a little plaid jumper

September 20, 2012September 20, 201236 Comments

so guess what, guys? pre-k is going GREAT! sure she’s been slow to get out of bed in the morning, sure she’s in bed by 7pm many nights because she’s so tuckered out, but nearly three weeks in, it’s pretty clear this kid was ready for school.

she’s coming home happy, singing new songs, bringing us art projects, talking about friends, even writing her name more clearly.

the thing i was worried about the most – whether little miss picky dresser would be okay wearing the school uniform – has been a nonissue. in fact, even though she could wear free dress for the first two weeks, she started asking to wear the uniform just a couple days in! i was unprepared!

i did get this jumper made for her. i was pretty excited about trying to sew some uniform stuff, because it’s tradition – i’ve got a cute photo of me in pigtails wearing a mama-made jumper on the first day of first grade. Em’s school uniform policy is more strict than mine was, but i talked to the principal over the summer and she said as long as i bought the plaid fabric from the uniform company directly and tried to copy the styles as closely as possible, she was very encouraging of me sewing some things for Em. it was a bit of a bummer for me that i didn’t have much leeway though, especially since i’ve been so inspired by the variety of uniforms night knitter makes with oliver + s patterns. oh well, i still snuck one in. 😉

since i couldn’t change things up much, i ended up sewing more for cost rather than creativity. though the fabric is $20/yd (way more than i normally spend!), the jumpers are $47 to buy. it doesn’t even take a yard of fabric to make one, so the savings is pretty hefty. the principal gave me a jumper from the uniform exchange to make a pattern from (very helpful!), and it turns out the construction was pretty simple – just a bib with facings and folded over sides topstitched to a pleated skirt. for the bottom i used the 2+2 skirt by oliver + s which was totally perfect, but that polyester is weird stuff and there is a learning curve on matching up the plaid (though i think i might’ve done a better job on that than the factory!). i made a 3T lengthened a couple inches, then blindstitched the hem by hand to mimic the original.

and because i have a rebellious streak, there’s a pink button hidden in there for her.

she loves looking like the big kids, down to the playground-friendly shoes her grammie and grandpa got her (way better than the ballet flats she usually lives in). really, i think her favorite part of school is that she feels like a big kid when she’s there. the school is pre-k through 8th grade so she looks TINY next to the rest of the grade schoolers lined up in the morning; but it’s pretty much adorable.

so even though she’s a big important school kid now, she’s still our twirling little Em.

and we’re very proud of her.

elbow patch tutorial

September 12, 2012November 28, 201212 Comments

i first posted this tutorial for elsie marley‘s fall 2011 kid’s clothes week challenge (right here), and now that fall is right around the corner, i figured it’s an appropriate time to bring it home!

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Hi, I’m Kristin from skirt as top and I’m here today to talk about elbow patches! I’ve been spotting lots of elbow patches on adult shirts and sweaters heading into this fall, and I love the trend. I thought it could be fun to add them to homemade kids’ clothes for a little “mini-professor” style, too. Problem is, kids’ sleeves are very narrow and that means it’s pretty much impossible to sew the patches on after the garment is already completed. That makes finding that right placement for your elbow patches a bit tricky. In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to add properly placed elbow patches when you’re making a shirt from scratch.

MATERIALS:

Tailor’s chalk or water-soluble marker
Clear ruler
Elbow patch pattern (draw an oval shape onto a piece of paper – mine is about 2.75″ tall x 2.25″ wide and works for about 6-12 month – 3T sizes, though you can make it whatever size you like)
Cut (but now sewn) sleeve pieces from your shirt or sweater pattern (shown is the Oliver + S sailboat top. Maybe try Dana’s free 90 minute shirt tutorial!)
Scraps of fabric for the patches (try a small floral for girls, or suede if you’re daring!)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Wrangle your kid while they’re wearing a long-sleeved shirt from their wardrobe. Mark an X on their elbow with chalk or water-soluble marker.

2. Take the existing shirt off of your child, measure from about .5″ above the shoulder (to account for the seam allowance) down to the X that you marked earlier. Write down this measurement (for my 10 month old, it was 5.5″). We’ll call this the “Elbow Measurement” because I’m super original.

3. Go to one of your new garment’s sleeve piece. Fold it in half to determine the center line, and press. Mark your seam allowance from the cut side of the sleeve with water-soluble pen or tailor’s chalk, then find the center point between the folded center and the seam allowance mark and draw a vertical line (just guess approximately where the patch will hit on the vertical axis).

4. Measure down from the shoulder edge along the vertical line you marked in step 3. Mark your sleeve with a horizontal line at your Elbow Measurement (remember mine was 5.5″) so your markings form a +. I shifted my ruler over to the edge for clarity, but you should line it up through the middle of the ruler to make the + shape.

5. Trace the patch pattern onto your scrap, cut out the patches, and find the center of each patch by folding it into quarters and pressing slightly. Apply fusible web if desired (the patch is essentially an appliqué). Match the center of the folds on one patch with the + marking on your sleeve and pin into place.

