Quick Cape

Sometimes you just need to do something quickly, with the minimum of fuss.

I'd been given a bag of material to sew up for the kids at Mitchell's Playcentre.
In the stash was a lovely transparent black gauze, sprinkled with silver stars - just perfect for a cape - it could be anything from a superhero to a wizard to a fairy princess.

The fabric was lovely, but it frayed like the dickens, and I didn't want big hems, as they just catch and get pulled.

So, I cut off a rectangle 70 cm long, retaining the selvages as the edges - so I didn't have to hem them; and worked out how to do a narrow rolled hem using the overlocker. Big sucess - I'll certainly do this again.

For the collar, I cut a rectangle of gold satin (silver would have been better, but I was using what I had to hand), and marked out the centre 38 cm. to attach the cloak (I did a rough and ready measurement, using a very unco-operative Mitchell as a model).
I didn't want it to come too far over the shoulders, as I find that full
cloaks get in the way of all the other activities the kids are doing
(paint, climbing, etc.)

Then I broke out the ruffler foot - haven't used this since I was making square dancing petticoats, more years ago than I care to remember. Had to rip out the first attempt, as the gather was too tight, and the seaming off centre. But the second attempt was pretty darn good. I could have gathered a little less closely to the edge, but not worth re-doing.
The edges frayed while I was working. Next time, I'd do the rolled hem on the to-be-gathered hem as well, just to stabilize it.

I folded the collar right sides together, and stitched the ends and bottom along to the gathered cloak. Then clipped, turned and pressed. Because the gauze was so hard to handle, I hand stitched the collar over the gathered cloak. Then top-stitched all around the collar. Finally I stitched velcro to the overlapping edges of the collar (I use double sided tape to stick the velcro in place, then stitch).


I didn't want to over-think - just get something made quickly for the kids to play with; and I think this has really worked well. Just like cooking. Simple materials, made up quickly, with no fuss - though it does help to have the equipment to hand.

Mending is sewing too

I don't feel that I can justify making Mitchell new outfits, when I have clothes for him waiting in the mending pile. He grows so quickly, that if I don't fix them now, I might as well throw them out. I'm pretty picky over what I mend, it has to be 'worth my time' so I sort out: good quality fabrics/designs; things he looks extra cute in; things he's been given by special people in our lives; oh, and also anything that only needs a tiny stitch to make it good as new.
So that's why an extra cute and comfortable pair of denim trousers given to him by his aunt, had new knee patches added (where he wore out the knees crawling); while other pairs of trousers have gone straight in the rag bag.

I looked at the mending pile today, and regretfully put the sewing aside (even though there's only the waistband to do....) and spent the 45 minutes [and that's a whole nother story] of his nap time today, mending.

I started with a lovely green outfit that my sister gave him with appliqued monkey motifs. So far as Mitchell is concerned, "iron on" means "pull off", and those monkeys had just about given up any attachment to their parent garment. But it is cute, and he's certainly getting the wear out of it in this hot weather. If I'm going to spend my time mending something, it's darned well going to stay mended. So out came the invisible thread, and I whip-stitched the monkeys firmly in place, right round the edge of the applique.

Then the buttons. It seems that whatever automatic button-stitcher-on-er they have in garment factories, hasn't been put to the toddler-test. Just about every button Mitchell owns gets removed or comes loose within the first couple of wears. I've learned to re-sew all the buttons on a garment, when the first one comes loose. I suppose that I really should stitch them in place before he wears them for the first time -- but, I feel daunted at the thought....

And finally darning. Now this one really is crunch time for a garment -- it has to be really worth it for me to darn. Though there are plenty of candidates.... Only one set of trousers made the cut this time.... lovely microfibre board shorts in shades of blue. He'd got at my dressmaking scissors and made little snips through the fabric (before I spotted him and wrested them away). Three tiny darns, and they're wearable again

There's something sort of satisfying about folding up mended clothes to put away in his drawers, and seeing his mending basket empty (mine on the other hand, threatens to topple over it's so full).

But it's not nearly so much fun as sewing....

The Cursed Pyjama Project

Sometimes it seems that a particular sewing project is cursed. No matter what you try it all goes wrong somehow.
I feel that way about Mitchell's pymajas -- and I've only done the top half!

I'd been given a lovely soft cotton jersey in a very fine navy & white stripe. Nice to sleep in, and Mitchell had grown out of all his pyjamas.

I really liked the envelope necks that he'd had with his onesies, and wanted to use that design feature, rather than having fasteners -- much more comfortable.

I found an Ottobre pattern that I thought would do nicely (No.5 from 1/2009). It was a jersey tunic (which suited the fabric) and had an envelope neck.
I didn't have any ribbing to hand, so decided to use the cotton jersey as self binding. First big mistake. This had worked well on previous projects made out of merino jersey, but the cotton fabric didn't have a great spring back when it was stretched. Using the same fabric for the binding, resulted in stretched out seams.

