Two new outfits.

 Twinsies desperately need some solids in their lives, they love to pair all sorts of patterns and colors.  Typically they have leggings, a skirt, shirt and jacket basically a whole lot going on.  So cue in amazing weather here and it was time to add in some solids.

 

George is wearing a School bus t-shirt in a solid navy cotton lycra and a Sailboat skirt in a joanns bottom weight.  Both size 5.  I can't believe I haven't made this skirt more often, I love it so much on her.

Izzy has a color blocked School bus t-shirt in a cotton lycra and a Butterfly skirt in denim, again both size 5.

This season's Kids Clothes Week theme is capsule wardrobe, so I am for once embracing the theme.  I have a plan sketched out and plan to stick to it, though I can't guarantee there won't be a pretty dress thrown in, too, that wasn't already on the list.

First day.

I realized today the big kids start school tomorrow, Abby has her outfit chosen, but Jack didn't.  I haven't made him anything for a while because he still fits most of his handmades, but I figured the first day of school deserved something new.

I pulled out a couple twill colors and paired them with a couple of knit cuts and let him choose, he picked well.

The shirt is the Oliver and S School Bus T-shirt, my go-to, in a size 8 with a little bit of length added.

The pants are the After-school pants, also a size 8, but I added 2" to the length.  He is only 1/2" shy of the top height in the 8 and I want them to last a while.

I really love these pants, and so does he.

Class picnic times two.

Abby is headed to 6th grade in a few days, that seems so crazy to me!  I figured it was about time to fulfill some of her requests (the paint splatter blouse) and finish up a few UFOs.

I used the Class Picnic Blouse in a size 12.  She is a little above the size 12 for her chest, but this one is nice and roomy so I didn't hesitate when she requested this pattern.  I added 2 1/2" to the bottom of the blouse, and kept the original hem depth.

I added a piece of dainty lace in the front yoke of this oh so soft Robert Kaufman floral lawn.

I picked up this Art Gallery from my LQS at least a year ago, maybe more.  She has been asking for something made from it as soon as I brought it home.  I hesitated to make her something from it, because she wasn't a fan of handmade there for a while, and especially not anything made in woven.

The last couple of months she has decided having mom-made clothes is actually pretty cool, because then she doesn't show up to school in the same top as anyone else.  So I decided it was time to make her request.

I really love these two on her, and I am really sad these will be the last two she gets now that she has sized out of the pattern.

Square neck dress.

I made the square neck dress from happy homemade a while back and loved it.  It has long since been outgrown, so it was time for another one.

This is the size 4-6 in a Robert Kaufman gingham.  I originally bought the gingham thinking of a top for me, but it is heavier than I thought it would be, so it wouldn't work for what I wanted.  But, it is perfect for this little dress.

Some days I get loads of adorable photos in all angles, and other days I am lucky to come out with one out of fifty.  So, this will have to suffice, haha.

The only thing I may change next time, is to make the bias binding around the arm holes and back opening a little wider.  It says to cut it out one inch wide, and it gives a beautiful, dainty look, but it is pretty fiddly. Even adding just a half inch would be a lot easier to work with, I think.

Biscuits.

I made a bunch of graphics up last week, Abby promptly claimed this one as her own.  She loves the song and thinks the saying is hilarious.

She is on the verge of outgrowing her other pairs of City Gym Shorts so new ones were in order.  I was debating what to do, she is out of the kid sizing, but not yet in the women's sizes.  I taped both sets together to compare the biggest kid size and smallest women's size and noticed there wasn't a ton of difference, so I took a chance on the smallest women's.  The fit really well!  She is thrilled and has requested more for the summer.

The shirt is currently in testing, but it is excellent.  It is from Hey June and is basically the Union's little sister.  This is the size 12.

Ribbon tied blouse.

I flipped through my Happy Homemade determined to make something, I made the square neck blouse a few years ago and then set the book aside.  It was time to take a look again.  

I picked the Ribbon Tied Blouse, view C.  I made a size 4-6 in a light and airy Art Gallery print.  I love the feel of these fabrics, and they are a lot lighter than regular quilting cottons, so they are nice to use for garments.  Well, at least for kids.

The front has quite a bit of gathering, but the back is just barely gathered.  The sleeves are also slightly gathered, giving them a cute little puffy shape.

 I love the silhouette of the blouse.  Iz was very excited to see it and wear it right away.

I also paired it with some well loved Oliver and S Puppet Show Shorts.  I will be so sad when they size out of this pattern.

