King of the playground.

Kids clothes week day 6, and I am still going, though I think I'll take tomorrow off as it's a family day for us around here.  

Today I finished the waistband on a pair of Sketchbook shorts and knocked out a couple tees for the baby.

Again, using my all time favorite Field Trip Raglan in a size 18 months.  I can get these out pretty quick by now, though my serger came unthreaded and my regular machine was being a drama queen.  It really wanted to eat my fabric, ugh.  And, even though I bought a nice new machine a while back that has more stitches and such, it hates using my twin needle.  I finally pulled my old machine out to get these done.

Here is a better look at the vinyl, I picked it up in a facebook group and I am in love.

The neckline looks crazy in this pic, but it really isn't that bad IRL.  I assume it will calm down after going through the wash, it usually does.

I used the template from here for the airplanes and added a little embroidery applique.  The Sketchbook shorts were made at the same time as the first pair but I finished up the waistband this afternoon.

I think these two patterns go together perfectly.

Polka Dots.

Day 5 of kids clothes week, I wasn't planning on sewing, but Ben put on a gory war movie I wasn't interested in so rather than be responsible and go to bed I decided to stay up and sew another dress.  No regrets... mostly, ha!  I went as far as the invisible zipper, then finished up closing the back and hem this morning.  

This is another Mingo + Grace Blake dress, again in size 4, I wanted a 5 but since I was sewing with the baby asleep in my bedroom/fabric + pattern stash room, I just added a bit of width to my already traced pattern pieces.

I used a Riley Blake home dec I found in my magical hardware/fabric shop.  It isn't as heavy as the stretch denim ones from yesterday, but definitely heavier than quilting cotton.  Bonus for these three dresses is there will be zero ironing.  yay!  Or at least I hope no ironing for this one, there isn't on the other two.

'Mom, this is how da princesses hold deir dresses'

I chose a fun zipper this time too, I didn't get a close up of the last ones, but for the floral one I used a purple zip.  I nearly went red with this one, but I didn't want it too patriotic and while my hardware/fabric shop has a great selection of fabric it is kind of lacking in the zipper and button department.

I also changed the way the invisible zipper is inserted since I was unhappy with it in the original dresses.  I unpicked a few inches at the back neck then sewed the zipper to just the main fabric, sewed the neckline back in place and hand stitched the lining to the zipper giving it a nice clean finish on the inside.  I need to buy a hook to add to the top, but it will work for now.  I am much happier with the zipper this way.

This one was finished earlier in the week.  I found this cool border print in Abby's approved colors, I told her the only catch was that it had to be a dress because of the location of the print.  She decided that still would be okay, so I made her an Oliver + S Roller Skate in a size 10 with length.  She has already worn it once all day this week, which I will call a win.  She has now decided she wouldn't mind a few casual dresses in her closet.

Flowers + pineapples.

 Day four of kids clothes week, and two more dresses in the books.

I ordered this stretch denim from girlcharlee at the beginning of the year with these dresses in mind, I never put them at the top of my list, then I realized I wasn't going to have enough fabric if I didn't hurry up!  As it was, I baaaarely eeked these out of a yard and that was with some creative cutting, luckily they aren't a directional print.

But aren't they gorgeous?  All the heart eyes.

I used the Mingo + Grace Blake Dress pattern, size 4 with 1/4" seam allowance for the bodice to give just a tiny bit more room.  I probably should have done a 5, Izzy's (pineapple) fits her perfectly right now, which means it likely wont last the summer.  George has plenty of room, though.  She's my skinny minnie.

So, I didn't love this pattern.  I LOVE the finished product from the outside, but on the inside the back zipper is messy.  The pattern's instructions when it comes to the zipper were sparse, and instructed you to find a certain tutorial online as 'installing invisible zippers can be tricky'.  Personally, when I buy a pattern I don't want to be told to go find someone else's instructions online somewhere.  It also doesn't mention what to do with the excess from above the zipper pull.  Do I fold it out of the way and tack it down?  Cut it off?  Next time (if there is one) I will install it per the Oliver + S Fairy Tale way and sew it to the main, then hand sew the lining to it, giving it a nice clean finish.

Negative and my nit picking aside, I really do love these dresses.  The denim gives nice body that makes the pleats puff out a bit.  The girls love them because they are great for twirling.  When I was making them Iz told me 'the pineapples look yummy'.  Ha!

On to day 5.

For the boys.

Adding two to my total favorite pattern makes for day 3 of kids clothes week.  I find I can assembly line two items before I get bored, so I figured why not two tees, one for each boy.  

Jack's is a size 7 Field Trip Raglan in a so soft Volkswagen print.  Don't let his face fool you, he was really excited for this shirt, and didn't mind taking a picture- as long as he didn't have to smile.  He's channeling his inner male model, apparently.

For the first time I didn't use ribbing on the neckline as this knit (and Sam's) was pretty stretchy.  I like the look, and was glad to not worry about trying to match perfectly, as it turns out, this white and my ribbing were two slightly different shades.

Sam's is a Riley Blake knit, they are really nice!  I made him a size 18 month.  He is a few days shy of one, but wears 18m RTW and this fits just about right, maybe a little big.

