by Sherri Sylvester | Jul 26, 2014
A weekend nod to Kid’s Clothing Week’s end today! This fabric painting idea is a fun summer project to do with your kids. Especially if you plan to do some simple sewing with it. (That they would love to be included in!)
Fabric painting with “puffy paint” is something I immediately associate with the eighties and early nineties. In grade six I made a pair of cut off shorts (right above the knees to be modest of course!) with painted bows all over them in different colours. Very puffy, neon and verrrrry coool. If I remember it right they were the most amazing shorts ever… I wonder what happened to them! (Mom?) Anyhow – it is these memories that make me hesitate when I dig out my old-school fabric paints. The horror of the item I’m painting actually turning out puff-painted is enough to make me run in the opposite direction. Until I found this post by the girl creative.
Though I am blogging this a year later, these photos are from the second time we painted fabric. I thought it would be fun for the girls to use paintbrushes and see if their watercolour paintings could be a bit more intentional than the splatter-type art we created the first time. I love seeing just how much the girls have changed and grown up over the last year! They look so much more grown up now, time goes by so fast. My youngest had just turned 3 at this point, it’s such a great way to preserve their art in something they can touch.
To make these, you can refer to the girl creative’s post. My paintings look a lot different than the watercolour look she got on her fabric – you’ve got to check it out!
The painting is really simple and easier outside because it’s simpler to clean up, but if your kids will sit still it works indoors too. Just make sure you cover everything first because the paints do not wash out. To make each square of fabric easier for the girls to paint on I backed them with freezer paper. Just iron the shiny side onto the back of your fabric and it stays in place. (This works when using fabric pens as well!)
As a confession… I’ve still got the squares the girls painted on my to-do list. (Yikes!) Maybe another summer project I could work on with them?
by Sherri Sylvester | Apr 15, 2014
Well, I managed to get 2 things finished for Kids Clothes Week. 1 Pair of Jeans and a dress. Argh! I felt a bit like I was wandering around in slow motion last week. But – they are finished and I’ve started on the second Easter dress. So we are getting somewhere!
I have wanted to make my youngest some jeans for a while. She wants to “match mommy” but her proportions make it hard to find a properly fitting store-bought pair. So I thought I’d give the PeekABoo Patterns Skinny Jeans (affiliate link*) a shot. I’ve had this pattern since the Sew Fab Fall Pattern Bundle, so it was nice to have it on hand when my daughter started asking! This is also the main reason they have a “random” green button on the fly. Everything she loves must have green on it!
The details and instructions in this pattern are great. It went together well and the top-stitching and mini-pockets are so cute. It even includes instructions for using button elastic for an adjustable fit. I used some stretch denim that I already had on my shelf – destashing, hooray! I added pockets in an embroidered denim that I bought on a deep sale a few years ago. I have no idea what I will ever use the rest of the embroidered denim for – there’s about 2 metres of it and it’s super flowery. Thankfully it looks great in small doses!
When I sized the jeans I was torn about how to go about making them. My daughter has a size 4 leg length and a size 6 or so hip/thigh. In the end I decided to make a size 6 and re-work the next pair. I’m glad I did. Otherwise I would be so disappointed! They are pretty big on her – so the back elastic gathers quite a bit, and the rise is a bit high at the front. I know it was a lot of work to top-stitch everything and finish it properly, but I didn’t want to make a muslin, so here we are!
I think the next time around I will make a size 4 with a bit lower front rise and bit higher back rise. I tried them on my six year old (who flat out refuses to wear jeans – no help there!) and the rise fit really well – so it is definitely not a pattern problem.
The only thing I changed was the method for hemming the back and mini pockets. I much prefer to turn the top edge of the pocket rather than fold it under twice and hem it. The edges turn out a bit cleaner. Here’s how I finished my pockets:
- Fold the hem to the wrong side by 1/4″. Fold the hem to the right side by 1/2″. Stitch around the sides and bottom of the pocket with a 1/4″ seam – to attach the top hem and mark the fold lines for the rest of the pocket. Clip the top edges of the pocket to remove bulk before turning.