6. Lay your other sleeve piece down, aligning both sleeve edges side by side. Using your clear ruler as a guide, place the second patch on its sleeve to mirror the one you already pinned on. Make sure they are mirror images so you don’t apply the patch to the front of a sleeve! Pin the second patch into place. Be generous with pinning if you didn’t use fusible web.

7. Sew around the edge of each patch using a straight, zig zag, or blanket type stitch. I used the blanket type stitch here (number 11 on my machine).

8. Repeat for the other sleeve. Your patches are on! Finish your garment per the pattern instructions.

I hope this helps you add a little extra punch to your little one’s long sleeved shirts and cozy fall sweaters.

Thanks so much for having me, Meg, and happy KCWC sewing, everybody!

friendship is magic

August 30, 2012August 30, 201210 Comments

just when i thought Em would never wear a skirt again (or at least not for a long while), look what she comes down dressed in this morning…!

i did not make this fabulous skirt. Kat, of the blog sew chibi, made it! Kat has a fun, crazy, wonderful imagination and has put the most amazing creations into the project run & play flickr pool. i bet someday she’ll be a PR&P designer because she has so much creativity (and sewing skill) bubbling right at the surface. we live in the same town and have been trying to get together for a little while, and it finally worked out last week. we met at the park, and her daughter Azriella and Em were fast friends!

let’s play “spot the handmades!”

Kat invited Em to Azriella’s birthday party, but sadly we are unable to attend. however, generous spirit that she is, she made Em a party favor anyway. it’s a Twilight Sparkle skirt from My Little Pony! I don’t think Kat even knows how obsessed Em is with the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic show. she loooooves it. her favorite pony seems to change on a daily basis (sometimes she says she “loves all of them!”), but her love of pink and purple never fades. that made Twilight Sparkle a great choice on her part.

i don’t think Em quite knew what to make of the skirt when it was first gifted, but i encouraged her to try it on for dancing (we have nightly “get the wiggles out” dance parties these days) and the bouncy ruffle tail skirt quickly grabbed her attention! she giggled and jumped around while wearing it. i still wasn’t sure whether it would end up dress up only (fine with me because it would stay perfect and clean and beautiful!) or if it’d become everyday wear.

twilight pony skirt

this morning, i got my answer. Em knew we were going to Oaks Park with her cousins as one last hurrah before school starts, and she came down from her room fully dressed in a purple Twilight Sparkle outfit! purple shoes and purple hair clips completed her ensemble. i was just excited she wore a skirt!

the skirt is really spectacular. the ruffles have the perfect amount of volume and movement, and Kat mixed linen with lightweight cotton for a neat textural effect. apparently these are just a few of the “leftover ruffles” from Kat’s INCREDIBLE Rainbow Dash Dress, which you MUST go check out. it’s glorious. she even provides a tutorial for the ruffles and wings over here at me sew crazy.

this is the first skirt Em has picked out to wear all on her own for almost two months, and i’m so thrilled to have her wear something other than just dresses! i could barely even get her to stand still to take a photo of the front. that’s her leaning over, getting ready to continue her sprint around the yard.

thanks so much again, Kat! handmade gifts have become even more special to me since i started making things myself, so this really means a lot to me (and Em too!). i really have no idea how to repay you! i’ll keep thinking – can’t wait too long to give Azriella her birthday present!

in the meantime, i have a new mantra:

confession sunday: the rejects

August 26, 2012August 27, 201252 Comments

most of the time, the things I make are liked and worn by Em. i try to make her clothes in colors/silhouettes that she’ll enjoy, and she generally does a great job of jumping and posing and doing her ballet moves for blog photos (mostly because she loves to jump and twirl). she acts like she genuinely likes her outfits during photoshoots, and i’m not faking that – she really does seem to love stuff on first wear!

however.

there are definitely garments she will NOT wear more than once or twice. i try so hard to encourage her to wear them, and it doesn’t happen. i mean, she does wear something that i’ve made nearly every day and she does genuinely love most of what i sew for her (which is awesome), but a lot of the time she picks the same favorite dresses over and over (current favorites are her Amélie dress, butterfly dress, apple dress, and wedding dress). i think a lot of 4 year olds are probably that way, right?

for confession sunday today, i thought i’d share a few things i’ve made that she will not wear right now. honestly it breaks my heart a little.

please note none of these are the pattern maker’s fault – it’s my aesthetic choices + her whims that have caused them to be rejected, not their designs!

1. Flapper Tapper Dress – made during Project Run & Play and probably the garment I’m most proud of designing, with a high-low circle skirt, pieced bodice, invisible zipper…and she won’t wear it. i don’t even think it’s been washed since the photoshoot. she and her brother do wear the headband for dress up, though.

2. Little Apples Hopscotch Skirt – i really loved this pattern and how the skirt turned out, but recently she decided she doesn’t like skirts (“dresses are more beautiful”) and this one hasn’t been worn for months. she did get quite a bit of use out of her doily skirt this summer, and this hopscotch skirt was worn a good amount last fall, but it’s now been in the drawer for almost a year. it’s probably too short, come to think of it. maybe i’ll try it again in pink or something – it was fun to sew.

