Fall KCW - Sewing with Knits

Full disclosure up front.  I'm using this post as an excuse to share a few things that I've sewn for the kids over the last err months.  I'm actually terribly behind in blogging my projects.  Most seem to only ever appear briefly on my instagram.  They then get worn and never photographed further... oops?

So I thought I'd use the excuse of Kids Clothes Week to blog about how much I LOVE sewing with knits for kids!!  I've developed a slight knit fabric obsession over the last 6-12 months.  I blame the internet mostly, and as a result have realized how easy, cute, comfy and quick sewing things up in knit is.  I also finally have a working SERGER which basically changes the game of sewing with knits completely.

The internets are covered in cute knit fabric and adorable patterns to use them with.  My Pinterest Boards has some links and I'll share a few more with my projects below!

But first a few of my favorite stores for knits!  I'm personally obsessed with all the cute prints that come out of Europe and  L'Oiseau, Simpli Fabric and Duncan and Kate are my Canadian Favs.   I also order sometimes from some custom print groups on Facebook, a few now have non Facebook presences like The Fabric Snob and Sweet N Charmed.   My local shop Fabrications is now getting in Art Gallery knits and should have them online soon too!

Raglan tees - probably my favorite sew for the boys, and I've made a bunch.  My go to pattern is See Kate Sew's Recess Raglan.  Quick and an awesome fit of my guys!  Here are a couple of my favorites:

Oh and that's me in a See Kate Sew City Girl Frock in my Mother in Law's house back for Easter!  Not my decor style...

And the companion to that R2D2 shirt would be these pants from Max and Meena's Maxaloones pattern.  They are all the rage in the cloth diaper world for their roomy butt fit and general adorableness.

 

And now that I've reminded you all of summer,  here are a few pictures of the adorable tanks I made for the boys.  After I made little E the bus shirt, he just ran around saying bussssss, busssss.  These guys are too much some days!  These were made using the FREE Fishsticks Tank pattern!  I'm thinking I can layer them over button down shirts for the winter.  That wouldn't be too much would it?

Recently I also made a second Bimaa Hoodie for my oldest first every school picture day!  Sadly it may be the only time he wears it as he's recently declared he no longer likes knights...  argh!  good things his little brother will fit in it soon!

 

And I've recently started sewing up a few girly knits for little friends.  Most recently this Raglan Pocket Dress by Brindille & Twig!  

And LAST but not least, something I actually sewed during this KCW!  Pajamas!  Used the top and cuffs from Peek-a-boo Patterns Alex and Anna Winter PJ's.  But used the Clean Slate Pants from Blank Slate Patterns as a starting point for the flannel pants. I've decided PJ's are the perfect knit fabric stash buster!  you can use crazy colour combos that work as PJ's, but not necessarily as other clothing!

So I'll end this with a link to Made by Rae's awesome Sewing with Knits series.  Full of excellent tips on sewing with knits.  Have a good KCW everyone!

Make Believe in The Bookworm Button up!

So excited to finally share with you all what I've been up to the last few weeks!  I got a chance to test the patterns for the new Pattern Anthology Collection Make (Believe)! 

I'll be sharing with you all the 4 projects in the next week or so.  Check out my Instagram feed or my Facebook page for some other sneak peaks!  In the meantime go snag your copy of the collection and tell me what you're going to make!

I absolutely adore button down shirts on little boys, so was super excited to see that the Bookworm Button up was in the collection and to finally actually make one for my boys!  I've made an adult sized one, but never a teeny one before.

And I have to say, it was waaaay easier then I remember the Mr's shirt being.  The instructions were clear and well laid out, which helped a ton!  I made view A, but if I had girls, I'd be all over the bow sleeves in views C and D!

I particularly love the pleated pockets.

It was also the perfect chance to use up this adorable Japanese fabric I had just picked up from Fabrications! Who doesn't like whales eh?

And well, adorable right?

So if you've been scared to try making a shirt like this before, don't be!  Just do it!  I plan to make up one for my older son next!