- Turn the top of the pocket inside out and press. Turn and press the sides and bottom edges to the wrong side following the seam lines you made. Finish the pockets, hemming the top edge and stitching the others as indicated.
Overall I’m happy with the little details on the pants. The pattern includes super tiny cute belt loops as well, but when I made the pants too big I decided not to spend the time stitching them on. Either way – my youngest was quite upset that I even tried to get my oldest to wear them as capris instead and has now claimed all rights to them. We will have a bit of a saggy bum when she wears them unless I decide to take off and redo the rise and waistband. It’s almost worth it, but I think I’d rather start over. What would you do?
If you want to get the pattern you can find it here: PeekABoo Pattern Shop Skinny Jeans (affiliate link*). Thanks!
*This post contains affiliate links, which means that I receive financial compensation for any sales made through these links. I bought this pattern and made the jeans before I found out there was the possibility of compensation for the affiliate link.
by Sherri Sylvester | Oct 31, 2013
I got it done! Hooray, I finished the costumes! Maybe not 1 hour a day for 7 days in a row, like the KCW challenge – but they are done! And one full day before Halloween! Oh, and Happy Halloween to you and your family… The kids wanted to be princesses again this year, but (rightly or wrongly) I dissuaded them because every girl this age is a princess – and we did the Cinderella thing last year. Still we ended up with a princess – but at least a Pirate Princess – and my youngest is Izzy, both from Jake and the Never Land Pirates. And – most important – my girls are very happy!
I realized soon after starting, that I was never going to finish them if I did a full tutorial – but if you are curious how part of it went together please feel free to ask! I am going to post a tutorial (ignoring the fact that it will be after Halloween) for the Pixie Dust bag Izzy carries and the Pirate Hat on my oldest because I think they will transfer well into other costumes and party ideas. And the little bag would be a cute matchy addition to a little girl’s handmade dress. Or a boy’s treasure bag if you shorten the strings – maybe for carrying all of those tiny cars around?!
Here is a run-down on the Izzy costume. I used the raglan sleeve dress pattern from ikat bag again to make the shirt. She has kindly provided a size 5 and a size 3 version – but it is very easy to add extra room to this style of dress if you want to re-size it – just add the width to the edge that is on the fold when you are cutting the fabric. I used the size 5 and added a bit of width because I want it to fit over her fall jacket. The leggings are Fancy Pants Leggings in a super sparkly stretchy purple knit. I about pulled my hair out stitching these the first time, but sorted it out when making the second pair – since they each have one. Seems my machine would stitch horribly through 2 layers, but it worked great with 3 layers. So I cut 3/8″ wide strips and fed them in under the presser foot along the seam allowance as I went. Now we have amazing sparkly seams on the inside too! I would show you but the pants are with my daughter at school – hmmm… forgot to think ahead there.
Izzy’s Pixie Dust bag tutorial will be coming soon and I’ll try to remember to link this post to it. (*Update: Izzy’s Pixie Dust Bag tutorial link) The bandanna was not too bad – a triangle with extra length at the corners for tying. I hemmed the front edge, added elastic in a large rounded shape so it would gather, then tied it on my daughter’s head for size so I could stitch the tie in place – Now they can play dress-up without asking me to tie it on each time! The white swirls are “puffy paint” dried in 10 minutes with a hair dryer (yes, I am that impatient!).
Pirate Princess photo via
For the Pirate Princess (does she have a real name?!) I was required to be a bit more creative. Again, an ikat bag dress as the shirt with elbow length sleeves. I wanted the dress to be elasticized across the back – similar to ready-made ones, so they can fit more than one size. To do that I made the front fabric a bit slimmer than the original size 5 pattern and added extra to the back dress bodice piece. I cut the vest to the same size as the shirt pieces and stitched them on together. Then I added elastic across the back in two places so it still fits without being too baggy.