KCW day one.

I have been sewing quite a bit of knits lately (documented on Instagram since I am horrible at blogging lately), I was dying for a nice woven sew.

I this gorgeous Art Gallery I found in a local shop.  I have long loved this one and was so excited to see it in person.

I made an Oliver and S Playtime dress in a size 5 with some mods.  I left off the sleeves and lined the bodice, I love this one as a summer dress.  Even though I am still sewing the girls a size 4 in most things, I find this one can be a little tight to get on and off at this point.  Elizabeth is on the verge of a 5, and I figured a little big is never a bad thing with the rate kids grow.

I have managed to misplace my buttonhole foot, so snaps it was.  Turns out it was practically fate, I had the almost exact green snaps in my stash.

She loves it and I know it will get a ton of wear this summer.

Striped pajamas.

I snuck a few minutes in here and there tonight before bed to knock out a quick pair of pajamas for Sam.  I cut this pair and another out last week, which made it even faster.  

Last week I made this pair as a test run, I used the Peekaboo Alex and Anna winter pajamas in size 2t knowing they were a very snug fit.  I liked the bottoms, but not the top.  The top gaped a ton at the neck (not noticeable in the picture, but very in real life) and didn't like that the sleeve cap was basically flat.  I decided to go with my stand-by Oliver and S School bus tee in a size 2T for the real one, and as expected liked it much better.

I used some Riley Blake knit that I have been hoarding, and they turned out just like I wanted.

Cozy dress.

It's that time of year again, Kids Clothes Week.  While I try most weeks to knock a few things out, I usually push myself this week to make at least one thing for each kid.  

So I started off easy, well, somewhat easy.  Ottobres are always a beast to trace.  I made #13 from the 4/2015 magazine in a cozy, soft french terry. I made size 104cm, which as far as I can tell translates pretty well to a 5t, that's the size I have started to buy for them (if I buy) from RTW.

It was a really easy sew, and she absolutely loves it.  Again, the part that took the longest and most thought was tracing off the pattern.

Pockets were a major plus in her book.  I used the wrong side of the FT for the pockets, cuffs and neckband.  The fit is a little big on her, but since she and Elizabeth still fight over clothes I made it big enough for Iz, too.

Now I have the internal debate, make another because I love it that much, or move on to another pattern as I have so.many.patterns.?

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.

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!

Boy basics.

I looked in Sam's drawers and realized he has no shorts and only maybe two pairs of pants that fit.  He rocks onesies and rompers most of the time, but a boy's wardrobe isn't complete without a few good pairs of shorts. 

I was crazy excited to see the new patterns from Oliver + S, especially the Parachute Polo + Sweatpants.  Last fall there wasn't a boy offering so I was thrilled there was this time.  Especially this, both pieces are boy staples.  Don't worry, there's a girl's version of the polo included in the pattern and of course the pants are unisex.

Being it is already in the 80's here most days I knew pants weren't going to be the best, so I shortened the pants, but maybe not quite enough, ha!

I made the size 18 months for my 10 month (what?!) boy and used the Sunny Days Shorts for the approximate length.  He wears 18 months RTW, but I didn't account for the fact that I only turn knit under once for the hem, and I didn't look at his height so I probably could have got away with the 12 month length.  But, they will last for a while, which is perfect because I pretty much love them.

I did the button holes for the waistband and then managed to sew them to the inside of the waistband.  I thought about unpicking for about five seconds then just decided to pay more attention next time.

I used a lightweight French Terry (for the first time ever) and it was perfect.  Aside from the curling, but I could deal with that.

He is also wearing his octopus Field Trip Raglan that while not sewn this KCW fits with the theme.

After I finished the first pair and realized what a quick and satisfying sew it was,  I immediately cut out another pair and had them finished in about thirty minutes.  Can't beat that.

This time I used a Ponte knit for the solid and the contrast.  I happened to have a scrap of this blue stripe left from a maxi skirt I made myself (and never blogged) a while back,  I was so excited it matched perfect and that I am a hoarder.

It hadn't crossed my mind, but today Liesl blogged a sweatpants inspiration post and one of the examples was to have the waistband contrast.  I was just going to do the solid, but loved the idea of the stripe, though I didn't manage to get a great shot of it.

I also made him a School Bus Tee sized 18 month.  And even though I KNOW to go based off his body measurements, I just went with his RTW size and it ended up huge on him.  Which is better than too small, haha!   And it isn't such a bad thing, he does have quite a few shirts in his drawers already.