well-crafted

Handmade Kids Clothing Swap

Thanks to Robin’s kind invitation, I’m lucky to have participated in the first Handmade Kids Clothing Swap. The challenge was to create a garment or outfit inspired by something on our swap partner’s Pinterest Board. Robin matched  us up and threw in a nice bit of mystery; we only knew who we were sewing for, not who was sewing for us. While I sewed for Delia’s son, Vanessa was sewing for my daughter, Lauren.

Vanessa really nailed it with the outfit she made! With the ultra soft stripey  t-shirt and bright aqua jumper-dress, she managed to strike the perfect balance  of feminine, playful and comfortable. Lauren absolutely loves it.

In Vanessa’s words: My inspiration pin was a rust colored dress (it had ruffles on the bottom back) with a stripe-y tee underneath. I used Hey June’s Narita dress pattern which had a similar look to the “pinned” dress and Rae’s Skinny Tee pattern :) I added some decorative stitching to the dress bodice to break up the solid color a bit. I was hoping to make something that was comfy and wearable in a pretty shade of blue! Fabrics: Michael Miller Cotton Couture Broadcloth Turquoise for the dress and stretch rayon jersey knit from Fabric.com + ribbing for the top.

I think I will be buying that pattern.

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Here’s a sneak peek of what I made for Delia’s son, Owen. Get all the details here.

And to see what the other participants made, click on any link below:

cherie from you and mie

danielle from my sparkle

delia from delia creates

gail from probably actually

kristin from skirt as top

meg from elsie marley

robin from nested in stitches

sanae from sanae ishida

vanessa from lbg studio

October 1st

Working on something special today and enjoying some sweet memories.

New hobby

I have taken up crochet by way of participating in this Granny Square Sampler Crochet-Along. Thank you, Blair. What a fun way to play with color—one of my favorite things. Although I bought a few extra colors to round out my palette, this afghan will be mostly made of scraps.

This has been the perfect evening activity for taking the kids to evening swim at the pool or sitting with my honey and watching a little TV. (I love Jason Schwartzman)

Lots of pretty squares here. And check out this amazing project. Absolutely gorgeous!

KCWC Day 6: Done!

This is my favorite of the three dresses I made this week. Probably due to this gorgeous fabric I bought at bolt on Monday. I really didn’t know what I was going to do with it at the time, but as it sat on the cutting table all week it became very clear on Friday morning that I would use it for this last frock.

Do you see the rounded shoulders? Someone was not happy about modeling last night.

Whew! I am feeling so satisfied with myself. I don’t think I have ever sewn three items of clothing in one week. And miracle of miracles, the house is not trashed, the kids’ soccer uniforms are clean and ready and I got at least 8 hours of sleep each night.

I am going to say it’s because I used this one pattern for everything. I didn't have to trace nor did I have to read instructions after the first one. Using knits for all items made things quicker too. The other great thing about using one pattern as the basis for everything was that it forced/allowed me to be more adventurous and creative. What a great week of sewing. I may not be able to continue with the challenge over the weekend, what with work and lots of things on the social calendar. Thanks, Meg for hosting the always inspirational Kids Clothes Week Challenge!

KCWC Day 4: Reconstruction

I took a dress that was much too skimpy for me (which I bought last summer at the Gap just because I loooved the fabric), cut it up and made a stylish little tunic-y thing. And yes, I used the FBST as the base pattern—I am sticking with my challenge. Leggings are from Figgy’s Sunki pattern.

Three down, one to go!