sewed a doubled strip of organza under hem and sleeve


• fit on both dresses: a little large still - she's wearing between 6 and 12 months sizes ready-to-wear.

 

KCWC Day 1

So - I actually got a bit more than an hour's worth of sewing in today, while watching the election results!  And my little lady happily posed in her new pretties.



bloomers

• pattern: Fishsticks Designs


• size: 12 months


• fabric:  cottons


• mods:  I added an inch to the bottom of the bloomers pattern, did a rolled hem with the serger, skipped the knit cuffs and sewed some lingerie elastic an inch up from the edge. Also cut the waistband and the inside elastic an inch shorter because Abigail is so tiny still.


• fit: perfect fit over her cloth diapers! Should fit for the summer, I hope.

bonnet

• pattern: Prudent Baby


• size: about 6-9 months


• fabric: quilting cottons


• mods: 1/4" seam allowances to make the size a touch bigger; stretched the elastic tighter and further; no snap so it's more adjustable (the straps can tie in a knot easily)


• fit: could be a little taller for Abigail's big head! I think she's closer to 12 month size.

KCWC starts today!

Here's what I have cut out to hopefully sew up this week! I'm planning to post my progress each evening.

• 4 variations on Sweet Little Dress (pattern: Leila & Ben)


• 1 bonnet (pattern: Prudent Baby)


• 1 WIP skirt (pattern: sweetie pie bakery)


• 1 skirt - no pattern


• 1 pair fleece pants (pattern: Fleece Fun)


• 2 pair AJ Bottoms bloomers (pattern: Fishsticks Designs)

My friend Suzanne over at Making More With Less is joining in too.

It's been more than an hour...

...but I'm still feeling crafty!  Trying my hand at setting up this blog has been educational, for sure, but I'm loving Wordpress so far!

Expect the first show 'n tell craft post next week! I'm joining in with Elsie Marley's Kids' Clothes Week Challenge. So far I've already traced and cut out some of the patterns I want to use and started cutting fabric too! The challenge is to work on kids' clothing for an hour each day. I'm hoping that  getting some of the deciding and cutting out of the way will be an extra boost to help me finish more. Are you joining in too?

Till next week then!