The first one I made for Mitchell ended up huge: the envelope neck didn't have enough elasticity to stay in place, and constantly slipped off his shoulders; the sleeves were about 4 inches too long, and were very baggy. Every time it was washed, it seemed to get bigger. After stitching on some extra elastic around the neckline, which looked dreadful; I reluctantly consigned it to the rag bag.

I'd begun the second top, before I realised the major problems with the first one; and the self-binding on the envelope neck was already in place. I re-cut the sleeves to a much narrower and shorter pattern. But what to do about the neckline?

I decided to stitch in the ditch along the envelope overlap. Retaining the effect, while actually making it a much narrower opening. We'll have to see if it works.

In the interim, it seems that everything that could go wrong with the process, did. I stitched the binding onto the wrong side of the sleeves, (rather than unpicking, I turned it onto the right side & re-stitched -- it looks OK, but is a bit thicker).
I ran out of thread in stitching the seams, and broke the overlocker thread, 3 separate times!

Finally, I decided that I couldn't be bothered binding the bottom, so just overlocked and stitched it up (breaking a needle on a pin in the process.). It looks a bit puckered where the stitching has stretched the fabric, but I guess Mitchell and I can live with that.

I think it's back to the drawing board with this fabric. I'll need a pattern that's a much slimmer fit, and stretchy rib knit for the bindings.

In the meantime, Mitchell is sleeping in t-shirts.....

Ladybirds

I'm a sucker for bright colours. And find most of the outfits for little boys to be, in a word, boring.
When you go into the shops, 3/4 of the space is for girls -- hot pink, lime, purple -- colours that zing! And then the boys corner: blue, grey or khaki.
Dull, dull, dull (even with diggers or Thomas the Tank Engine on the front)


So, when I found this fabric, I had to have it for Mitchell. I loved it so much, that I bought it in all three colourways (yellow and green, as well as the red).

That was last year, & I've finally made it up into overalls.




I used the same Ottobre Farmer overalls pattern as for the blue geometric overalls, without dealing with the size issues -- so they're still a bit roomy for him.
[The photos aren't great -- it's hard to get him to stand still to be photographed right now -- he's always on the go!]
The panels of ladybirds on the fabric were separated by the sets of stripes, which I've used for the shoulder straps and to define the waist. I like the straps, but the waist stripes seem make him look a lot wider than he actually is, so I don't think I'll repeat it. Maybe, I could use that detail on one of the pant's legs -- asymmetric details are cool in kids gear right now.



I've added 2 buttons on the straps to allow for growth (and they look quite cute as a button detail as well). The button-holes got sewn a bit too close to the edge (blame doing the finishing at 11 pm). The extra volume comes in handy in the bend & stretch of a toddler's life!

And I have no problem spotting my kid on the other side of the playground!

Overalls

I love overalls for toddlers.
They're practical, tough, and look cute as well.
They also solve 2 of the big clothing problems I have with Mitchell.
1. The gap between shirt and trousers. He's such an active wee man, that he seems to come untucked all the time. Not that that's a problem in itself; but when he's climbing he seems to manage to get a knee into the front of his shirt & pull himself over.
2. The nappy removal problem. Having figured out how nappies go on, he seems bound and determined to down trousers and take his off whenever possible - regardless of the impact on floors, bedding and anything else in the way of the natural consequences.

So, overalls: no gap at the waistline to come untucked; and (so far, at least), he hasn't worked out how to undo buttons or snaps at shoulder level.

Sadly, however, there is a dearth of overalls in the 2+ size bracket, and what is available is, shall we say, on the drab side. Fine, if you want denim, and....more denim.

Enter Ottobre magazine.

I first found this, when I was looking for good patterns for onesies, when Mitchell was a baby; and I've loved it ever since. It's just full of fabulous sewing patterns for children, in a slightly edgy Scandinavian style.

Tracking through the issues, I came up with this overalls pattern (Farmer overalls, #9 from Issue 3, 2008).; which seemed close to what I was looking for.
Naturally, I wanted to make a few changes!
I planned to make them out of patterned fabric, so decided to eliminate a lot of the detailing: pockets, (yes, thank you, I can imagine what Mitchell would put in them), belt-loops and the double stitching. I also decided to use buttons, rather than snaps at the shoulders and sides. I like the look of buttons, and they're also harder for small fingers to undo. Finally, I eliminated the snap fasteners at the crotch. I find that they pop undone too easily, in ordinary toddler active movement, as well as being an easy access route for nappy removal.
As, these are for summer, I made them about 3/4 length -- almost shortalls, rather than overalls.

I hunted through the fabric stash & found a cute cotton/lycra geometric print in shades of blue.
And here they are.

I think Mitchell looks very cute in them.
I'm not totally happy with the fit. They seem to be a bit large around the waist and chest, while fitting nicely in the nappy area (cloth nappies make him a bit more bulky). I think they could stand to lose around 3 cm at each side.
But the plus side of a lose fit, is that he has complete freedom of movement.
And, I made the straps plenty long enough, so that we might just get another summer out of them.