Girls Jumper

When fall rolls around I usually get the urge to sew.  And when I don't feel like starting a big project for myself I like to whip up a cute little something for my niece or nephew.

I used Simplicity 5284, which is an old pattern from 2003.  But I think they've reissued it because I found it on the Simplicity website HERE.

This is a super versatile pattern with a jacket, jumper, pants, and even a little back pack.  I can't even count how many times I've used it for both my niece and nephew.

This is the back closure, which may not be the easiest for tiny fingers to figure out, but hopefully her mom will be close by to button my  niece in.

I thought long and hard about matching the pattern on the pocket.  In the end, I figured why have a pocket if it's just going to blend in, you should be able to see it!  So I offset the argyle print.

Do you recognize the fabric?  It's a magical bolt of fabric I got from the bargain bin, it never ends!  I keep making things with it and there's always more!

What's your 'go to' pattern for kids clothes?  Leave a comment below~

Perfect Peasant Top

My love of the peasant top/dress is well documented on Etcetorize.  But when trying to figure out what to do with a little remnant I had I realized that I had only made the style for myself!  To remedy that I made the cutest little top for my niece.

I originally bought this fabric to make a dress for her but never got around to it.  Instead I ended up using it to make my Convertible Top project and had about a half metre left over.

I used this old pattern but lengthened it just a bit.

There's nothing overly special about this top but I think it'll look super cute on my  niece.

Now I just need to get her a straw hat and some buffalo sandals so she can wear this with her cut-offs and she'll be the perfect summertime hippie~

Pretty Pillowcase Dress

You may have noticed that I haven't had a whole lot to post in the past week or so.  Someone finally turned on the switch and spring has arrived full force, so I've been spending most of my time outside cleaning up the yard and creating a beautiful space in my garden.  I can't wait to show it to you once it's all done.

But that means there hasn't been all that much sewing and crafting going on.  Luckily, when spring hit a couple of months ago and there was still snow on the ground I did create a few things that I haven't shown you yet.

Like this cute little sundress for my niece.

I just used up a remnant I had and this pattern from 1981:

I'm pretty sure I just used view D and lengthened it to use up as much of the fabric as I had.

I get to see my niece next month so then I'll find out if this will be a dress or a tunic.  I think it's a little long for a top.

I added some pretty vintage lace on the bottom hem to give it an extra girly touch.

And I just used bias tape around the armholes to get a nice clean finish.

I love the versatility of this style.  It can last a little girl for years even as she grows.

Do you recognize this fabric?  It was a remnant from this dress I made a few years ago~

Raspberry Refashion

Right now I'm all about using whatever fabric and notions I already have on hand to try to thin out my massive stock of STUFF.  Part of this movement includes refashioning a few things I have instead of throwing it all in the donate bag.

Like this cute little peasant dress.

Ahhh the sun!  I vaguely remember
what that feels like~

I made it a few years ago for my now non-existent Etsy shop.  It never sold and I've never worn it.

So I made it into an adorable sundress for my niece!

She hates it when she has to tie things around her tummy area so the belt isn't attached and it still looks cute enough without it.

I was going to try the rouleau method of making straps but it just wasn't working for me so I went into my stash and found some pretty seam binding and finished the top edge off with a scrap of crocheted lace.

Even if she only wears it once, she'll still have gotten more use out of it than I did.

Have you started making summer fashions yet?  It's still cold and rainy/snowy (yes, SNOW!!!) here but I'm hopefully that someday the sun will come out again and I can leave the house without a sweater on.  Leave a comment below so that I can live vicariously through you~

Little Lace Top

I bought this plain Jane top for my niece ages ago.  I accidentally bought it a size too small to begin with and now she's grown a bit  too.  I'm pretty sure it will still fit, it just might be a little short for her.

So, I shopped my own stash and found all kinds of pretty lace to jazz it up a bit.

Would you believe I've hoarded that
peach lace for at least 15 years?!?!?

First I added a pretty lace collar along the neck edge.

And then I attached the lovely double sided peach ribbon lace along the bottom to lengthen it a bit.

Then I threw together a quick pair of leggings to round it all out and...tah dah!  She's got a whole new, and very pretty, outfit!

I love that lace at the bottom.  I can't believe I've finally used it for something.  Have you ever kept something for an unbelievably long time because you don't want to 'waste' it?  I get very weird about these things and want to make sure that the thing I'm making is worthy of it's embellishments.  How about you?  Leave a comment below (and let me know I'm not the only one)~

Super Kid T-Shirt

I usually have a hard time coming up with something interesting to make for my nephew but this week I think I hit the nail on the head!