The vest “corset” lines are yellow bias tape stitched under and over the edges of the vest fabric. The skirt is a long rectangle rounded on both bottom corners with a ruffle along the edges. The waist is sparingly gathered leaving room for stretch and then attached to an exposed elastic waistband. I attached the shirt to the elastic as well so it is one piece – easy on and off for the kids (again with playing dress-up in mind!). The “real” Pirate Princess carries a sword with a diamond on the end to make rainbows – but we already had a diamond wand at home and there have been no complaints, so we’ll leave it that way! Ditto on the boots – they are “supposed to be” purple with a scalloped yellow edge – but that takes more time so the purple rain boots stand in. I’ll link up a tutorial to the Pirate Princess hat when it goes up as well.
It’s a good thing my kids aren’t too picky about the little details yet! I was sewing these like a crazy person and used my pinking shears to their full potential to finish the edges on all of the (one fold) casings and hems. Saving time is very important around here!
We’ve got a rainy day today – with the potential for a very wet night. And of course it is chilly, being up North, so Izzy and the Pirate Princess will look like they have gained a bit of weight with coats underneath! But I’m sure they will be excited to get their fill of candy anyhow – wet or not. And I know these costumes will get a lot more use because the kid’s love to act out their favorite shows – one reason why I still “bother” to sew their costumes! Ok, that and the look on their faces when I am finished – makes it worth every hour spent!
Did you make your kid’s costume? I’d love to see it. If you want to check out more costumes I am linking this one up to the Project Run and Play costume link-up, and to the KCW site as well (click below) – since it really was a KCW project anyhow!
by Sherri Sylvester | Oct 24, 2013
This one took two nights, but it is not the fault of the tutorial, it is my fault for trying to do too many things this week! KCW Day 3 I sorted out the measurements/fabric for the skirt and KCW Day 4 I made it. Tomorrow it is on to Halloween costumes – Izzy for my youngest and the Pirate Princess for my oldest (from Jake and the Never Land Pirates) – so you will likely not hear from me until Monday again!
I found the Daffodil Skirt tutorial when Jenya (While She Was Sleeping) commented on something here a while back. I love reading and answering everyone’s comments – and I also love checking out your blogs. I’m a super curious person, so I have to see what everyone is up to! I pinned her cute little gray daffodil maxi skirt tutorial and thought this would be a good time to make one. She has provided a nice tutorial for a flat front waistband skirt, the back of the waistband is elasticized for easy dressing. While you are thinking about it – can I just say how much I LOVE comments and hearing what you think about what I’ve written, and I ALWAYS answer back! Thank especially to everyone who takes the time to comment on a regular basis – it means a lot!
(back to the skirt…) When I saw that Jenya had used a small wale corduroy for her skirt I was especially excited to make it for the fall season, since corduroy is such a warm and cozy fabric. I have to admit that the colours are not very fall friendly – and that I am envisioning lots of mud stained eyelet. Especially since it is only 2 inches off of the ground! The reason I still used the fabrics is that my daughter chose the light pink with lemon coloured dots and green pears last November, and I still had not made anything with it. I already owned the darker pink and some eyelet – and they seemed like a good stash busting combination. I now have about half of the pink and lemon dots, enough eyelet to make a tiny dress (yay!) and I’m done with the darker pink – HOORAY! Right now I’m loving using stuff up.
Even thought the extra tier makes this skirt more “Little House on the Prairie” than Jenya’s version, I’m glad I added it in. My daughter loves it and it’s one of the only things she’s gotten in the last while that she’s been happy with enough to ask to wear it for the rest of the day. She tries to suggest numerous changes to most things I make anymore! I suppose when you are almost 6 you are allowed to have your own fashion sense. For now I’m happy to go along with it, even if she’s not the trendiest kid on the block – as long as she is happy!
ARRrr me hearties! I be off to stitch up some tiny pirate duds…. (Have a great weekend! I’ll be having fun at Creativ Festival on Saturday. Check me out on Twitter if you want to follow along!)
