kcwc fall 2012: day 4:: shirred bird pierrot

October 12, 2012October 12, 201218 Comments

sew off challenge: shirred pierrot

next up in the sew off, a shirred bird dress from rae’s pierrot tunic pattern!

i made it in the sooooo soft and wonderful valori wells wren voile in mandolin, which i actually won during Rae’s spring top week (though the shop i actually ordered it from is now out of business, sadly).

i extended the 3T to dress length because Em loves comfy dresses she can dance in more than tunic tops. i figured she could also wear it as a nightgown if she wants to. i shirred the top and sleeves, and since it was seeming a little muumuu-esque, i tied a little bias tape belt around her waist for definition.

aside from the fact that there wasn’t quite enough light in our house this morning yet for photos, this was still a fun photo shoot. just imagine her making elephant trumpeting noises through the whole thing. 😉

and then she danced.

funny girl. give her a comfy dress, a pink room, and an elephant, and she’s a happy camper.

don’t forget to check out Rae’s pomegranate pierrot with rain boots (hehe!). one more challenge to go! think we can make it???

kcwc fall 2012: day 3:: far far away pjs

October 11, 2012October 11, 201226 Comments

sew off challenge: Heather Ross Pajama Pants

it’s becoming tradition for me to sew pajama pants for this kid during KCWC. i sewed polka dot flannel ones last fall, and fox ones last spring. since both were big on him when i made them, they actually still fit and are in regular rotation! i figured why not add another pair to the mix?

the pattern is the oliver + s bedtime story pajamas, which is now available digitally! it’s a fantastic and quick beginner pattern. i made them in the 18-24 month size in a little under an hour (actually stuck to the time frame this time!).

i have a funny relationship with my “special” fabric. i love having it, but i struggle with using it. frankly sometimes it’s just easier to give it away to a friend, then it doesn’t weigh on me! kinda weird, eh?

this sew off challenge was great in that it got me to use some of this far far away ii clothes on the line fabric that i’ve had squirreled away for while. it’s AMAZING stuff. it’s a cotton-linen blend, but very lightweight. it’s the kind of fabric you want your kids to wear all the time because it’s so dang soft and perfect.

the bindings are also far far away ii, golden moons. it’s a heavier linen that i first used for his bucket hat (and hey, her bucket hat was heather ross too – i guess i use it more than i think!). i kinda love that neither of the prints here are overtly “boy,” but they still look great together and on him.

obligatory pajama pants taped to wall photo:

far far away pjs

and kid being cute photo:

there’s the clincher right there. when he’s tired, he sucks his thumb and rubs his feet together. i can’t stop snuggling him!!

just two more challenges left, then i’ll likely collapse from exhaustion. Rae is one tough competitor! check out her adorable nursery versery pj pants and little C roaring like a lion – what a cutie pie. i need to track down some nursery versery, stat!

kcwc fall 2012: day 2:: mini washi dress

October 9, 2012October 10, 201268 Comments

sew off challenge: Mini Washi Dress

of all the items on Rae’s list that i narrowed down for our sew off, this is the one that jumped out as an immediate MUST MAKE. in fact, i believe i had started thinking about a mini version of her wonderful washi dress pattern around the first time i made it for myself! (here are my washis one and two)

funny how a gal like Rae can finally make the leap to selling adult patterns and people immediately want to shrink it down for littles, right? well, that’s what happens when it’s SO DARN CUTE to make things in miniature.

there is no washi pattern for kids, so i created one myself. and then i sewed it using the exact same methods detailed in rae’s adult washi pattern!

honestly i’m amazed and so proud that i got this to work. it feels like luck! i created every pattern piece that the original washi has – front bodice, sleeve, front and back facings, front skirt, and dress back. i started with the 3T flashback skinny tee pattern for the bodice, which i love to use as a basic pattern block for my slender little gal. i chopped it a bit shorter than i did for her amelie dress, since the washi is closer to empire waisted. i also curved it just slightly so it went up in the middle. obviously i omitted the darts. (!)

i laid out my adult washi pattern on the floor and used it as a reference for how to shape the front skirt (with room for pleats) and to see how it related to the bodice. then i used the bodice and skirt pieces together to draft the one-piece back. i just kind of built the pattern up bit by bit like a puzzle. it was a super fun challenge that drew on every bit of my knowledge. sewing has such an amazing learning curve!! i couldn’t have made this dress even a couple months ago.

the shirring in the back makes the front fit pretty darn well, but keeps it comfy for a little gal. the adult version has shirring too, which is one of the things i love about it – the comfy factor is off the charts!

i did have trouble getting the neckline right. my daughter’s head is proportionately large for her body. i originally made the neckline too small, and it didn’t fit over her head. i trimmed it and kept trying it on her until it fit (interrupting her afternoon leaf-painting, but she didn’t mind too much). it was scary because i wanted it to pull over her head without struggle, but it was also really important that it remain appropriate for a four year old to wear and keep the look of the original washi’s neckline.

it does gape a little bit when she lifts her arms, but hey – i got pretty close for my first go!

mini washi dress

best part is, she loves it! she really does! we’re calling it her “fireworks dress” (due to the anna maria horner shattered circus fabric). plus, who can resist a dress with pockets?

not me, and not this girl either.

have you sewn a mini washi? i’d really love to see it! karen did! if we all rally together, i bet we might be able to talk Rae into releasing a mini washi pattern for sale one day. wouldn’t that be fun? a bunch of mini me washi dresses! 😉

Rae made hers in actual washi fabric, and had a different solution for the large head small child problem. here it is!

