KCWC Final Update

Posted on April 30, 2012 by oliver's fancy

I thought I would share my final tally of clothes made and some things I learned from this challenge week.

Final tally

4 bibs
1 appliqued onesie
1 birthday crown
1 pair of treasure pocket shorts
1 circle skirt finished and 5 waiting for elastic

Notes

I did not finish all the projects I had in mind, but I knew my list was a bit over-ambitious, especially considering how busy I was already. I liked having the push to get in my sewing room and work, even if just for a small amount of time. Those small times add up quickly. Next time I do the KCWC I want to be more organized before the week starts so I don’t waste time searching for patterns or have to stop my project because I don’t have all the needed tools. That was my biggest hangup. Overall, this was a very positive experience. It’s so fun to have an entire online community working on similar projects. I loved looking through the flickr group for inspiration! I am looking forward to KCWC Fall 2012!

What’s on my list now? Well I have some little boy vests to make for an upcoming wedding, but I think I’ll switch gears for a bit and sew for the home. I’m getting bored with my living room and see new pillows and a table runner in my near future. I also really want to figure out how to use that serger I got for my birthday last month! I’ll be sure to keep you updated on that progress 🙂 What about you? All you readers out there…anyone? Did you enjoy KCWC, wish you had participated, or have no interest in kids’ clothes?

Because every post needs some pictures, here’s a few more of my big boy…

What happens to a birthday crown when cake is introduced…

KCWC Days 5-7

Posted on April 29, 2012 by oliver's fancy

Day 5

Did not make it into the sewing room until late Friday night. BUT I had good reasons and some of them have to do with sewing. See this big pile of fabric? I was alerted Friday morning that a warehouse in town was having a yard sale and selling fabric for $1. We’re not talking Wal-Mart fabric here, folks. They had Free Spirit, Amy Butler and many other designer brands. Because of my current car situation, I was not able to be there right on time. That meant I had the place to myself, but also had seconds dibs on the fabric. However, I am still pleased with the haul I was able to get- over 27 yards for $24! I figure that amount would have cost me close to $300 at retail price so I’m feeling very thrifty right now:).

When I got home from all my errands, I had about 30 minutes before my company arrived, so I ran into my sewing room and frantically tried to get something done. I ended up finishing one bib and almost finishing another. Not a huge accomplishment, but every bit helps right?

Day 6: Little Man’s 1st birthday party today- no sewing done, but I’ll let you enjoy some pictures of him in his mama-made birthday outfit.

He loved his cake:)

Our little family! Mama’s got her handmade Tova on too:).

Birthday boy’s outfit made earlier this week: Treasure pocket shorts, Appliqued onesie, and felt birthday crown.

Day 7

I finished up my bibs today. I started with the pattern from Lotta Jansdotter’s Simple Sewing for Baby, but ended up creating my own. (somehow, I can never keep with patterns and must always tweak them!) The flannel I was using was too thin for a single layer bib so I cut out a coordinating backing for each bib, sewed them right sides together, flipped them right-side-out, and then top stitched over the entire bib. I then stitched velcro on for closures. I am very happy with how they turned out- the flannel is soft but now more substantial. The pocket adds a nice touch. The bibs are definitely on the small side and will only work for newborns. I think I may make more in graduated sizes so when I give them as gifts, I will have a variety pack to gift.

Excuse the less-than-stellar phone picture. It’s too late to get out the nice camera.

Final project update: coming Monday.

KCWC Days 3 and 4

Posted on April 26, 2012 by oliver's fancy

Check out the Flickr group for some great inspiration! I am excited today because finally I have some finished products to display!

Day 3

Finished treasure pocket shorts! I am so excited with how these turned out! I used the treasure pocket pants pattern from the Sewing for Boys book. I do not have the book yet (boo!) but I have this pattern because I took a class at Whipstitch (best fabric store ever!) a month ago to learn how to make these very pants. They are perfect pants for my crazy little boy. I wanted to make an outfit for Oliver’s birthday party and since I’ve had success shortening other pants patterns, I thought I would try this one. End result- love it! Other random details: I wanted to make a flat front so I only added elastic to the sides and back. If I decide to do that again, I will shorten the front sides of the pants to make them lay better. Fabric: the blue/white is a linen cotton blend I picked up at the clearance section of Whipstitch last month and the solid blue is Kona cotton. I really wish I had a fabric store close by that sold this linen or cotton/linen blend because it is my favorite for summer kid’s clothes right now!

What happens these days as I try to fit clothes to him and get a good picture…

Day 4

Finished appliqued onesie. Notes about this: I had a brain lapse today (must be the 3 hours of sleep last night- please come in soon molars!) and used fusible interfacing instead of fusible adhesive. Oops. At least my appliques stood up nicely as I sewed them to the onesie. Since this size is almost too small for him, I’m not really worried about it holding up a long time. Also even though I pinned, the number is a bit crooked. Oh well, I had no time to fix it, so I accepted my mistakes and moved on.

Finished birthday hat! I got the idea from a Pinterest search and combined several different ideas to make my own style. I hope it will stay on his head for more than 2 seconds so I can get some good pictures of it!

Finished one circle skirt. I threw this together as my minutes were ticking away and you can see the result of that rush- not very professional looking. The elastic is kinda dirty and I wasn’t sure how far up to sew it to the skirt. For the rest of these skirts, I will take the time to read the tutorial thoroughly and take my time pinning and sewing! Lesson learned I guess.

Tomorrow’s list

finish bibs
work on circle skirts
baby boy bow ties

The weekend will be super busy as I clean the house for company and make lots of food for the birthday party, but I am going to try to squeeze in my sewing time!

KCWC Days 1 and 2

Posted on April 25, 2012 by oliver's fancy

I should have done more preparatory work if I wanted to end up with finished products every day, but I’m happy with the progress I’m making. I hope by the end of the week to have finished off quite a few projects. I am making multiples of most items because I find that it takes only a little more time to make 4 bibs than 1 bib.

Day 1: Is this all I accomplished in an hour? Wow, an hour’s time does go by quickly.

Cut out material for 4 baby bibs.
Cut out fabric for 6 circle skirts
Cut out treasure pocket pants pattern

Day 2: Today’s hour had to be spread out over 2 sessions because I have a feverish little boy who had trouble staying down for his nap:(

Overcast all edges of bib pockets and sewed one bib together completely- I am using the basic bib pattern from Simple Sewing for Baby and decided that this one layer is too flimsy with the flannel so for the remaining 4 bibs, I will sew 2 layers together.
Cut out Treasure Pocket Pants (actually these will be shorts) and sewed pockets. I realized I’m not too happy with the juxtaposition of these 2 fabrics so I changed the pocket material to a solid blue in order to be less busy. I will use the pocket fabric I cut out to make another pair once I find a coordinating solid to go with- Hubby says find some orange linen. We shall see. Bummed that I don’t have any solids in my stash to match but must move on. I hope that soon my town will get more variety of fabric stores so I can easily pick up linen and such when I need it…Hmmm…maybe that would be a bad thing for my wallet:).