Tiered skirt and too-big singlet

Another summer outfit for R, inspired by a beautiful blue linen-cotton found at Darn Cheap. The skirt is a simple tiered skirt with an elastic waistband from Kids Clothes Sewing Lesson Book; it's the sort of style you could easily figure out yourself but from time to time it's nice to use a pattern. The one in the book has attached shorts underneath, but I didn't want those so I just left them off. There's really nothing much to say about this skirt except that you shouldn't make one of these if you don't like gathering!

The top is a free pattern from www.smalldreamfactory.com, widened a bit (too much, as it turns out - this is one that will definitely still fit next year!) and gathered a bit at front and back. As with the last one I made, I crossed the straps at the back. They are a bit loose, so some further adjustment will be required. The fabric is cotton jersey leftover from a previous project.

With more super-hot days coming up in Melbourne, loose skirts and singlets are going to be the things to wear!

The summer of short dresses

Having coveted this dark green Nani IRO double gauze for several years, I decided it was time to buy some (a Miss Matatabi sale last year was the straw that broke the camel's back!). I used a pattern from Kids Clothes Sewing Lesson Book, modified to remove the ruffled sleeves and the front pintucks. The dress fastens at the back with long ties.

I've sewn this dress before so it really should have been a straightforward exercise, but when I tried the finished bodice on R it was too wide, perhaps due to replacing the tucks with gathers. I had to redraft it - once I'd unpicked my beautiful armhole facings and french seams, that is. But it all worked out in the end and it's exactly as I'd imagined it: a simple, sleeveless short dress to show off the beautiful fabric with its neon spots (and the long, brown legs of its wearer!).

Now for the green dress - it's another one I've made before. For this I used a fabulous bright green cotton jersey from Spotlight (all the more fabulous for having been found on the clearance table!).

It's a very simple pattern which is also from Kids Clothes Sewing Lesson Book - a great book which has loads of useful patterns and includes detailed photographic 'sewing lessons' for several of them. I made only one change: leaving off the pockets. The dress fastens with a press stud at the back, concealed by a little bow. R's new shorter hairstyle is perfect for dresses with a back detail - very pleasing!

I love the simple lines and short length of the dress, and R loves that it's easy to pull on and off. Win, win.

A drop-waist Laure and a cosy cardi

I was so thrilled with my first Laure dress that I could hardly wait to make another - but real life intervened and when things got tough I didn't feel like sewing. Now that things have taken a turn for the better, I'm back at the sewing machine and loving it!

So this is the drop-waist version of the Laure, made in Three Cats shweshwe, a traditional South African cotton fabric. There's not much to say about this dress except that it's a great pattern with a great fit and I love it just as much as the qipao. R showed me a special spot in a local park that's full of lovely trees and we had a nice little wander, with her pointing out items of interest and me clicking away. 

The red cardigan is from this Japanese pattern book and was a nice easy sew. I used the same beautiful wool jersey I used for R's Arrietty dress and some scraps of red shweshwe for the facing. I think it goes perfectly with the Laure dress and it's also nice and cosy for autumn and winter.

I have a couple of other sewing projects on the go and I'm so looking forward to getting stuck into them. Pity it's Monday tomorrow...

KCW - a summer outfit

So often I read on someone's blog that they just 'whipped something up' in an hour or two, and I am always amazed and impressed that anyone can sew that quickly. My own sewing always seemes dogged by interruptions, mistakes and the discovery that I am lacking certain crucial items (zips, buttons, thread). But last night I surprised myself by whipping up something super-quick. Something straightforward, with a two-piece pattern and with no zips or buttons. And it was SO satisfying!

This little singlet in cotton jersey was a nice easy sew, even with a few modifications. I used this free pattern from small dreamfactory - it only goes up to size 4, but that size is spot-on for R's measurements. To get a less tightly-fitting singlet I added a few centimetres to the width of front and back pieces and gathered the neckline and back before sewing the bias tape (which was just a length of the same jersey, cut cross-grain). I also crossed the straps at the back for a bit of interest - the pattern has them going straight down.

The shorts are from Kids Clothes Sewing Lesson Book and were made last week, so not strictly a Kids Clothes Week item, but I'm throwing them in anyway. This is a really cute pattern with front and back pockets and an elasticised ribbed waist. I used a French terry from Darn Cheap (another $2 p/m find, hooray!) and I really hope R will wear these despite her anti-pants stance because they fit her so beautifully.

In a final, frenzied burst of activity this afternoon, I sewed a bucket hat from this tried-and-true Oliver + S free pattern. I made size L, and as with my last version, I broadened the brim, added grommets to feed a strap through, and eliminated the hand-sewing by using this easy method. Having lots of scraps of striped jersey lying around my (insanely messy) sewing room, I added faux piping to the edge of the brim so it matches nicely with the singlet.

Now I'm looking forward to taking a breather and checking out everyone's projects on the Kids Clothes Week site!

KCW: forest friends dress

Another hastily-photographed garment on an unwilling model, this time a simple dress from Kids' Clothes Sewing Lesson Book. The star here is the fabric, a beautifully soft Birch knit from their 'Acorn Trail' range.

The fabric is utterly divine, from the unusual bluey-green hue to the sweet little girl and forest animals pictured on it. When I chose it I thought R would probably welcome a change from the plainish fabrics I tend to use, and I imagined her closely examining each little creature on her dress and making up stories about where the girl is going. To go with the dress I made some leggings which match far better in real life than they do in these photos (I promise!) using a corally-pink cotton jersery which had been waiting in my cupboard for this very purpose. They didn't get modelled but they do fit wonderfully, which is more than I can say for most of the leggings I've made in the past!