So now don't forget to check out the collection over at Pattern Anthology! There are three awesome ways to get the patterns.  All four together for $19.95.  Add in the super neat activity book for $24.95, OR best of them all, add in 4 pants patterns for $34.95.

One Year Old in a Bimaa Hoodie

Hard to believe this sweet, sweet boy is already one!  It seems just like yesterday we snuggled into bed after his birth a chilly morning in December.

And today he's a bundle of silliness, just starting to form almost words, and just starting to stand on his own.

To help celebrate, I thought I'd make him something new, and made him up a Bimaa hoodie.  I got this pattern in a bundle a few months ago, and loved the slim fitting style and oversized hood.  And it delivered exactly what I wanted.

I made the 12 month size, and it fits exactly.  I plan to make more, but I'll definitely size up.

I wasn't 100% sure of the big hood, but it's the perfect oversized hood!  Look at it! it's too much cuteness!

And now he can sorta match his brother when he wears the cardigan I made him!  I need to get a picture of that at Christmas!

A Spring Coat in the Fall

I admit it, I'm behind in writing posts.  I have been sewing, sure not as much as I'd like, but I have been.  But everything with two kids is kinda sporadic.  So I think I just need to embrace it, and post when I can!  I have a backlog of a few projects, and this is one of them.

A coat for baby E.

This is Anna Maria Horner's Baby in the Hood pattern from her Handmade Beginnings Book.  You may remember I made for for M 2 years back.  I love the hood and contrast fabric panels, so I thought I'd make up one for E's first spring and fall.

I made his back in April, and Little E did get some wear out of this little coat though in the spring, but lots more this fall as it fit him better.  I made the 9-12 months size, so he some room to grow when I made it for him at 5 months, but sadly he's now to big for it and well, it's about winter anyways!

These pictures are from back in September, and gosh he looks adorable eh?

I did make some changes when sewing this one up though.  One is obvious, I put a zipper in instead of toggle buttons.  I found it almost impossible to get toggles done up on a squiggly baby, and much prefer a zipper.  I didn't change the pattern at all for the zipper really, so it's a bit awkward as it's just attached to the outside edge of one button placket, and sewn into the inside edge of the placket on the other side.  Problem is the way the seam lays on the inside edge means that the zipper teeth are facing the wrong way.  it's not really noticeable when warm, so I didn't care.  It made it way easier to get on!

I also lengthen the coat as I found my previous version a bit short.  I can't remember by how much, but I think about 1.5 inches on this one.

I love little coats on babies eh?  Especially with adorable hoods!

I'm still here! and l've made more hats!

Sorry to be so MIA lately my dear followers!  I don't know where the time has gone!  Ok I kinda do, and I blame my two kids :P  I haven't sewn too much, as I seem to only want to lay on the couch when I have free time these days haha.  

I'm hoping to get more back into it soon, and I have like 10 things cut out (thanks to my lovely Mother), I just need to get to sew them!

In the meantime, I give you two of the measly things I have sewn...   more to follow in upcoming posts (like in a few days or a week, not months, I swear!

Matching bucket hats for my two growing boys (little E is almost 7 months... and M is 3! whhhaaa??)... yay!  Using the awesome pattern from Oliver and S and the no handsewing shortcut from A Little Grey.

First an adorable sleepy picture :)

And another cute baby picture

I added ties to the wee ones as I often back carry him and need to make sure the hat stays on!  just tucked them into the seams at the two side seams, and voila.  Makes it non reversible, but thats ok!

And we can finish off with a pic of the unimpressed with my photo taking toddler in his hat.

And yes, I should have added interfacing, but I didn't, I kinda like the slight floppiness!  And I love this pattern!  so quick and awesome!  I just can't justify every buying hats!

Oh and I also made yet another bonnet, so I'll add a picture here, just cause!

Hooray for summer! 

Finally, I made a "Manligan"

I loove cardigans, especially on boys, and waaay long ago when I saw the "manligans" Sophie at Cirque du Bebe made for her littles, I had to make one too!  It just took me a while!

I picked up the red stripe knit at a fabric thrift sale and the blue ribbing is the same I used on the Mr.'s cardigan last year.

