Last week was Kids Clothing Week (KWC), and what did I get done? Not much. I did plan a lot of projects though, so that counts right?
The one thing I did finish, was four sets of pyjamas. The spring PJs were a big hit with the kids, and they needed more so I just did the same thing again.
All the sizes!
The kids chose the fabrics – all Angry Birds prints. I used the Bedtime Story Pajamas sewing pattern by Oliver + S, for the bottoms, and appliquéd an angry bird from each print onto store-bought t-shirts for the tops.
Of all the prints my kids chose, this one is my favourite.
I’ve made thesepyjama pants eleven (!) times before. Yikes, that is a big number. But they are definitely my go-to pyjama pattern for kids. Quick, easy and great results every time.
Fence in White, Stars in Blue, Rainbow in Pink and Rainbow in Purple, all from the Angry Birds collection and all licensed to David Textiles by Rovio Entertainment, LTD. I bought this at the local chain shop.
Sketch in Grey by Timeless Treasures for the waistbands and leg bindings.
Sizes: 18-24m, 4, 6.
Sewing Level: beginner, intermediate if not just the pants.
Modifications: None.
Results: Excellent! I’ve made these 11 times before. I would highly recommend this pattern.
Taking photos of tired kids at bedtime is sooooo difficult!
Just to be clear: The Angry Birds name is trademarked by Rovio Entertainment, LTD and used by the fabric manufacturer under licence. The pjs shown here are not official licensed products and are not available for sale. But you can always buy some fabric and make your own!
A little while ago I showed you a white dress I made for Kid No 2. But of course Kids 1 and 3 also needed new dresses for summer.
A perfect dress for summer.
In total I made three Geranium Dresses. I made them all assembly-line-style, so they are all the same, except for the fabric choices. It’s just so much faster that way!
I made the size 2. I was worried it would be too large, but it was just right.I love this fabric. Such a pretty colour.I made the size 7, and it’s a little large, but hopefully that just means it will last longer. And yes, that’s Nemo photobombing.
I made one dress in size 2, and the other in size 7, and both were made with fabric from my stash.
Yup, this one passes the twirl test.This one passes the jumping test.
The butterfly fabric was left over from some tops I made last summer. And the lilac has been in my stash for an embarrassing long time. So it’s great to get them turned into something wearable.
I used white piping with this dress.
Since I’ve already sewn this pattern twicebefore, there’s not much to add. But it’s a great pattern, and I’m very happy with the finished dresses.
The fabric is Sunset from the Fly Away collection by Amy Schindler for Robert Kaufman.This time, I used turquoise piping at the waist.I really like this pattern, and I’m so glad it comes in larger sizes now.
Fabric: Sunset from the Fly Away collection by Amy Schindler for Robert Kaufman. FloraDots in Violet from the La Dee Da collection by Erin McMorries for Free Spirit Fabrics. The lining is white cotton batiste. The piping is made with Kona solids.
So for the last day of school, and beginning of summer, everyone got a new white dress. Well, except Kid No 2, but he’s more of a summer shorts fan anyway.
This is the first of three dresses, and it’s made with the cutest print. Who doesn’t love ladybugs?
I made the faux cap sleeves from view B of the Geranium dress.
This time around, I made the dress with the view B faux cap sleeves, but with a gathered skirt. I made two changes. I added red piping at the waist, and I added in-seam pockets.
I added red piping to the waistband for a bit of colour.
This dress was made for Kid No 3, and is a huge hit. She loves ladybugs and the colour red, and recently asked me why she doesn’t have “a dress that twirls”. The pockets are hidden in the gathers of the skirt, and she loves the “secret pockets” too.
Aren’t white dresses adorable? (also a bit hard to photograph)Front detail of the Geranium dress.I used simple white buttons from my stash.The pockets practically disappear, but trust me, they’re there.The Geranium dress from Made by Rae, as sewn by The Finished Garment, A Warp & Weft Sewing Society project.
This was a lot of fun to sew. The pattern makes a really pretty dress that’s lined and nicely finished on the inside. But the sewing was quick and problem-free.
Warp & Weft Sewing Society
This is a Warp & Weft Sewing Society project. We are a group of talented sewists and quilters creating beautiful projects inspired by the fabrics from Warp & Weft Exquisite Textiles.
Kid No 1 needed a pirate costume for her school play, and I figured, if I was going to make something, I should make something she could wear all summer. I decided a stripy maxi skirt would be just the thing.
I didn’t use a pattern for this one. I just followed the Girls’ Knit Maxi Skirt Tutorial by Crafting Chicks. It was very simple and straight-forward, and the whole thing took under an hour. The tutorial makes a long, slightly a-line skirt with a yoga waistband.