3. Finch Top & Shorts – this one is quite upsetting to me; i love it so much. but she just won’t wear shorts (the only ones we can wrestle onto her are the knot shorts and that’s rare). even with pink piping in the pockets, she won’t do it. and since she won’t wear skirts either, there’s no reason for her to need a separate top. sigh. maybe I should add a color block panel at the bottom and make it a dress…it’s such a fun silhouette and i can’t let that washi go to waste!

i suppose the moral of the story is i should stop making her things in gray! that seems to be the common theme. she is very color driven – she doesn’t care too much whether her clothes are super comfortable, but if they aren’t the right color (or don’t have a “special feature” like ruffles or twirl to make up for that), they’re out.

oh and did i mention Em will be wearing a uniform to school? she can wear blue/green plaid jumpers and pleated skirts, but i’ve been fretting since her wardrobe is strictly limited to colorful twirly dresses at the moment. let’s just hope the “no skirts/no pants/no shorts” thing is just a phase, or i’ll be sewing jumper after jumper in a few weeks’ time! this blog might get very boring.

yikes.

what has your experience been in sewing for your kids? do they wear what you make? do you cater to their favorite things just to make sure your hard work isn’t wasted? and then do they pick outfits that make you cringe? a couple she likes have sewing mistakes that drive me nuts, or they’re way too small/worn out but she chooses them anyway (i’m looking at you, christmas dress and second birthday dress)!

alright guys, confession time!

film petit: mon petite amélie

August 16, 2012June 11, 201345 Comments

it’s film petit time, and this month’s film is one that’s been a favorite of mine for many many years (we even had the soundtrack playing at our wedding reception in 2004). it’s…Amélie!

officially titled “Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain,” Amélie (affiliate link) is a 2001 French film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet about a little girl that grew up within her own imagination. she was a lonely child and a lonely adult too, until one day she is struck by the urge to become a “do gooder” and surprise others with small acts of kindness and love. her shenanigans include stealing her father’s garden gnome and sending it around the world, guiding and describing the street scene to a blind man, and setting up two lonely hearts looking for love at her workplace.

as she does these good deeds for others, she chances upon a young man named Nino. Nino is on his own quest to find an elusive mystery man as he reassembles discarded photo booth photos for his collection, and Amélie quickly falls in love…but she knows the way to get his attention is through the photo booth.

so she goes to a photo booth and takes photos of herself…

…and directs Nino to meet her…

…knowing that when they finally do meet, they will fall deeply in love and be together forever.

in the meantime, playing the game is just as fun…

i knew i wanted to sew Amélie herself. as i watched the movie for the first time in years, i kept a notepad near me and sketched out my inspiration for what to sew for Em. i noticed a few things about Amélie’s wardrobe (played by the lovely Audrey Tatou):

as i put these ideas together, i noticed that the design that emerged reminded me of the darling ranges dress (adult pattern) by megan nielsen! i went with that inspiration. mine is a mini version, with short sleeves and fewer buttons.

the button down front comes to a v at the neck (i drafted facings, a feat i’m geekily proud of – this pattern has eight different pieces!). i stitched the facings down by hand for an invisible finish. the sleeves puff slightly at the shoulder, and i made it in a red with white polka dot cotton (moda essential dot) to stick with her mostly-red color theme. it closes with five white buttons.

the bodice attaches to a gathered skirt and has shirring in the back to add some shape while remaining very comfortable for my little gal. i owe my newfound knowledge of facings and shirring to the washi dress, so it was fun to apply those techniques to create this pattern of my own.

Petite Amélie LOVES her red polka dotted dress, and sets out to make the world a better place…

…one traveling garden gnome at a time! now scamper on over to probably actually to check out Gail’s gorgeous gnome dress! i LOVE that she was inspired by the gnome. the dress she made is amazing, you’ve got to see all the lovely details. Amélie was impressed!

and to find out if Petite Amélie’s photo booth charms worked on Little Nino…head over to a little gray for some amazing sewing and a little bit of trickery! Jessica had a genius collaboration idea with this one; you really don’t want to miss it!

it was SO fun planning this month’s post with both my co-host Jessica and Film Petit guest Gail – how great to have three people watch the same movie and be inspired by different parts of it! thanks ladies, this was such a blast!

***

here are the guidelines for film petit:

every month or so, Jessica and i (plus a guest blogger) will sew an outfit (or outfits) for our kid (or kids) inspired by a movie we love.
if you’d like to play along, please feel free to add any movie-inspired sewing to the film petit flickr group. if you sew along with our film petit choices, we’d love to see that too. we’re close to doing a round up, so keep ’em coming!
if we really like your stuff, we may ask you to join us for a future film!
this is a pretty relaxed series, really the only rule is to make outfits for kids based on films you love. if you have any questions, please let either of us know.

PS – i took the indoor photos in the Ace Hotel lobby where there is a functioning vintage photo booth (!!), and the outdoor photos at Cool Cottons, a wonderful local fabric shop you should definitely visit if you have the chance.

PPS – Cherie from you & mie will be joining us in september!