Operation Kids Clothes Craziness - Part 3

And, last but not least, since I had done all this sewing of clothing and had my machines all set up for sewing stretchy things I took them to our local quilt shops Open Sew Night on Friday and whipped out four skirts!  

You'll recognize the pink and teal knit.  That pattern is from the book One Yard Wonders.  Pretty easy - just a gathered skirt attached to a yoke with an elastic casing at the top.  I've made others from this pattern before.

The denim ones I made from the bottom of my newly customized swimsuit pattern.  Didn't get the waistband part quite right but since its a bit gathered you can't tell.  :)  The fabric on those is a really light denim, no stretch.  For the trim I cut 1'' strips of knit on the stretchy (crosswise?) grain.  Then pull them so that the knit curls back on itself.  Then stitch it to the skirt.  I think it jazzes them up a little bit.  Since they are supposed to be curly it doesn't matter if they get rumply or even a little frayed in the wash.  Then I couldn't help but put the cute bow on the front to match.

In case you're wondering, Grace is pink and Leah is teal so we can keep them straight in the wash.  They are getting to the point where they are almost the same size - Grace is a few inches shorter and her waist is one inch smaller.  So they may get mixed up eventually but we'll start with this.

So... in one week we have three playdresses, four skirts, and two swimsuits!  Pretty incredible.  Many thanks to Gracie for playing so nicely so Mommy could sew and for the quilt shop's open sew night.

Time to take a break and detox from sewing clothes.  :)  I'll clean out the machines, clean up the sewing room chaos, and take a breather before starting something decidedly more quilty.  I have done so many clothes, baby toys, and other little things this winter/spring that it feels like forever since I've worked on an actual quilt!

Happy sewing!

Operation Kids Clothes Craziness - Part 2

Moving back a bit earlier in the week, before I got to the swimsuits, I worked on a few other things.  It started with a trip to a local thrift store where I stumbled upon two duvet covers made of nice knit fabric.  The kind you would use for t-shirts.  So I picked up two - one pink and one teal for $7 total.  I think that comes out to less than a buck a yard because one was a twin and one was a double and being duvet covers they are two sided.  So... I found myself with dirt cheap knit fabric to play around with.

First project was this dress (the white is just the undershirt):

Its a pattern I picked up somewhere along the way with a bodice and three tiered layers to make a twirly skirt.  I think it turned out alright.  Not great, but alright.  Its a bit longer than I had planned and also more 'tentish'.  I even scaled down the amount of gathering in each tier - had I followed the pattern directly on those I think it really would have been a tent.  Also, the back bulged way out so I had to employ my cheater fix on that.  Just tuck it up to fit and stitch it down - way easier than taking apart a whole dress to redo a back bodice piece.  Leah likes it and has already worn it to school.  I'm okay with it because I got to practice on it and it only cost me a couple of bucks at the most.

Here is the cheater fix on the center back.

The fact that I was not thrilled with how the pattern turned out reminded me that I had been meaning to play around with the swimsuit pattern.  Having all this inexpensive knit fabric was motivation to get those patterns out and start the alterations I had floating around in my head.  Spent a day or so tracing things out on freezer paper and then stitched up these two dresses with the new custom patterns.

 Obviously, the look similar to the swimsuits I already posted.  I left the sleeves on Grace's dress.  The trim on her dress is from a t-shirt I had on the garage sale pile.  I stole it back from the pile, cut it up, and think it looks great!  Trimming the necklines, armholes, and hem were good practice at different ways to work with knits.  Most of them are a variation of a single fold bias.  I was particularly pleased with how Grace's neckline turned out - I managed to get just the right amount of stretch/tension so that it ends up nice and flat.  I could make more of these, but I think the pink and teal might get a bit redundant.  I'll have to keep thrifting for cheap knit fabric!  Both girls love the dresses.  They are soft, comfy, easy on and off - I expect they'll get tons of use this summer.  And again, all for just a couple bucks...yeah!

Stay tuned for part 3...

Operation Kids Clothes Craziness - Part 1

I normally consider myself a quilter, not a seamstress/sewer of clothes.  I'm good at things that are supposed to match at the corners, use straight seams, and lie flat when you are done.  :)  I've tried my hand at clothing just a few times with a wide range of results.  Some have been worn (by the girls mostly), some end up in the dress-up clothes bin, and others go straight to the trash or don't get finished.