The pattern is relatively easy, but not really for beginners.   It's the Darling Cardigan by Owly Baby.  My only slight issue was the knit is pretty thin so a bit tricky to keep in line.  But again I loove having my new machine for knits,  I'm really loving sewing with them now!

But it turned out pretty good! (please ignore the fact the top button is really to high, but it works, oops!)

Now I just need to plan my spring sewing as winter is almost over... right?

38 Weeks

Remember that maternity calendar shirt I made?  It's now gone mini!!

Just like the author of the tutorial I made the shirt from did, I hacked mine up into a little romper for E!  I wasn't ever going to wear the thing anyways, and this way he can get some use out of it, and it'll be a nice keepsake for us (imagine me bringing it out at his wedding? or passing it down to a grand-baby some day?) eek!

This shirt was of particular significance as I had really wanted to make it to 37 weeks with this baby, having had my older son early, and wanting to avoid the extra potential complications/interventions that can lead to and wanting to birth at home (which Midwives here can only let you do after 37 weeks).  I particularly wanted to get to 38 weeks, as that would make things like jaundice even less likely.  And I made it to 38 weeks and 1 day!  And all that work produced one super cute baby (who's now already almost 2 months!)

I used this tutorial to make the romper, pretty straightforward stuff (despite it being in Dutch!)  While I did get my Dutch mother to read it through I didn't really need her too, the pictures and a few quick checks on words with Google Translate were enough.  The only thing it neglects to tell you is seam allowances, but I figure it was meant to be served, so I assumed 1/4 inch.

It came together super quick too, partially thanks again to my lovely new machine!  Hand sewing on the snaps probably took the longest... I really should get snaps to use with the snap press I have lying around!  I had to cut it on an angle to make sure the 38 week number appeared, but it worked!  And he looks darn cute in it.

KCWC Days 5-7: Car Pants!

So here it is, the 3rd of 5 planned projects finished within the timelines of KCWC, not too bad right?

Little M is finally outgrowing some of his pants, hence, I needed to make some new ones!  And like many a little boy, he loves cars, so I made car pants.  Shocking, I know.

So I used up more of my precious Echino car fabric, previously used for this hat, and cut out my first pair of the East Pocket Pants from Growing up Sew Liberated.  I like the pattern, it's pretty easy, but cute, things I like in a pattern.  I even did all the details suggested, including the itch free seams, not very lazy of me eh?

I made up the 2T and they, not surprisingly, are still a bit big on my little compact M, but I'm fine with that.  I had to severely shorten the waist elastic and made rolled up the cuff as much as possible.  It's nice to know that he'll have lots of room to grow with them though!

And he likes them, of course, cause there's cars on them.  And just like with his backpack, went around and proclaimed to Daddy that Mama made him pants quite happily.  Makes this sewing mama happy :)

Yikes though, toddlers are hard to photograph, even with cookies.  Add in the fact I have very little daylight these days during the week, and we have slightly blurry and grainy pictures.

Oh well!  That's another KCWC done, with a project list to complete before baby still pretty long!

KCWC Days 3-4 Jailhouse Shirt

Lesson learned:  Think long and hard about which way you wants strips to go on a shirt.  Widthwise may seem like a good idea, but maybe its not a good idea when you have a centre front seam and a grey strip that may lead you to have an uneven shirt the resembles jailhouse couture.

Ha, oh well, at least I finally made the Easy Linen Shirt from the Sewing for Boys book I've had forever!  Good thing though I didn't make it sooner, because my mini 2.5 year old boy still swims a bit in the size 2/3.  I was worried it would be huge on him (this kid still wears 12-18 month shirts after all) but it's not tooo bad!

He isn't really picking his nose...ok maybe he is.

And the pattern comes together pretty easy so I can imagine making more of these in none stripy fabric in the future!  Perhaps I'll even make it with a hood like others have.

I have realized though that I'm definitely a lazy sewer most the time.  Exhibit A:  My reluctance to take out and resew the front seam to even it out (I had cut it out right!).  Exhibit B:  The uneven nature of the collar ends.  I think I realized this shirt would just be my trial version and thus no need to spend tons of time perfecting it anyways!

