storybook cape and muff

So, this is the last bit of clothing that was finished during the Kids Clothing Week Challenge. It is the storybook cape and muff pattern found at BurdaStyle and designed by Grosgrain. Go ahead and click the link so you can see how absolutely adorable it looks on a little girl since i haven't gotten the chance to take a photo of S in it. I am happy I went with the green even though part of me wanted to make it in red. It's a sturdy cotton with a lighter cotton lining and it's completely reversible. The muff is lined with organic cotton fleece.
The only thing missing is a clasp at the top. I think I may just add a bit of ribbon for tying. We'll see.

I've started on the 2 + 2 pleated skirt that goes with this blouse in red and made some pillow covers from the other two sashiko pieces which I will show soon. Also, slowing working away on my sweater. I think it's taking long because I'm dreading the finishing.

Unrelated - I've taken up exercise about a month ago and joined a gym which means I am now running, doing yoga, pilates, zumba and all kinds of other crazy things. Very exciting but, unfortunately means I now have to wear more gym clothes which I despise. I must buy some cute ones (is that possible) but, I don't want to.

Kids Clothes Week- Day 7 - Village Frock

A Sugar City pattern from Melissa. I love this pattern and the blue linen has been waiting in the cabinet. It's the same soft lightweight linen that I used on the red one I made.

I had hopes of going to the woods and taking a picture or at least the village. In my town we actually do call the shopping center 'the village'. Our village is in the center of town at the bottom of two hills on either side. How fitting then to have a frock called The Village Frock. I'd like to see her walking about with a baguette like I wrote in my first post or maybe building a home for fairies in the yard or even wearing to a birthday party which is always magical to a child.


We've come to the end of the Kids Clothes Week Challenge and it's been a lot of fun. I have one more clothing item ( a good one) I want to show but, maybe I'll just wait a few days to show it off. I think I hear my knitting needles calling. I now have to make a dent in my yarn stash so I can justify buying something at the sheep and wool festival coming up in a few weeks.

Here is the first village frock I made. Look how little she was then.

Kids Clothes Week- Day 6 - Miss Madeline Dress

Look at this pretty dress. It's beautiful.

This is what Scarlet said when she saw this dress.

After at least an hour of staring at my fabrics and trying to pick one I kept hearing a little voice in my mind. The little voice was hers. I thought about the clothes that I think make me look beautiful and the ones I choose to wear. I wanted to make a dress that she would fall in love with. And, she did. While sewing I kept thinking maybe I should have chosen another fabric and second guessing myself but, in the end I think it does look pretty adorable. A perfect dress for running though the park, pretending you are Little Miss Muffet or maybe a trip to the bakery because it does look like the type of dress to wear while eating a cupcake. The vintage hankie/apron just makes it extra sweet. And, now that she has a pink dress there will be no more;)

I have made Miss Madeline before. Do you remember?

I love the look of the original one I made. It's sort of Pennsylvania Dutch. My husband calls it the Amish dress.

Kids Clothes Week - Day 5 - Sleeping Beauty

A Sleeping Beauty skirt that I improvised but, honestly so simple. I just took some measurements, cut two rectangles, used some elastic and voila! A perfect little simple skirt. The fabric steals the show which is what I wanted. I guess it could have used an iron before I took this photo.



I had in my mind a swan shirt for a while now. This one is cute but, I think the design could have something more...not sure what. Wool felt silo applique, some wool feathers and a beak.



Next up - two dresses. One done, one that needs to be finished. Maybe something else too? We'll see.

Kids Clothes Week - Day 4 - Fall's Favorite Skirts

These were a bit inspired by skirts seen in the Olive Juice Kids catalog. I love that catalog/website and their clothes are so nice and good quality. I usually get a few things for S from them each season. Hello cute navy blue shoes.

So, I decided to make two full skirts - one in tan corduroy and one in indigo denim chambray. Both have big pockets for toting small toys or collecting sticks, leaves and acorns.

Kids Clothes Week - Day 3 - 2 + 2 Blouse

There are so many good ways to go with this blouse but, I've been craving a black gingham blouse for my girl. This gingham is 1/16" and is 100% cotton. The pattern is Oliver + S and I hope to get to the pleated skirt soon.

Kids Clothes Week- Day 2- Dress Up

Two crowns for the master and miss of the house to play king and queen.
Simple, sweet, fun.

Kids Clothes Week - Day 1- Cozy

This year I've been experimenting a little bit with knits. I received a serger for my birthday back in April and this was one of the first projects I used it on.



I made these pajama pants for Matty back in June which I never got around to writing about. This fabric has monkeys doing karate on them and I thought it was a cute print for him. He only wore them a few times before it became too hot for long pj pants but is now wearing them a lot. The pattern for these is from Oliver + S. I didn't have enough for the top so he wears them with a tee shirt.




Yesterday, for the kids clothes week challenge I decided I wanted to try making leggings for Scarlet as she loves wearing them and is outgrowing a bunch of the ones she has and they worked out perfectly. I just traced around a pair that she has adding a little room for the seams. These were so much fun to make. The jersey is organic cotton and really lovely to work with. I will be making more of these.

Working with knits at least easy pieces like these was a good experience though I'm still working on serging evenly.