kcwc fall 2012: day 1:: daring fireball mini tee

October 8, 2012October 9, 201242 Comments

sew-off challenge: Upcycle a Flashback Skinny Tee

rocky start to kcwc and the sew-off, you guys, rocky start.

before i started sewing today, i changed my serger thread from white (what i always serge with) to black. i don’t change my serger thread very often, so when the threads were all wonky, i thought it was because i’d done something wrong. after nearly an hour of threading and rethreading, i realized…wait for it…i had lifted my presser foot up to rethread and forgot to put it back down! oof, no wonder the fabric wouldn’t feed through! anyway, once i figured that out, this little shirt came together in a snap.

behold the daring fireball upcycled tee. my husband follows tech news like other guys follow football. one of his favorite sites for info on apple and other techie stuff is daring fireball. the site is widely read among those that follow that sort of thing, but pretty obscure in our day-to-day lives (kinda like me with sewing blogs!), and it has a really cool and simple design to it. my husband pretty much wore this t-shirt until it couldn’t be worn anymore (by him). so off it went into my upcycle pile for the boy!

i used his t-shirt for the body plus a slightly lighter gray tank top that my sister gave me for the bindings (she just moved back to town after finishing up school and was doing deep cleaning). the pattern is rae’s flashback skinny tee in 18-24 months.

then i let the little guy play with our first iPod and iPhone for a bit (both still work).

no multi-touch on that sucker, buddy!

**check out rae’s ADORABLE flashback skinny tee upcycle (with peter pan collar!) right here!**

giveaway winners and a challenge-within-a-challenge-within-a-challenge

October 7, 2012October 7, 201214 Comments

okay first things first – sweetheart dress giveaway winners!

grand prize: Shannon
sweetheart dress winners: Brooke and Sarah S

congratulations! we’ve emailed the winners. thanks so much for a great giveaway, Shannon!

***

now onto pressing business:

for some reason, my Kids Clothes Week Challenge planning didn’t come easily this time. i had tons of half-formed ideas, but nothing that jumped out as “must make.” last spring and last fall, i no trouble prioritizing my always-overflowing mental to do list into a nice balance of wardrobe staples and new pattens i’d been wanting to try. my KCWC project always end up some of my favorites, and also tend to be worn most by my kids. you can see all of my kcwc posts here if you’re curious.

so last week, after organizing my stash and deciding i wouldn’t buy any new fabric because i have plenty (my first challenge-within-a-challenge), i waited for inspiration to strike. i looked for those perfect combinations of fabric and pattern that would cause me to create wonderful things during KCWC.

i just couldn’t figure it out, aside from a couple minor projects.

i posed the question to instagram, to see if any of my sewing buddies out there could help. i got some good suggestions, but then…THEN…Rae threw out the notion that she should just give me HER list and i could make that. at first she meant it was a joke, but then it turned into a “hey that could be really fun!” type situation. apparently her mental to do list was too long too, and she needed help paring it down. she sent me her list and i picked the ones that inspired me…and a SEW-OFF was born!

i own most of Rae’s patterns already, and they’re always some of my favorites to sew, so she was the perfect partner.

want to know what we picked? want to join us, maybe?? Here’s the Rae-Kristin Sew-Off List for KCWC Fall 2012:

Upcycle a Flashback Skinny Tee
pretty self-explanatory. find an adult tee to convert to a miniature skinny tee. i almost always use upcycled knits when i sew FBSTs, so this is a fun one. you can get Rae’s flashback skinny tee pattern here.

Mini-Washi Dress
i was SO excited to see this on Rae’s list! i’ve totally wanted to make one of these and i’m excited to give it a go. at this point it’s not available as a pattern, so i drafted it myself using the flashback skinny tee as a bodice block and my washi pattern as a reference. i’ve got no idea if it’ll work but I’m sure hoping it does!

Heather Ross Pajama Pants
sometimes i’ve been lucky enough to come across fabric by the amazing heather ross during my trips to bolt, and sometimes i’ve even bought some! i tend to hoard it, though…i’m sure lots of us do. this challenge is to make pj pants (or anything!) from my hoarded fabric!

Shirred Pierrot
i looooove Rae’s pierrot pattern and had already cut out a larger size as a “maybe” when I saw Rae’s list and her suggestion to shirr it! challenge is to use any peasant blouse-type pattern (if you don’t have the pierrot, maybe use the sweet little dress by leila & ben?). If you use Pierrot, Rae suggests to add about 1″ to the folded width of the tops of each of the sleeves to add more room around the neckline for the shirring (4″ total). she posted a shirred pierrot last week for an example.

Make a catalog-inspired item
after i saw gail’s adorable hedgehog pants on elsie marley, i started browsing the mini boden catalog myself. it’s so inspiring! i’m often pinning things by companies that i want to try to make, so that’s the challenge here – be inspired by something you see in a catalog. could be Gap, Hanna Andersson, Crewcuts, mini boden, whatever!

want to sew along within the sew along? join us! this was just a low-key* challenge designed to motivate us, so if you like any or all of these ideas, go ahead and make them along with us this week! and then let us know!! remember, the KCWC challenge is to spend 1 hour each day sewing for your kids, so these are not meant to be ridiculously intricate or time-consuming. just easy, cute items to add to your kids’ wardrobes.

and if you don’t…no worries at all! there’s loads of inspiration out there! i really can’t wait to see what starts popping up in the KCWC flickr pool.

ladies (and gentlemen??)…let’s sew! KCWC starts tomorrow!