Next up? Blue car pants!

KCWC Days 1-2 - Robot Pants!

My KCWC plans are slowing actually becoming things for once!  First up is a lil pair of Quick Change Trousers from AMH's Handmade beginnings for the new bebe.

I had a bit of deja vu making these, as I seem to like to only make them in red and in crazy prints (as seen with last falls KCWC when I made little M these red pants!  Hey, what can I say, I really wanted to use some of this robot Kokka fabric I had, and well, there's red in them!

The other side is some soft cozy flannel fabric left over from this dress.  And the but panel is a bit from Sarah Jane's Children at Play collection.  I have a bunch more of this which I should make something else for my boys from soon!

Tiny pants are cute!  Although I suspect these will be huge on my little one for a good while as I seem to not make particularly huge babies, but that's why you roll up the bottoms right? :-)

So be sure to check out the Elsie Marley flickr group for inspiration, and I'm on to the next item! Here's hoping I make all 5 things by Sunday!

KCWC plans and some other bits

As usual, I have lots of plans for the Kids Clothing Week Challenge this fall.  Will I meet them? eh, who knows, but at least I'll try.

Here's a little photo to give you a very poorly lit (I do generally sew at night these days after all!) sneak peek.

Quick run down from top right.  Striped shirting will be an Easy Linen Shirt from Sewing for Boys (finally I make something from the book!)  The three fabrics under it, will make up a teeny pair of 0-3 months Quick Change Trousers from AMH's Handmade Beginnings (I seem to like to make these pants in red tones, as previously seen here).  Next up from the light blue is a Baby Sleep Sack from Growing Up Sew Liberated for the new baby.  On the right is a pile of fleece to make a dinosaur costume for M using Jessica of Running with Scissors Woodland Animal Costume (plus one of her dino tails).  And last is the car fabric which will be a pair of Easy Pocket Pants for M also from Growing up Sew Liberated.  And this just touches the surface of my list of things I want to sew for my boys!

For any of you who don't know about KCWC, check it out! link above or on my side bar.

In other news...

I think I never told you all that I'm having another BOY?  Maybe my colour choices above might have hinted, but well I am! And this time I have plans to sew all the things I never got around too with little M!  I always figured I'd be a mom to two boys (my husband is one of two boys) and so here we are!  And M loooves the idea of a little brother, kisses my stomach and asks to hug it all the time, while asking me if he's coming out next week (ha).  This was me last weekend (29 weeks), for those that are curious :)

And last, but not least, it looks like my city is FINALLY getting a fabric store with potential awesomeness.   It's called Fabrications, and it opens in November.  I'm already drafting them up a nice long e-mail full of suggestions of things I think they should carry, but from their description, I think it will be awesome regardless!

Backpack with a View

I've been meaning to make one of Made by Rae's Toddler Backpacks up for M since I made the last one in January.  I finally finished it last weekend, and just in time!   Oddly enough, M starting asking for a backpack last week, it was a bit weird, I suppose I must have been mentioning it, but he is getting very observant.  Nothing gets past this little guy.

This is probably the first thing I've made him where he understands I made it, and appreciates it!  Every time he sees it, he states "Mama made the backpack!"  Makes this mama feel nice.

He loves wearing it, and it's probably good I waited a bit to make it as its still a bit big.  With the straps at their shortest, it stays on, but barely.  Regardless, it looks adorable, and he'll grow into it before long.

The fabric is of course, Viewfinders from Melody Miller's Ruby Star Rising collection.  Despite the fact that M was asking for a robot backpack (no idea why) he still loves this pattern, and so do I!    It's just lined in a dark blue cotton. 

Sewing up this one went smoother then the last one, I think mostly because I didn't interface it with the super stiff stuff I used last time.  While it'd be nice if the backpack stood up on it's own more, the thick interfacing last time made a pain to sew so this one was a breeze.  

I can totally see making a school sized one in a few years for him (maybe even in robot fabric).

And he sure is cute wearing it!