Mini Maxi Skirt
I sewed this on my regular machine, which has an overlock-style stitch. I didn’t bother to hem it.
Also, no model for this one. Kid No 1 wasn’t in a great mood. Oh well!
I used a bamboo jersey from Telio. It’s really springy and soft, and though this skirt takes under one yard of fabric, I may have, ahem, purchased four meters. So expect to see more stripes on the blog soon.
I wasn’t sure if I could do the whole pants purple koi (maybe a bit too rock ‘n roll), but a tuxedo stripe sounded fun.
I used the After-School Pants pattern by Oliver + S. It was a breeze to sew. I made size 6 and 7 in a medium-weight twill, with koi accents, of course. I had originally planned to use quilting cotton, but after patching yet another pair of pants, decided on something just a little tougher.
After-School Pants
The only changes I made to the pants were to add a bit of extra top stitching, to make them look a bit more like jeans, and to use the koi print for the side stripes, interlined with the same twill. I though quilting cotton alone might not hold its shape well enough, when combined with the twill.
Pocket detail on the pantsFront detail on the pants.
I originally had not planned to make anything else. Fish pants seemed pretty distinctive. But while the pants took four long stripes of fish, but there was still a little fabric left over. And of course, it’s gorgeous, so I had to do something fabulous with it. I only had one yard of the Don’t Be Koi print, but I still managed to get four garments out of it.
Roller Skate Tunic (view C)Prepster PulloverPocket detail on the shirt.Boy’s outfit.Girl’s outfit.
So I made up the Roller Skate Tunic by Oliver + S (view C), which I’ve made once before. I cannot tell you how much I love this pattern. When it first came out, I wasn’t sure I liked it, but it definitely grows on you. It is a really quick, easy sew, and there are so few seams to finish, which is always a bonus. I used some more koi, and some white shirting that has been in my stash for ages and ages. It’s actually older than my oldest daughter (so embarrassing!). The tunic is lined in soft cotton batiste. I made no modifications, beyond colour blocking the tunic.
Love the colour!
For my son, I used the Prepster Pullover by Blank Slate Patterns. I first thought about making a button-down shirt, but my son is not a fan of those. So many buttons for little hands! This shirt is easier to get into, so he gave it the thumbs up before I got started.
Check out that contrast collar.Checking the inside collar for extra fish.
I used contrasting fabric for the placket and collar, modified the pocket to add some extra koi, and lengthened the hem on the sleeves. I also changed the construction order. The pattern has you put in the collar at the end, after you’ve sewn in the sleeves and attached the sides, but it is much easier to do earlier on. There’s a cool article on the difference between the two construction methods here.
Counting fish.Check out that stripe.Flowers!
Unfortunately, the Koi collection is almost gone, but you could get a similar effect with the Charley Harper collection or the Beyond The Backyard collection. Anything bright, with some good contrast would work well.
Beige twill, white shirting (poplin?) from my stash, and Don’t Be Koi from the Koi collection by Rashida Coleman-Hale for Cloud9 Fabrics, courtesy Warp & Weft.
Sizes: 6 (pants and pullover) and 7 (pants and tunic).
Sewing Level: Pants and tunic: advanced beginner. Pullover: intermediate.
Modifications: I colour blocked the tunic. I interlined the side stripes with twill and added some top stitching to the pants. For the shirt, I used contrasting fabric for the collar and placket, changed the pocket, lengthened the sleeve hem, and changed the construction order.
Spring is finally here (sort of). And that means the great clothing change-up. But when I brought out all the spring clothes and put away the winter clothes, what was missing? Spring pyjamas.
Pyjamas in all the sizes!
This time I let the kids do the fabric shopping (sadly, I still had to do the paying). And they picked some great prints! So cute. The girls all chose prints from the Picture Pie collection by Ed Emberley for Cloud9. And my little boy chose Little Birds from the Havana collection by Monaluna. Cute, cute, cute.
These are a size 4, in fish.Size 18-24 m, in raccoons.
I used the Bedtime Story Pajamas sewing pattern by Oliver + S, for the bottoms, and appliquéd an animal from each print onto store-bought t-shirts for the tops. I’ve made these pants seven (!) times before, so obviously, it’s a great pattern. I hardly even need to say it do I? But as always with Oliver + S, the instructions are super clear and the sewing is a breeze, and this would be a great project for beginners.
Good thing these are so quick to sew!
The photo session, however, was an exercise in frustration? comedy? Four little kids at bedtime are hard to wrangle sometimes.
Is someone missing?The first signs of trouble.Get back in that photo!Tears!“All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up.”
This post is part of the Kids’ Choice sew along organized by Elegance & Elephants.
