Sewing for kids

I managed to do a bit of sewing for my girls this Christmas.  First up is a blue corduroy skirt that I made using Jalie 2908 (yes, the jeans pattern) for a starting point.  I wanted to replace a denim skirt that she had loved to death, and I could not find a fly front denim-type skirt pattern.  This was my result:

I used gray topstitching thread for all of the topstitching. The pockets and fly shield were made from light blue poly crepe.

 

 

I made the length of the skirt a few inches below the knee and added a kick pleat to the back. 

Altering my pattern from jeans to a skirt was very straightforward.  I angled out from the widest point of the hip creating a flare for the front and back.  For the center front and back seams, I drew a straight line extending the center front at the fly, and center back at the widest part of the hip, down to my new hemline.  The only change I made was rotating the lower edge of back pockets outward toward the side seam.  As located per the pattern the pockets were a little odd looking and too parallel to the center back seam:

After rotating them outward...much better:

 

Next up for my Christmas sewing was a Jalie 2566 cardigan made with an argyle interlock knit.

 

My buttons were small pink hearts.  I thought I should use them while my daughter is still young enough to think they are cute.  She really likes this top.  I think the band lays strangely at the top button.  My version of this cardigan has this same issue, perhaps it is a pattern issue rather than an operator issue.  Much to my surprise, this pattern seems to be OOP.

 

Next up are 2 long sleeve versions of McCalls 6787 for my youngest.  The first one is made from a printed cotton jersey from Spandexworld.com.

 

 

The second version used a rayon knit for the top and a quilting cotton for the skirt.  I think it came out adorable:

 

 

 

That's it for my Christmas sewing.  It was a big success.  :)

Happy New Year everyone!   

A Refashion: From Dad's Golf Shirt to Girl's Golf dress

My husband is rather fussy about his golf shirts.   I had purchased a few at Marshalls for $13 and they were quickly rejected as not being soft enough.  Rather than taking them back, I put them into the refashion pile thinking that I could trim them down to my size.  This morning, my youngest was trying to find something to wear to the first day of golf camp and was very upset when I insisted she could not wear her one collared dress because it was dirty (it was worn yesterday).  So the little wheels in my brain began to turn.  Could I turn a men's size L shirt into a girls dress?  Of course I could!!  In fact, I could use 2 shirts and make it into a more interesting girls golf dress!

I started with 2 identical shirts: one white and one light blue shirt (tags still on):

 

I forgot to take a 'before' photo before chopping off a sleeve :)

I started by cutting off the sleeves and cutting up the side seams of the shirts keeping the shoulder seam intact.  I marked the center line on the front and back and then I pulled out my trusty Jalie 2566 tee shirt pattern.  I cut out the front and back from the white shirt and cut the sleeves and skirt from the blue shirt.  

I gathered the skirt, keeping the original hem and sewed it to the bottom of the shirt.  To add a little more interest to the sleeves, I cut a white band and used the "Refrew techinique" of serging the bands to the bottom of the sleeves so there was no hemming!  

I swapped out the original wood-like buttons for some light blue & white ones from my button stash.  

Ta da!

A closeup of the front:

This took less than 2 hours from start to finish.  I hope she likes it!!

More Springing Ahead! Simplicity 2437

I am ready for Spring.  I am also ready to head off to the sun and the beach at the end of the month.  My spring fever made me whip up a new summer dress for my youngest, Simplicity 2437.

It is a "Learn to Sew" pattern and has extensive instructions.  I couldn't find the smaller size range in this pattern, so I had to grade down from a size 7 to about a size 5.  Instead of making a top or tunic, I made the skirt extra long and turned it into a dress.  I chose the shorter elasticized sleeves.

I used a cotton dotted swiss with a sweet floral pattern that my youngest picked out of my stash.  It went together very quickly and easily.  The sleeves are kimono style, so there are no sleeves to set in.  I underlined the skirt with some fine white cotton and used french seams wherever I could: at the shoulders and skirt side seams.  The bodice is sewn to the skirt and the seam allowance is pressed downward and a casing is made by sewing close to the raw edges of the seam allowance.  Raw edges??  RAW EDGES!!  Not in this house!!  I serged the seam allowances together and then made the casing.  Much neater.  See:

For the facings, I used a bit of shirting fabric that magically matched the background of my fabric.  I must like the color, because it also matches the walls of my sewing room.  :)

Here's the dress on my little friend:

I'm not a fan of my kids' faces on the internet, hence the flower :)

I wrapped the left front of the bodice over the right because of the print layout.   She loves it and can't wait for the temperatures to rise so she can wear it to school.