KCW Spring 2013 - Days 6 & 7 - Sailboat Pants

Hooray hurrah! With my one extra cheat day, I managed to finished these super cute Sailboat Pants. 

 

Now I can understand everyone's addiction with this Oliver+S pattern. They are sooo unbelievably satisfying to sew! Easy, relatively quick and they come together so nicely.

The fabric is an Italian (cotton) denim with a wee bit of stretch I picked up at my local Fabricana (note to self: I used a stretch needle when sewing this as I found my universal needle was pulling the threads in the fabric too much). It's relatively thin/light-weight, so perfect for spring/summer. I wanted these to be versatile so I went with the dark denim blue, but I didn't want them to be boring so added fuschia top-stitching and bright green buttons. C picked out the buttons from my vintage button stash and I think they are perfect :) I also used some pink floral and striped cotton scrap fabric I picked up at the latest Our Social Fabric sale for the lining/facing.



 I made these in a size 4 which fit lil c nicely. And although they are meant to be cropped pants, these are definitely on the short side but still super cute. Again, perfect for the warmer weather we'll hopefully be seeing soon.

 

So c was NOT in the mood to model these pants this morning. I think she's been feeling rather 'put upon' with having to have modeled 3 other garments this week already. But luckily this afternoon, she granted me about 60 seconds to do a quick photoshoot :)

So I guess that's the end of Kid's Clothes Week. If you sewed along too, feel free to link up in the comments. I'd love to see what you made! And for more inspiration, head on over to the KCW blog for the round-ups. Such awesome stuff on there. And now.. back to some selfish sewing for me :)

melissa x

KCW Spring 2013 - Day 6..

Hmm, well, umm.. so I didn't do anything at all for KCW yesterday (which was supposed to be my day 6 since I started early). Instead of sewing, I opted for going out for a much needed drink with a girlfriend after the kids went to bed. And I don't regret it one bit! :)

So, I guess it's a good thing I started KCW a day early so I have a back-up day to finish up my projects before it all ends. Fingers crossed for a productive evening..

(there is no reason for this picture other than to show you my pretty kitchen tulips and the super bright plastic animals I'm having fun hiding around the house right now. Can you spot the hippo too??)

melissa x

KCW Spring 2013 - Day 5 - sailboat pants in progress

Well, I'm definitely slowing down. Just managed to trace and cut out the fabric for my next project for KCW. Up next..

KCW Spring 2013 - Day 4 - boardwalk skirt

Whew! Finished this last night with only a mild bit of cussing. This is the Boardwalk Skirt by Go To Patterns. I purchased it when it was released as a pattern collection through Pattern Anthology.

 

So, I have mixed feelings about this skirt. First off, the pattern itself is lovely and very well written. But I think I have to come to terms with the fact that I don't really like sewing gathers/ruffles. Especially when the fabric I use frays like nobody's business! Seriously! There were threads everywhere it was such a pain in the butt trying to find my bobbin threads to pull. But, I do love the end result and the full-ness of the skirt. And so does lil c :)

I made this skirt in a size 4T but probably should have lengthen it to a size 5 or 6 for my tall girl. I used a yarn dyed cotton (possibly linen blend..) that I picked up a while ago from my local Fabricland. The fabric for the under-layer (petticoat) is from a vintage sheet, and the lace is from a vintage stash my aunt recently handed off to me. Because I wanted to just use materials I had on hand, I ditched the eyelet and drawstring cord that was called for in the pattern, and just did a basic elastic waist (this is an option given in the pattern as well). And of course, I also used the lace from my stash as opposed to the crochet lace suggested in the pattern. I don't mind the look of the lace but would definitely use the crochet lace the next time I make this. Or I might even rip out this lace and sub in some crochet lace. Aside from the fact that I love all things crocheted, I think the regular lace looks a little too 'lingerie-y' and perhaps doesn't suit this style of skirt very well. So overall, aside from my choice of lace, I do like how this turned out and will definitely be making it again.

melissa x

KCW Spring 2013 - Day 3 - boardwalk skirt in progress

I was pretty slow moving today and didn't get much actual sewing done. I had actually had the fabric cut out already, but spent a good while trying to decide on which lace to use for the detail. The pattern calls for crochet lace (which I love and think would look adorable) but I didn't have any on hand and really wanted to just use materials I had in my stash. My aunt recently gave me all the lace she had been hoarding over the last 30+ years so I found a piece that I think might work. Hoping to finish this up tonight.. 

KCW Spring 2013 - Day 2 - raglan tee

The theme of this week's challenge for me seems to be 'basics' and trying to fill my kids' closets with clothes they will actually wear on a regular basis. I've been meaning to make some basic tees for my son for a while now (since that's about all he's willing to wear). So this is what I whipped up for Day 2:

 

This is the Field Trip Raglan Tee from Oliver + S. I made the cargos already and big C loves them, so I thought I'd try the tee as well. I cut out the size 5 but lengthened both the body and arms to a size 7 (for my tall but super skinny guy). I used a thrifted Old Navy tee for the main body and some organic cotton jersey(?) I picked up at an Our Social Fabric sale last year (off the bolt for $2 a meter!!!) I love the colour combo and think this will definitely brighten up C's wardrobe :) 

Again, a super quick project made even quicker by using the existing t-shirt hem in the main body of the shirt, and just doing a simple overlock finish for the sleeves. (geez, can you say lazyyy? :))

 

big C was not up for modeling this tee this morning, but lil C was more than happy to do it. Actually, she was hoping to claim the tee for herself but settled for just wearing it at home while her brother was out. Now she's demanding I make one for her too.

melissa x

KCW Spring 2013 - Day 1 - twirl skirt

So I kinda cheated and started my KCW sewing yesterday. But hey, at least I'm being honest about cheating, right? ;) I had a couple hours to myself and was itching to begin. And here's what I started with

 

This is the Twirl Skirt from lil blue boo which I also made for last year's KCWC (which has been in heavy wearing rotation throughout the year). It's just so simple to sew up and is perfect for upcycling knits and using up scraps. I'm not really sure why it's taken me a whole year to sew up another one.

 

 

I made this in the size 3-4T and cut into some of my smaller thrifted t-shirts/tanks I had stashed away. I love the apple print fabric which was from a size S tank top (pretty much used up the whole tank for this skirt), and the super soft pinstripe knit is from an XS Joe t-shirt (with just enough leftover for a doll dress perhaps..). 

And since this skirt only took about 20 mins to cut out and sew up, I spent the rest of my hour+ tracing the pattern pieces for my next couple of projects..

melissa x