However, I had a success last summer in making swimsuits for the girls and myself.  They are swimdresses, really.  A dress with shorts underneath.  I tried them because I was sick of ill fitting swimsuits that let the girls buns hang out and/or drooped way down in front.  Plus, I thought it might be cool to make myself one - thinking I'd be more comfortable in a modest swimdress than my regular suit.  Having never sewn on stretchy slippery swimsuit fabric there was a steep learning curve, but they held together.  (Actually, Leah's was the first one I made and ended up being stitched twice because all the seams popped the first time I stretched it over her head when it was wet.  Lesson #1 learned: stick with a 4 thread overlock rather than a three thread lingerie stitch.)

So, after that success I was ready to tackle new suits for this year.  Those girls grow fast, you know.  :)  Plus it would give me a chance to putz around and try some new things.

I am thrilled to unveil this years suits:

And this is what the shorts/leggings look like.  They are not attached to the dress.  The only way your tummy might show is if you stood on your head on the bottom of the pool for a long time so as to let the dress float down around your head.  :) 

I am really really happy with how they turned out.  I love both the fabrics (the only two pink/girly fabrics in Hancock's scant selection - how lucky am I!) and I like how my pattern alterations worked out.   Just the thought of altering a published pattern is a bit scary to me, but I was able to make it work.  I combined the bodice and skirt pattern pieces into one so that the pattern goes all the way from the shoulders to the hem.  So there are really only three or four pattern pieces:  a front, a back, a sleeve, and the leggings/shorts are made from one piece cut in mirror image.  I omitted the sleeves from the swimsuits this year - they are cute but not really necessary.  I kept the sleeves on when I made the dresses (more on that later).  I now feel much more confident about sewing on knits/stretchy fabric and think I can use my newly made patterns over and over again for both swimsuits and dresses.  I'll have to transfer the adjustments every time I need a new size but I think I have the general idea now.

I want to eventually make myself a new one too using these pattern adjustments.  A modest swimdress is INFINITELY more comfortable to wear at the beach or pools - its great in and out of the water, no pulling/tugging/readjusting straps and suit parts to keep yourself covered, just wonderful.  I'll never wear a regular tank suit again.  Probably ever.  Never if I can help it.  :)  Nothing at Hancock tripped my trigger so I'll be on the hunt for some cute swimsuit fabric for myself in the next year or so.

The swimsuits are actually the culmination of a week's worth of pattern adjusting and practicing, but that is for another post.  Maybe tomorrow.  For now, enjoy the cute suits!



Notes to self for later:
1.  Used clear elastic on neckholes and armholes.  Stitch on wrong side, double fold, and then topstitch with a multi-step zig zag.  I tried various tension/stretching of both elastic and the suit fabric and never got a really smooth fold.  Still have to work on that.
2.  Regular 4 thread overlock is perfect for seams and hems.  Stretch the hem just a tad while serging to help it lay flatter.
3.  The neckline can be lowered a little.  I lowered it on Grace's and I think I like that better.
3.  When making mine later, don't forget to lengthen the torso a few inches when drafting the one piece pattern.
4.  Try topstitching with twin needle - didn't get around to that.  Or doing a 'lettuce edge' on the bottom hem.  Or some contrasting piping under the bustline on mine.

Toy Sleeping Bags

To make a long story short, Leah decided it was Dolly's birthday and that she needed a present.  After discussing ideas for doll dresses or doll quilts, I suggested a doll sleeping bag.  Both girls play 'camping' or make 'snuggle spots' in their sleeping bags around the house all the time.  Leah thought it was great and -viola - one hour later both Dolly and Meow have sleeping bags.  Cute, huh?  Not bad for an hour on a lazy Saturday morning.  

Plaque for Grandma

This is a quick plaque I stitched up for my grandma.  She just moved to a senior living type place and there is a 8'' by 6'' shadowbox outside each door.

I used wool scraps and handstitched it.  If I make another one (for a different season, perhaps?) I won't use wool for the background - the stitches kind of sink into the thick wool and make them harder to see.  I'll do a cotton background next time with wool accents.  I stitched it to a rectangle of plastic canvas to keep it stiff enough to slide into the shadowbox.  After the bottom picture, I covered the back with purple fabric to make it look nice and neat.

Hope she likes it!