The monkey fabric came from The Fabric Fairy and the legging fabric from Alabama Chanin.

apple orchard

Saturday morning we headed right to the apple orchard. Apple picking is one of my favorite days of the year. I love being surrounded by apple trees. I think they are so beautiful. The kids enjoyed themselves and afterward we went to the farm store and picked up some veggies, apple cider, mums and cider donuts.



I brought along this hooded scarf I made back in July. It's not quite cold enough to wear it but I really like the style. It's called Red Riding Hood.

I am participating in Elsie Marley's Kids Clothes Week Challenge. I may even have another post for you today for Day 1. For those of you who don't know about it the challenge is to sew for your kids for one hour every day for the week of September 20-26. I actually sort of anonymously did it last time so I figured I might as well commit and join. I did my hour of sewing while the kids were at school today. I managed to squeeze in my exercise too.

liberty coin purses

I have been wanting to make a coin purse for a long time so I was so happy when the Purl Bee put together these kits with Liberty of London fabric and these sweet purse handles.

I made one a few nights ago and then two more yesterday.

The hardest decision: Which one will I keep and which two will I gift away. I'm leaning toward the blue one for me. Which one would you keep? It feels good to have presents ready for giving.

I saw this kit a few weeks ago and thought it would be great for gifting to your Mom, mother-in-law or some other special lady in your life. Plus, it's really super easy to sew up.

Hope everyone has a nice weekend. We're debating a last trip to the beach or maybe apple picking. Either way it's going to be a good one.

sashiko pillows

Last year I started on some sashiko pillows. You may remember them. I have completed four altogether. The last one I haven't yet shown here is a repeat design but in a new thread color.

I finally decided that pillow cushions would suit me better then wall hangings. I made two of the cushions on Monday and will complete the other two once I purchase the pillow forms so you will be seeing them shortly. For the backings I used an envelope style which is two pieces of material folded over and for strength and sewn on the fold and overlapping by a few inches. I always make my covers a bit smaller then the cushion itself so they are nice and snug.

For the rose colored cushion I used a deep red cotton sheet that I had left over from a quilt backing and for the white cushion I backed with some Liberty of London that I had left over from a blouse I made myself earlier this year.

What's nice also about this style of cushion cover is that it can easily be removed for washing and can be switched out with different covers.

bonjour!

Little berets were added to the Etsy shop a few weeks back. Some more knits, pins, onesies, capes and accessories went to Mackey Blue.

Hoping to add a few more things into the shop this week.

See more cute Fall things like this little cape over here.

3 tiered skirt

A chocolate brown fine whale corduroy skirt for Ms. S. This one is made up of 3 tiers and can be done in so many fun ways mixing fabrics.

This skirt was pretty easy to make and is such a great style for running around and playing in. A little velvet ribbon in the back let her know which side is the front and which is the back so she can dress herself.

I've discovered (well maybe not discovered) a way of making getting dressed in the morning a little easier for S. I lay out a few outfits in the morning while she is out of the room and then let her choose which one she wants to wear. This way she thinks she is in charge and then we don't have to have tears over not wearing weather appropriate outfits like winter coats or tights and a shirt with no skirt.

School starts Monday. I'm ready.

flower and dot quilted playmat

This project is taken directly from the Purl Bee using the exact materials. It is called the Cheerful Quilted Playmat.

Though my daughter is two and not really a baby anymore this did not stop me from making it for her. I think a playmat like this one serves it's function beyond those infant stages for all kinds of play and it also looks nice sitting on a crib or bed.

It was a project that took 2 days. One night I cut and sewed the pieces together and the next the hand quilting which was so lovely with the silk thread. I really like the pattern, texture and play with color. The thick batting makes it really nice and thick. The pink pieces are Nani Iro's Linen Blend Poster Fleur and the Grey is Kiyohara Canvas Dot.

I was thinking recently about how our eye reacts to color and how people interpret color in their own way. How we develop a certain liking for one color and completely dislike another. I don't think of myself as a pink person per se but then I notice I do actually really like it in certain hues. My daughter is quite fond of pink but then she almost equally loves brown which really surprised me at first. It's very interesting to learn what colors people like. I love gray and red so this makes a lot of sense that this project attracted me. Also, that my sons middle name is Gray and my daughter is Scarlet.

embroidery sampler

Here is another in progress project I started a few weeks ago. An embroidery sampler I picked up to help me learn some new stitches. There are some basic ones I am familiar with- straight stitch, back stitch, running stitch, satin stitch.... And, then there are those I have never ever done like bullion knot and algerian eye. I've just learned the chain stitch and feather stitch. And, that pesky french knot. Sometimes I get it just perfect and then other times I just don't get it right at all. I'm going to master it though. Hold me to it. I have to say the algerian eye looks a bit scary, no?

washi tape necklace

I saw this sweet little project in the latest issue of Papier-Mache

I've yet to make my way through the whole issue but, this necklace caught my eye and I had the supplies on hand. So simple and one that she was happy to try on and wear right away. The pink tape didn't hurt the likable factor. Nope not one little bit.

Sadie

Sadie is the name of my latest sweater project. I started her about a week and a half ago and she is coming along very nicely though a bit slowly as I work on other projects.

I took this picture of her on the first day.

I am knitting with Rowan wool/cotton so it's a very lightweight and drapey material. I plan to shorten the length and sleeves as well.