Thursday 24 October 2013

KCW Projects 1 & 2 - tiered skirt and hooded top


I seem to have got off to a slow start this Kids' Clothes Week. I have quite a few items in various stages of production, and even managed to finish one of them on the first day, but haven't been able to photograph and blog til now. The timing is perfect for me to make some summer clothes for R as last year's dresses are looking tragically short - more like tops, really - and with school looming next year I'm feeling the need to sew like crazy while she's still able to wear casual clothes every day.


So here are projects 1 and 2: a tiered skirt in seersucker, loosely based on the measurements for the one in Happy Homemade vol. 2, and - from the same book - a hooded top in linen. I adore the linen; it's a beautiful dusty shade of blue and is very light, perfect for warm weather. The skirt was straightforward, the top less so. I found the binding instructions a bit confusing and am still not sure I did it the way the author intended (despite using an English version of the book!). Then I made stupid, time-wasting mistakes like putting the sleeves on the wrong way and sewing seams badly so I had to unpick them, which, as I had matched the cotton perfectly to the fabric, was a very difficult task. The top is lovely but the neckline is huge on R, so if I make it again I will have to do some adjustments.


Now if I can just finish the dress, leggings and track-suit pants I've half-sewn, I'll be very happy with myself...

10 comments:

  1. Love the skirt!!! I've tried to make a tiered one like this before and it did not turn out so well :o) I came over from the KCW blog... fun times right?? I'm loving sewing more this week. Emily@nap-timecreations.com

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    1. Thanks! I'm enjoying KCW but organising kids for photo sessions is tough work :)

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  2. Love this outfit! So summery and cute. I was just thinking about making same hoodie top, so if I figure out how to finish the neckline I will let you know! And your daughter is so adorable :)

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    1. Yes please do let me know!! I forgot to write in my post that I didn't like the idea of having an exposed seam on the inside of the hood, so I sewed a strip of binding over it. I think next time I'll line the hood with something very lightweight. to avoid this issue.

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  3. Hi! I loved your top and skirt!
    I've just bought Happy Home Made. I think this will become one of my favorite books...

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    1. Thanks Marta. I'm sure you'll get a lot of use from the book, it has such a great selection of patterns.

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  4. I was looking at your Flick photo, thinking, hmmm that neckline looks different to how I do it...
    I've made this four times now, having just done two for Halloween cloaks and I agree, the instructions are infuriatingly bad, and I've got the "English" version too (there really aren't any words anyway, just pictures, may as well be in Japanese!). Once you've done it right it makes sense.
    I wish I'd photographed the one's I just made to put on the blog to help anyone else out.
    your fabrics are gorgeous and the whole outfit lovely.

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    1. Thanks, Lightning. I looked through your blog (love the Halloween ghosties!) but, sadly, found no photographic clues as to how you sew the neckline. If you could explain it to me I'd really appreciate it, because I'm sure I'll sew the hoodie again before too long.

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    2. My apologies. My blog is only quite new and there are plenty of things I sewed before having a blog which never made it onto the blog and certainly not during construction.. I should make another one and take photos along the way. ...

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    3. Don't apologise - you said there weren't any close-up photos; I was just checking in case I could find something to help me figure it out!

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