Picture Pie in Raccoon, Fox and Fish by Ed Emberley for Cloud9 (organic).
Little Birds in Blue from the Havana collection by Monaluna (organic).
Sketch in Grey by Timeless Treasures for the waistbands.
Sizes: 18-24m, 4, 6.
Sewing Level: beginner, intermediate if not just the pants.
Modifications: I lengthened the pant leg and folded twice to hem, instead of binding the leg hem.
Results: Excellent! I’ve made these 7 times before. I would highly recommend this pattern.
I know I’ve mentioned that I’m part of the Warp & Weft Sewing Society before, but this spring Esmari, the owner of Warp & Weft organized something really fun for us – a sewing challenge.
And there’s something for one of you too, so don’t forget to enter the fabric giveaway at the end of this post.
There are seven of us in the sewing society, and we each got six fat quarters from Lotta Jansdotter’s latest collections MorMor and Sylvia. Then we had to sew something related to spring.
Everyone got a different bundle and you can see what mine looked like below. The fabric is so pretty! And perfect for spring.
My Lotta Jansdotter fat quarter bundle from Warp & Weft
Unfortunately, mother nature has been taking her time delivering spring, at least where I live. So I decided to do something a little different.
Instead of sewing something that celebrates the joyous bursting forth of spring with flowers and vibrant colours, I created something that celebrates the moment before – the time where spring appears to be still on it’s way. There are no visible signs of spring – yet! – but everything is slowly building underground. It’s the part of spring when you have to have faith – that spring will come, the flowers will bloom, the birds will return and the cycle of like repeat once more.
I made a baby quit, using just two fat quarters and a grey background. It’s a bit monochromatic for spring, but that’s what spring looks like here right now.
Front detail on the spring quilt.The in situ shot.The backing is a bit random.The rectangles are supposed to look like garden patches.The wavy lines ended up making the quilt very crinkly – way more than I expected.
So that left me with four fat quarters. Actually that left me with three fat quarters, because I cut one up for the quilt and then changed my mind. We all make mistakes sometimes, right?
So I took the two coral fat quarters and made a tunic for my littlest. This is the Roller Skate Tunic by Oliver + S. It was a dream to sew. I think I finished the whole thing in just over two hours, including the cutting.
The Roller Skate Tunic – front.The Roller Skate Tunic – back.Button detail in the tunic back.So cute!“Is it spring yet?”Seems to have passed the quality assurance test. 😉
Quilt Summary
Pattern: my own.
Fabric: Trassel in Mist from the MorMor collection, and White sufi from the Sylvia collection, both by Lotta Jansdotter for Windham Fabrics.
Size: 36″ by 36″.
Tunic Summary
Pattern : Roller Skate Dress and Tunic by Oliver + S.
Fabric: Little Blomster in coral, and solid coral from the MorMor collection by Lotta Jansdotter for Windham Fabrics.
Size: 18-24 months.
Sewing Level: Advanced beginner.
Modifications: Colour blocked.
Results: Great!
Fabric Giveaway
Enter to win 12 Fat Quaters from Lotta Jansdotter’s latest collection MorMor and Sylvia, generously provided by Warp & Weft.
In order to enter this Giveaway please follow the Rafflecopter instructions and leave a comment on this post.
You can obtain 7 entries in total by leaving a comment on each participating blogger’s Lotta Jansdotter Challenge post.
Well, it’s not quite spring here, but mother nature is working on it. So this pattern came along just in time. It’s the Spring Showers Jacket by Elegance & Elephants (yay! Canadian content!) and I was lucky enough to be a pattern tester.
The jacket is a big hit and fits well with room for layers underneath. And yes, this is what April looks like in Montreal.
It’s a lined, zip-front, hooded jacket. You can make a version with a cinched waist, but I like this version better.
I’m pretty happy with the results.I used bright turquoise quilting cotton for the lining.Requisite action shot.
I was going to make a waterproof/water-resistant version, but the one day I could get to the fabric store…. snow storm! So I shopped my stash instead. I used a (hard to photograph) navy, 100 per cent cotton twill for the outer fabric and quilting cotton for the inner fabric. I thought about using lining fabric on the sleeves, to make them easier to slide on and off. Montreal may be Hoth in the winter, but it’s Tatooine in the summer. Cotton breathes better, so this will be a better summer jacket this way.
I did all the top stitching in turquoise to make it a bit more fun. And I used the biggest zipper I could find – easier for little hands.The sleeves ended up a bit long, but I kind of like the folded over look.A better look at the cuff.
I made the size 4/5 for Kid No 2. Usually he wears a size 5, and the fit of the jacket was just right. Room to move and grow and layer over whatever he’s wearing.