I used up a scrap of a medium weight chambray I had kicking around after making these shorts, those things held up for forever and I had to hide them when they got too tight.  I used the Sketchbook Shorts also in 18 months and they are big, he is still wearing his 12 month O+S pants, but I wanted them to last the whole summer.

I have another pair of these partially made, well mostly, just need a waistband.  On to day 4!

Twin Roller Skates.

 Back for Day 2 of Kids Clothes Week with two more Roller Skates, but this time as dresses.

A few months ago I painted an 8' garage sale book shelf I picked up and set it up in my bedroom.  I put part of my stash up on it, sadly (?) it didn't all fit, but it definitely helped to narrow down the places in my house I shove it.  The twins loooove staring at and petting the fabric, wonder where they get that from... ;)

Anyway, they found these mermaid prints I have been holding on to for a while now and asked every day for the last month or so if I would make them a mermaid dress.  Every time I made them something else, they would ask when their mermaid dresses would be done.

Eventually I got the point.

I kind of held off because I was unsure how I wanted to place the print, though I was pretty sure I wanted to use this pattern.

But I am glad I finally made them, and so are they!

They are both a size 4 with 1 1/2" added to the length, they tend to wear these until they die and/or get too short, dresses become tunics and tunics become shirts.

Surprisingly, there wasn't any fighting over the color because, and I quote, 'Elsa likes blue and Anna gots pink'.  So, my Elsa loving George gets blue (since she's Elsa) and Anna loving Elizabeth (since she's Anna) gets pink.  Works for me!

KCW.

 Are you participating in Kids Clothes Week?  I am!  In fact, I thought back, and I have been participating every season since I started sewing, starting with the fall season in 2011.  Crazy!

Abby has recently decided that she does want me to sew for her, so I may be going a bit overboard.  Two tops last week, this top, a dress and many more tops planned.

This is the Oliver + S Roller Skate Tunic in some yummy Cotton + Steel double gauze.  I thought she would like the color, so I okayed it with her and splurged on a yard.  She loves the shade of blue, and I was able to squeeze a size 10 with some length out of just a yard.  Score!

I realized the girls don't have many pairs of shorts, though if given the chance, they will wear a dress every day.  I figured it wasn't bad to have the option, though, and I wanted to try the Butterfly blouse.  I am not a huge fan of the thread chain used to close this top and so next time I will do something different.  It isn't bad, but I am not very good at them, ha!  Plus, the ones on their carousel dresses have broken quite a few times already, it is a pain to have to repair them every few wears.

The shorts are just from the Badminton Skort.  I still haven't made the full skort, but the shorts from last year were worn to death and I knew they were a super quick sew.  She loves the outfit and wanted to wear it immediately, and to bed, haha.

During KCW I usually try to make at least one thing for each of the kids, so we'll see where that takes me!

Princesses.

 Tomorrow these two princesses turn four, I almost can't believe it!  Jack turned seven the end of May, Sam turns one next week and Abby ten the week after- then we're done with birthday season 'round these parts!

For their birthday, Grandma wants to take them to a princess show tonight at our local outdoor theater- wish us luck, ha!  Not only is it at 8:45 pm, it's blazing hot.  Hopefully it cools off once the sun goes down.

So, I decided they needed princess dresses to go to the show, and in true me fashion I finished them up at the last minute.  To be fair, I only knew for about two weeks and Sam was super sick all last week, so I didn't have a ton of time.

I figured the easiest way to go was with the Fairy Tale Dress, I have used it before for a Cinderella and an Anna.  I wanted them to last, but not be crazy big, so I only went one size up (well, probably two for George), using a size 5.  I also used the Library Dress sleeves with some added width and an added band.

Georgia has long been obsessed with Rapunzel, I don't know if it's because she looks like her (blonde hair and green eyes) or she loves the color purple, but I knew she'd flip over this one.  And I was right, she was soooo excited when she saw it!

Elizabeth was harder to choose for, and since it was a surprise I didn't ask ahead of time.  She isn't *as* thrilled, but she does like it.  She still loves her Anna dress, but I figured it would be too hot with the long sleeves and guessing she'd insist on the cape too.

Now my mind is spinning with ideas for more ways to customize this pattern for princesses, though I don't recommend making two Fairy Tale dresses in two days, ha!

Arrows and flowers.

I have been sewing quite a bit, but slacking on the blogging side.  I need to, or I'll forget sizes and my notes.  

I have been talking patterns and fabrics with Abby lately, trying to get a better idea of what she wants in her clothes.  I think I nailed it on these tops, if I may be so bold to say that.  

I used the Oliver + S Lunch Box Tee in a size ten with length added, I didn't measure but I think it was around 2".  I wanted them to last and she is due for a growth spurt, I think.

This one is my favorite, and I think her's too.

Same size and added length for this one, I actually took the risk and cut two out at the same time.

I have some solids on the way and some customizing ideas for a few more tops for her, her birthday is in a few weeks and I think I am going to try and surprise her.  Which could be great or a disaster, time will tell, but I think if I stick to knit I will be pretty safe.