This super T-Shirt is super easy to make.  Here's what you need:

Materials:
-1 T-shirt
-2 pieces of cardstock
-Fabric paint (I used glow in the dark dimensional paint)
-to make your life easier use a cutting machine, but this theoretically can be done without one.

Steps:
1) First I made a template with my Silhouette.  You can use an image that's already made for rhinestone placement or make one of your own.

I found a font online that fit every letter of the alphabet into the Superman logo.  I enlarged it in my Silhouette program and then place little circles all over it to make a template.  Then removed the image of the font and was left with this:

Use cardstock to make sure it has enough
weight to hold your pattern.

2) Place the other piece of cardstock on the inside of your T-shirt so that the paint doesn't seep through, then place your template on top.

3) Just dot your paint into each little circle.

4) And then carefully remove your template! Voila!

 5) Let it dry overnight and you'll be amazed with the results!

It's a good thing I put the extra paper underneath otherwise the paint definitely would've stuck the front and back together and seeped right through.  This particular paint dried in it's little dot shapes and barely moved at all.  It has a fun rubbery texture too that I think kids would love!

I think I'll make a pair of pj pants to go with this so he can have some super cool glow-in-the dark pjs.

Hopefully this is a step up from all of the shorts and pants that I've been making him all summer~

You can easily use any simple shape.  Girls would love stars or flowers and you wouldn't really even need a template.  What kind of design would you use?

You can see my original craft paint project here~

Have a crafty weekend everyone!

Shirred Dress Make-over

Last summer I showed you how to make a shirred sundress for yourself.

As much as I liked my maxi dress and got nice compliments on it, I just wasn't wearing it.  It could have something to do with all of the other pretty maxi dresses in my closet but let's not go there.

Instead, let's just make it over so someone else can wear it!

 Because the bodice is all elasticized with shirring I didn't even have to change the width at all, just the length.

I was able to cut enough off to use the extra fabric to add straps and a ruffle at the bottom.

She wore her new dress all day which is a pretty good sign that she liked it~

I'm done making summer clothes for myself, but think I have a couple more kids summer projects left to finish up before the weather really changes.

Such a great model!

Have you started on fall projects yet or are you like me and still hanging onto summer?  Leave a comment below~

Board Shorts

They're board shorts!  Really they are!  It's what all the cool boys in Hawaii wear when they go surfing!  At least that's what I keep telling my nephew so he'll wear his new shorts that I made for him.

He's at a funny age where he a lot of rules about a lot of things....like boys shouldn't wear flowers~

We'v all told him that those aren't flowers but he's not buying it.  I'm not sure if he'll ever wear these short again, but I still think they look pretty darn cool on him~

Do your kids have funny rules about things?  Leave a comment below and share~

Boys Summer PJ's

Yahoo!  I'm on a roll, I managed to get another project done this weekend.

I picked up this fun cotton in the bargain bin not too long ago to make my nephew some summertime pj's.

I made him some pants and appliques a square of the fabric onto a lightweight t-shirt.  I would've liked to have made a more interesting shape but I was running out of time and this was the quickest thing I could come up with.

He seemed pretty happy with them.

He's pretty tall for his age so I purposely made them short.  If he were standing normally they would hit mid calf which is exactly where I wanted them.

This was part of this birthday present along with the Message board I showed you on Friday and something else store bought.  Surprisingly, the message board was the biggest hit!

Girls Skirt

Well, this little project almost didn't make the cut for Kids Fashion Week but after looking at the photos I realized it didn't turn out quite as bad as I originally thought.

It's just a cute little skirt that I made for my niece:

I used the same pattern that I used for her brother's shorts earlier in the week. But the skirt just seems way too big to me.

It has a seam in the centre front and back as well as the sides which adds a bit of bulk.  As you can tell, I'm not over the moon about so I'm going to try shortening it and I think that'll help it along.

You can find out more about the little top that she's wearing here.

Flower Power Pedal Pushers

It's Kids Fashion Week here at Etcetorize and I am so excited to show you today's project!  I'm so happy with how well this outfit turned out I'm thinking about making a larger version for myself!

 I used this adorable pattern from Butterick:

Even though I actually bought this pattern from the fabric store (I usually just comb the second hand shops for patterns), it looks like Butterick has already removed it from their catalogue.  Craziness considering how cute it is!

The fabric was part of my monthly bundle of supplies that I get from Wholeport.  It's from the quilting section and was sent as a replacement for something else I had asked for.  At first I had no clue what I was going to do with it.  But I always say "Everything happens for a reason", and eventually inspiration struck me.

$12.60/metre at Wholeport!

I love Wholeport's cottons.  They're great quality, wash nicely with little shrinkage, and many of them are 60" wide!

What do you think?  Should I make an adult version for myself?  Leave a comment below~