And photo session over!
The pattern is really cute and practical, and I’ve already had a couple requests for more from Kid No 1 and Kid No 3.
Little sister decided to try on the jacket when no one was looking.
My husband saw this shirt and told my son that he should be at the disco. So true! I don’t think he even knows what disco is, but Kid No 2 definitely looks like he has some dance moves in this shirt.
The Charlie shirt in retro stretch velvet (which is impossible to photograph).
This is the Charlie shirt, a 1970s-inspired knit shirt with lapel collar with short or long sleeves. The pattern is by Zonen 09, an independent Belgian pattern company that specializes in patterns for boys, with a retro feel. The patterns are available in Dutch, English and French, though not all patterns are available in all languages.
I made this in the same super-stretchy stretch velvet that I used to make dresses for my daughters. It’s perfect for this retro shirt, and super soft and cozy. I had nothing to coordinate with this fabric, so for the lining and collar I up-cycled a t-shirt that my husband had from a conference. The velvet was leftover from a costume and the jersey was up cycled, which means that this stash-busting project was (almost) free.
My son loves that there are no buttons.
I did have to buy the pattern (of course!). The instructions are good. Unfortunately, I did have a couple of minor complaints though. First, the pattern is made to be printed on A4 paper, the standard in Europe, but it was really difficult to print this on 8.5″ x 11″ paper here in North America. Also, there are no grid lines on the printed pattern, only marks on the edges of the sheets, which means that it is hard to match up the pages when the edges were cut off by my printer. The pattern does come with one of those big, print-at-the printer versions though, so I might try that next time. But I was in a bit of a time crunch this time around. Maybe I’ll just buy some A4 paper…
Second, you don’t get the fabric requirements until you buy the pattern. Lots of smaller indie patterns do this, but, uggg, it’s so annoying. I needed a pattern that would work with this piece of fabric, so I had to take my chances. Luckily it worked out. Yay!
I wasn’t sure which size to make, so I went up one size. I’m really glad I did. The shirt fits quite narrow, even on my son who is a bit tall and lanky for his age. This was especially true of the waistband. If you sew this up, depending on the stretchiness of your fabric, and the size of the belly it goes around, you might want to test the waistband before attaching it.
In case you are curious, the shirt is lined in the bodice, both front and back, but not the sleeves.
The shirt is super soft and cozy.
My son loves the shirt and wore it the first chance he got. I like a collared shirt, and my son hates buttons, so this was a huge hit. It’s always nice to have something that looks a bit dressy, but feels super comfy.
So overall, a nice cute pattern, that has my son dancing like it’s 1976, or thereabouts. (And yes, that’s the year You Should be Dancing by the Bee Gees was released.)
Everyone needs a new dress for Valentine’s Day, right? I made three.
Here is the littlest dress.
Years ago, I made myself the Ever After dress, as a Halloween costume (never blogged). It was lots of fun, but there was so much fabric left over afterwards, including 1.5m of wide, dark blue stretch velvet. For Halloween it was great, but it’ not really my style for everyday wear. And so it sat in a box.
The fabric is really very stretchy and extremely difficult to photograph.
But I have recently made a mini inventory of the fabric in my stash, and yikes, there is so much of it. I counted up the meters of fabric, but no, I am not posting it here. Too embarrasing. I am determined to remove some of the largest, oldest pieces of fabric. This was definitely a “what can I do with this?” project, but it turned out quite well.
I made three versions of the Hopscotch Dress by Oliver + S in sizes 18m, 4 and 6. It’s a simple, knit A-line dress with some gathering in the front, and can be made as a dress or top, with long or short sleeves. I made the long-sleeved version because I thought it would look better in velvet.
I made three versions: sizes 18 months, 4 and 6.
This is the first time I’ve sewn knits on my new machine (a Pfaff), and it was a dream. I don’t have a serger, but it wasn’t really necessary with this pattern. My regular machine worked very well.
As always with Oliver + S, the instructions were wonderful. The sewing was also quite quick. And the fabric, which is quite stretchy, worked very well.
The only thing to keep in mind with this pattern, is that it is quite fitted and fits very true to size, while I find a lot of Oliver + S patterns are a little big. Unfortunately, that means the dresses might not last past spring, but then the kids won’t be wearing velvet in the summer anyway. And really, I am just happy to see so much fabric out of my stash and in wearable form.
I ended up with three dresses that are very comfortable to wear, but look quite dressy – perfect for Valentine’s Day.
I only had one willing model. This is size 18 months.
And don’t worry, Kid No 2 who is not much into dresses, got something nice too. Blog post coming soon!
The Finished Garment 