I've made a dress from this pattern before - see here - and although the neckline of that one is slightly too large (it slips off her shoulder) the fit is otherwise pretty good. So with this version I kept to the same size, adding a bit of extra length, sewing in-seam pockets instead of patch ones, omitting the back closure and using a neckband made of the same fabric. I hoped this last modification would make the neck a little smaller, and while it doesn't slip off R's shoulders like the other dress, it seems a little baggy around the neck and chest - in fact, it hangs quite differently from dress number one. Never mind; the colour is stunning on R, it's had compliments already and - who knows - it may change a bit once it's been through the wash. Oh, and if you're wondering why I'm making a t-shirt dress in late autumn, it's because I didn't have enough fabric to make the long-sleeved tunic I was planning to make!

Pineapple dress

Pineapples are all the rage, so a friend told me recently. All I know is that this cotton knit fabric called out to me from the racks of Darn Cheap Fabrics, and since I didn't think I could get away with wearing so much tropical fruit, I made a dress for R.

The pattern is dress M-2 from the Japanese Sewing Lesson Book and while I loved the look of it on the model in the book, it came out a little baggy on R - this despite my having used my usual trick of making the width a size smaller AND taking a couple of centimetres off at the centre folds of front and back. Never mind, it still looks pretty good and it's bound to be very comfy to wear.

This pattern is a simple one: just front, back, sleeves and pockets, but the little details of the angled pocket tops (see photo above right) and the cute bow closure at the back (almost too cute, but I knew R would love it) make it special.

Anyway, who doesn't love pineapples?

Kids Clothes Week: chevron top and triangle skirt

I time-shifted my KCW sewing, knowing that this week was going to filled with preparations for R's 6th birthday party (just 25 of her closest friends, plus their parents, plus R's grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins). So what I'm showing you here was finished last week and photographed today. You'd think I could have photographed it in time to get in early for KCW, but R had so many excuses for not modelling, it took forever to convince/bribe/threaten her so I could get it done (and I still don't know what she was doing in the photo at bottom right - fighting off an imaginary foe, perhaps?). Anyway, I'm relieved to be blogging this at last, in between packing lolly bags, sewing bunting and researching make-ahead finger foods. 

Here are the details:

Grey triangle skirt with elephant pockets

Fabric: cotton from Spotlight
Pattern: based on skirt C from Sewing Lesson Book, but essentially self-drafted (the Japanese instructions looked too complicated, so I just cut pieces by eye and put them together in my own way).
Result: I'm very happy with this one, especially given my very gung-ho approach to making it. It's a great fit and the big pockets are perfect for stuffing with acorns, which R can never resist picking up. 

Orange chevron top

Fabric: cotton jersey from Spotlight
Pattern: the beachy boatneck, with sleeves modified to be slightly puffy. I used this tutorial and added 2" to the sleeves.
Result: this is a good fit with a bit of room to grow. I was aiming for a little more puffiness in the sleeves, but they're perfectly acceptable as is. 

Chevron skirt (mini-me size, suitable for wombats)

R's toy wombat scored a little skirt. A wombat in a skirt is, of course, totally absurd, but that's what she went with when I asked her to choose which lucky toy would be getting new clothing. I must say, it's pleasingly fast to sew things for toy wombats, and they are very cooperative when it comes to trying things on. Unlike children.

And lastly...

I made R this fishtail rainbow-loom bracelet to match the top - the chevron shapes of the bands coordinate so brilliantly! If only I'd remembered to get her to wear it while modelling - or maybe I should have put it on the wombat...?

Twin needles and two tops

Last week I tried a twin needle for the first time and I'm a convert. This thing is fantastic for finishing hems and sleeves - you get the lovely double row of stitching plus a zigzag stitch on the reverse side which allows for stretch.

I used my new needle(s) for the sleeves of an envelope-neck t-shirt, which I made in cotton jersey using pattern M-3 in size 110 from Children's Clothes Lesson Book. For the neck edging and the contrast band at the bottom (not in the pattern) I used another cotton jersey from the same range. It is a loose fit on R but I'm happy with the sizing and wouldn't change it.

I bought the same fabric in another colour to make a beachy boatneck with three-quarter sleeves. I made a slightly lengthened size 4 (R is nearly 6 but has a narrow chest) and it's a beautiful fit. I used scraps from the first t-shirt to make the facing, and was very happy to be able to use my twin needle to overstitch the neckline and to finish the hem and sleeves.

R was a bit of a reluctant model today. She has just started her first year of school and by Friday afternoon she is stressed and exhausted, ready to have a meltdown at the drop of a hat (luckily my son has spent all his spare time for the past week hunched over a desk making rainbow loom bracelets, so at least I've only really had one child to deal with). For my ill-timed photo shoot she adopted a range of unhappy expressions ranging from sulky through to exasperated - until I asked her to smooth her skirt down so I didn't wind up with a photo of her undies, which she found so hilarious she couldn't stop laughing.

I love the curved hemline of the beachy boatneck, and I also adore the colour of this fabric (I think they call it 'latte'). I'm feeling inspired to sew lots more stretchy tops and t-shirts, but it's hard to find attractive knit fabrics in natural fibres. Is there some secret shop in Melbourne I should know about? Or will I have to go international and order a year's worth of knits from Girl Charlee?