Click on the button above to visit the KCW site. If you want to see my Daffodil Skirt on the KCW site you can go here.
by Sherri Sylvester | Oct 23, 2013
I was looking for a quick project yesterday for KCW. I had some client work to do, and my daughter is not in Nursery school on Tuesday and Thursdays – so it’s always a bit busier. I’ve used this mitten pattern from ikat bag a lot! I’ve made them several times in fleece and flannel, once or twice in rip-stop nylon – though it doesn’t work as well, even if it is waterproof. I reviewed the pattern last year here. And, believe it or not (likely you believe it!) I have had this pair in my project basket since I posted the last pair (see the previous same link for confirmation!).
I re-puroposed one of my daughter’s fleece sleepers for this project. I love the brown dotted fleece and it matches her fall coat really well. I’m hoping to use the rest of the sleeper to make a hat and some kind of neck warmer – though I am having difficulty finding anything safe besides this quick release scarf that I’m not sure she can manage on her own. And which, incidentally, I just pinned to my “For the Kids – Clothes” Pinterest board.
I used the cuffs from the sleeper as the cuffs on the new mittens. If you are curious how I cut it, I left the sleeper sleeves sewn together and lined up the pattern pieces with the ends of the cuffs. I cut the outer back piece from one side of the sleeve and the bottom palm piece from the other side of the same sleeve. Make sure, if you do this, that the sides line up. It should look something like the photo below when you are done cutting those two pieces. Now you can proceed as per the instructions, sewing only to the bottom of the open areas when directed to sew the sides.
I also figured out a way to keep the thumb lining inside the thumb – which is seriously exciting to me! It’s actually a small step, but it makes a big difference when your kids are expected to easily wear the final product. Take a look at the photo below (both lining and outer are inside out)…
- Match up lining palm to outer palm to get the right orientation for the thumbs.
- Now line up just the thumbs and zigzag over the seam allowance of both lining and outer thumb ends before turning the mittens inside out.
- Turn them together using some kind of pointy object (I used a Sharpie) to push the outer thumb into the lining thumb while the outer is inside out.
- Then turn the entire mitten so the lining is right side out (as per the directions to sew the casing).
Easy! I suppose you could also do this with the finger portion of the mittens… but I didn’t think of that last night!
On to KCW Day 3. What are you sewing?
Click on the button above to visit the KCW site. If you want to see my ikat bag Mittens on the KCW site you can go here.
by Sherri Sylvester | Oct 22, 2013
Here is my KCW Update: Day 1! I made two pairs of Fancy Pants Leggings (Sew Fab Fall 2013 Pattern Bundle). I have been saving this jegging-esque interlock knit since my trip to Hamilton in June of this year. I wanted to make legging with it – so this was the perfect time.
The Fancy Pants Leggings pattern is really well written with TONS of information about sizing, knits, adjustments… Laura (Craftstorming) has done an amazing job of writing up easy to follow instructions with well taken photos. On the topic of photos – if you bribe your kids by telling them they can jump on your bed for a photo shoot be sure to tell the responsible older one to stay still while the smaller one jumps. It helps to keep at least one person in the photo in focus!
I got to do some altering of the pattern based on my kids’ sizes. They each spanned 4 sizes based on height, inner leg length, hips and waist! In the end I traced the correct size for each part of the body and re-drew the connecting lines. It worked really well and they fit perfectly everywhere I altered them (hooray!). Unfortunately I forgot that my kids leggings usually have a shorter rise and I should have shortened this one significantly. I think I will go back, remove the waistband and shorten it so they will get more use.
The cutest part of this pattern is the separate bum panel. I had to resist the urge to add in a crazy coloured knit there – but for leggings my kids will wear out of the house I don’t think it’s probably a good option. I would love to try a pair of pj pants with multi-prints and colours now though – it would look so cute! Especially since I now have an almost perfectly sized pattern piece for each of them!
If you want to visit the KCW website to see some other great projects click on the button below. If you want to see my Fancy Pants Leggings on the KCW site you can go here.
