Category: kids clothes

happy easter!

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happy easter!  i was inspired by em’s recent obsession with weddings for her dress – she wants to get married in a purple dress (and yesterday she asked ME to marry  her, so we’re still working on the concept).  she also still loves polka dots, so when  i saw this lovely fabric at bolt, i immediately knew it would be perfect.  it’s from little things by sarah fielke for lecien.  it’s kind of halfway between a quilting cotton and a voile.  soooo soft and beautiful.

i embraced the easter theme – egg shaped!  it’s the oliver + s bubble dress pattern, which i picked up on a whim because it was 40% off (again at bolt).  i LOVE this dress.  it’s just so sweet.  i made it in a 2T though she’s now a 3T in most commercial clothes; she was all over the map on the sizing guide in the pattern based on her measurements, but 2T seemed closest and i wanted it to fit her now.  i think it has enough growing room in the length to last through the summer (fingers crossed).

since i’m all about hand-sewing after becoming zen with it on the quilt binding, i hand-sewed the bodice lining to the skirt lining.  it’s theoretically reversible!  once i finished the dress, it seemed a bit like it was missing something, so i added the purple grosgrain ribbon, just tacked to each side under the armpits.  the police-style hands on the wall are HER modeling choice, by the way.

it’s fully lined with kaffe fassett shot cotton, in easter basket grass green!

i love that when i sew clothes for my kids, i can make them look nice but not sacrifice any comfort.  this thing is so cozy it could be a nightgown (in fact, she took a nice long nap in it right before these photos were taken).  also great for her “angelina ballerina moves!”

and here’s her easter egg hunting technique from earlier in the day.  she’d put the eggs under her chin and then drop them into her basket.  NO IDEA where she came up with it, but it was pretty funny.

hope your easter was lovely too!

pants for the little fella

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boy sewing!  so hard.  i learned on toddler skirts and simple dresses, and fabric selection soooo favors girls.  but this little guy, he’s growing fast.  he keeps growing out of his pants (um, mostly in the tummy).  he’s in that in-between phase where i want to dress him in something a little nicer than the standard jersey knit newborn pants, but jeans still seem a little uncomfortable for a guy that’s just chillaxing all day long.

so i made him some cozy gray cords from made-by-rae’s excellent newborn pants free pattern.

i added 1.5″ to the bottom hem since he’s 4 months, not a newborn (and 90th percentile height, which means he’s about the size of an average 6 month old).  i got all nervous that they’d still be too short, so i made the tiniest hem i could.  i did a double-row of stitching for a little extra detail (sorry for blurry photo – he kicks!).

some patch pockets on a little diapered bum were also a necessity.  highly functional.

i can be such a procrastinator.  em’s easter dress is much more urgent than these pants were, and it’s still in the cutting phase!  i just knew i could whip these out in less than an hour, so i went for it.  this is how i roll.  sometimes it’s nice to just FINISH a project.

a dash of dots

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what may seem just your average, run-of-the-mill, sweet little dress…

…is actually a swirling,

twirling,

LEAPING,

“POLKA DOT BALLERINA DRESS!”

i made it to match her cousin’s 2 year birthday dress from gymboree, per em’s request.  i thought it’d be a bright idea to add godets (my google search for “triangle inserts in a skirt to make it flare” led me to THAT fancy sewing term).  that turned a short, quick, easy project into a much longer one, one with a lot of seam-ripping, one that em turned into a little taskmaster.  “is my polkadot dress done yet, mommy?” was a common question for a couple weeks as i grumbled and delayed and tried new techniques to get the tops of each triangle to a perfect point before i finally just zigzagged them and called it good!  but now it’s done, phew, and she loves it.  the fabric is a michael miller polka dot.  the godets made the middle of the dress a bit too boxy, so it looks best gathered with a belt or ribbon.

let the neverending dance party continue!

a little green skirt for springtime

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i have a soft spot for the oliver + s lazy days skirt free pattern.  it was the first article of clothing i made after the husband gave me a machine for mother’s day, and i learned that i should DEFINITELY follow instructions when learning to sew rather than winging it at first, because it’s an art that’s been around for a long long time, and i had a lot to learn.  here’s my daughter modeling my first creation in the summer of 2009.

lazy days skirt

check out those tiny little legs!  this skirt would probably hit at an indecent mid-thigh level on her now!  that first skirt took me 2 hours (i can now whip one up in a quarter of the time).  most toddler skirts i make now are a variation on the lazy days skirt, usually a hybrid of the lazy days and the market skirt by MADE, like this one:

i decided (at 10pm on wednesday night) to sew a little green skirt for her to wear on st. patrick’s day, with plenty of growing room to last her through the spring/summer.  the print is valori wells’ berries in sage, and the solid is a poplin.  i’d never used poplin before, but it’s really nice – softer than quilting cotton, and the color matched the print beautifully.  i can’t get enough of the spring green.

i made it plenty long because my little beanpole tends to grow up, not out.

she loves her newest skirt (yay!).  it helps that she’s in a “ballerina” phase and currently only wants to wear skirts or dresses.  i’m happy to oblige.

“dorothy shoes” are also a must.