KCW Wrapup

Wow! KCW is over for now and I still cannot believe what I got done!

My original list of thing I wanted to get done:

On my list of things to make/do this week are:
-Elegance and Elephants's Bubble Shorts and Ruffle Top
-Puperita's Red Riding Hood Jacket
-Overalls-I have yet to find a pattern I like, so I am hoping to trace off a pattern from some overalls she already has which belonged to her dad as a child!
-Finish off the jacket I have already made, just need to add the toggles!
-And if I have time finish off some dresses I have cut out which I plan to donate to Dress a Girl Around the World

Out of the five I achieved four plus heaps more...I never got around to putting the toggles on the jacket!



Over the last week I have made:

-three pairs of overalls from a self drafted pattern [using an old pair as a template/guide] in sizes 1, 2 and 4

-one pair of pyjama pants from a self drafted pattern

-one top using Elegance and Elephants's Ruffle Top pattern

-two pairs of shorts Elegance and Elephants's Bubble Shorts pattern

-one jacket using Puperita's Red Riding Hood jacket pattern

-six dresses using a free pillowcase dress pattern from The Mother Huddle blog

So all up FOURTEEN items of clothing! Not to mention a few little bits and bobs that weren't not children clothing related.

KCW: Day 7: Passing It On

I can't believe its the last day of KCW! I got a lot more achieved than I thought I would.

I made another pair of overalls, these one will be heading off to a lucky little boy as part of a random act of kindness. I just hope they fit!

I do however need to rehem them before I send them...didn't realise how bad my hemming job was until I looked at the photo!

I used a dark burnt orange cord which I have had for about 10 years [yes I started hoarding material in my early teens!] paired with two gorgeous organic cotton coordinates, one chevron and one with hot air balloons.

Short Photoshoot with my KCW Day 5 outfit.

Finally got around to getting some half decent photos of Ember wearing the outfit I made on day 5 of the KCW challenge.

Top: Elegance and Elephants Ruffle Top

Shorts: Elegance and Elephants Bubble Shorts

KCW: Day 6: Sewing for Charity

I am very grateful I live in a country where I can buy pretty fabrics and sew for my daughter. As part of this challenge I wanted to make some clothes for underprivileged children.

Originally I was going to donate them to Dress A Girl Around The World Australia, but then I remembered my Aunty and Uncle run a charity in Canada called Agape in Action. They do a lot of work in Africa, especially with children [they run sponsor a child programs similar to World Vision, build schools and orphanages]. 

The dresses are pillowcase dresses, using the free pattern and tutorial from The Mother Huddle. So far I have made two size 4s [the frogs] and four 3Ms [the ducks]. I'm finding it a great way to use up some of my stash which I don't really want, but I'm too lazy to get rid of! I have a large pile of fabric which I have earmarked for charity dresses.

So hopefully these dresses along with a some more will be winging their way over there.

KCW: Day 4 & 5: Chickens and Elephants

I wasn't able to blog yesterday due to having a crazy day! I did manage to get a little sewing done which was nice. The 11:30pm bed time for Ember however, was not fun! 

On day four of the Kids Clothing Week, I finished off the second pair of overalls drafted from my partner Paul's childhood overalls. I graded this pair up a size so they will fit her for longer.

  I fussy cut all the pockets, so each had something different on them. I absolutely love this material!

She wore them around the house today, out feeding the chickens and playing in the pond. They are now back on the sewing table to be repaired... I was lazy and didn't finish them off properly and accidentally tore part of the side seam taking them off her. Oops!

This is my rooster, he has no name yet...and if doesn't stop attacking my legs when I go out, he might end up as a roast! I wish he had inherited his father's personality [who sadly got taken by a fox earlier this year].

These are six of my eight hens. :) They provide us with lots of eggs and manure for the veggie garden. They are also great food scrap disposals!

Day five was all about Elephants! Both fabric and patterns. 

I picked up an adorable set of coordinating fabrics from Spotlight with elephants on it, in pink, blue and brown. I have used another fabric in the same range before but a different colourway .

First up was another pair of Bubble Shorts by Elegance and Elephants, in the coordinating fabrics. These ones worked out a bit better than my first attempt-which was a bit of a failure, as I didn't use the correct seam allowance and ended up needing to cut new waistband and cuff sections! I still had some trouble fitting the cuffs on this pair but it all worked out without needing to recut the cuffs [just the pockets...because I cut them the wrong way on the fabric!].

Secondly, I made Elegance and Elephants' Ruffle Top-the tunic top style. I did the ruffles and tie in the vine print and bound off the neck, arms and hem with the stripes. I love this pattern! Would have to be in my top 3 patterns to make. Took me longer than usual, as I had a little helper constantly giving me pins, fabric scraps and trying to unthread my overlocker most of the time!

I am so pleased with what I have achieved so far this week. I really didn't think I'd actually get a chance to sew every day so far!

KCW: Day 3: Repeating History

Today I wanted to do something a little different. I wanted to recreate a little bit of history...

The green overalls Ember is wearing in these photos belonged to her dad when he was a kid! I love the idea of her wearing something that was her dads. They're really cute and quite a simple design. Unfortunately she is fast out growing them! I'm guessing in a month or so she will no longer fit into them.

It wasn't particularly difficult to trace a pattern from them. All up there was 8 pattern pieces. Much better than the 18 odd for my other [bought] overalls pattern!

 I chose a wide wale dusky blue cord and a vintage 'denim' cotton with pink roses. I did the front waistband and the pockets in the cotton and the rest of the overalls in the cord.

Instead of using buttons, I used plastic snaps. I still have no inclination to work out how to use my button holer on my machine. There is one snap on each side and snaps on the straps which tuck behind the bib.

I added in a pocket on the back, which is not on the original pair but I thought made a cute addition. 

After I finished this pair-which is the same size as the original, I graded the pattern up a size [to size 2] and made a second pair. The size two I made in green wide wale cord with a gorgeous quilting cotton from Leere Aldrich called Nature's Walk Notebook. Unfortunately I haven't got any photos of the second pair yet, as they aren't complete.

Ember got rather spoilt tonight too [other than gorgeous new clothes!], her grandfather bought her a balance bike! She's pretty chuffed with it. :)

KCW: Day 2: Something for Sleepy Time

Unfortunately I was a little stretched for time today, as I had work which took up most of the day. I did manage to squeeze in some sewing time after dinner, with the 'help' of little fingers!

I have a stack of flannelette in my ever growing material stash. I've been meaning to use it up for a while now, as I don't really do a lot of sewing in flannelette. I just seem to collect it instead...

Well not anymore! Pyjamas here we come!!

I traced the pattern off an existing pair of Ember's pyjama pants, adding a little extra, as they were a little small for her.

I added ankle cuffs in some light purple ribbing, instead of just hemming them. I'm hoping that it might keep her a bit warmer on the cold nights.

There is a little bow on the front to help us [mainly daddy] work out the front from the back, but my model was most uncooperative and kept crawling off or trying to grab the camera, so I couldn't get a decent photo of it.

They were really quite quick and easy to make...I think it took me less than an hour to draft up the pattern, cut it out and put it together!

Well I think it is about time that I put Ember in her new pyjamas [and myself] to bed...Nighty night!!

KCW: Day 1: A Jacket and Shorts

Today was the first day of the Kids Clothing Week Challenge and I did manage to sew!

Actually I managed to finish a whole garment...with a little help from my friend who popped around to veg out on my couch and keep Miss Ember entertained and away from my pin cushions.

I made another jacket for this [and probably next] winter, using Puperita's Red Riding Hood Jacket pattern, found on etsy here. I made it fully reversible with pockets on both sides

I found a gorgeous drill printed with elephants and chose a deep red quilting cotton that matched the apples on elephant drill.

For added warmth I decided [after I cut all the pieces out!] to use some wadding left over from some of my quilts. I quilted it onto the red cotton in 1.5" squares to give it some texture and interest. Next time I will definitely quilt the uncut fabric rather than each piece, as it probably took me 2-3 hours just to rule up the quilting lines and quilt it!

I fussy cut the pockets and pocket flaps to frame a few of the elephants from the fabric. The flaps can easily tuck into the pockets so they don't get in the way on the inside of the jacket. 

I can't wait to try this on Miss Ember and take some photos of her with on! 

I also made these shorts last night...don't think it really counts for the KCW, but I love them! They're Elegance and Elephant's new Bubble Shorts pattern.