Shorts Stories

I've been seeing floral printed denim everywhere lately, and while I wouldn't wear it myself - I'm too old for that, right? - I thought I might make the girls some new shorts for summer.  This sort of thing was my inspiration. 

Floral shorts $32.99 from Pumpkin Patch

I found some floral denim at Spotlight.  It was about $6 for 1/2 a metre but that was all I needed to make these shorts - plus I still have some left over.  

I didn't have a pattern so I used a pair of shorts from last year that still fit around the waist but are a bit short in the leg.  I just traced around them to make a pattern, and then took some measurements from Katherine to make sure I was on the right track. 

I decided to make a flat front with an elastic casing in the back.  I put some pockets on the front as well, but not on the back.  The ones on the back are just for decoration anyway, right?  I deliberated over putting a yoke in the back, but in the end I left it out and just ran the seam all the way up to the waistband.  Katherine has no bottom anyway, so it sits fine the way it is.

I put a zip in the front, although I shouldn't have bothered.  She doesn't have hips, so she can get them on and off without undoing the button anyway, because of the elastic.  It was just more busy work that I didn't really need.  And there was plenty of busy work with these!   So much unpicking!  I unpicked until my hands cramped up.  I finished them late at night and then the next morning when Katherine tried them on - I already knew they were going to be far too big - they were massive on her.  So I unpicked the waistband stitching.  I unpicked the elastic stitched in at the sides to shorten that.  I unpicked the topstitching down the sides of the legs, and then I had to bring in the sides a good inch or so on each side, and stitch the whole thing back together.  

Oh noes, my child is way cooler than I am!  

I'm still not happy with the fit.  They look ok, but not fantastic.  

The shirt is McCalls M6156, which was another late night project.  Hubby has been working nights, so there's been plenty of late night sewing going on!  I have already made this once before, but this time I really wanted to do it with pintucks.  The pintucks didn't show up very well on the gingham so I ended up getting a little bit creative and making a wave pattern with them by running a stitch across them in opposite directions. I love the way this turned out!

Katherine seems to like the outfit too.  I can always tell by the way she poses for photos.  She's so much more enthusiastic about being photographed when she is wearing something she likes! 

I played around with the shorts pattern a bit and decided to make another pair.  This pair I made out of  some cherry print fabric - it is a stretch sateen that I bought to make one of my Nanna's vintage dresses with (I've made the dress by the way, and worn it!  I will get around to blogging it once I find someone to take a decent photo of me in it!).  I had some scraps left over - just enough to make a pair of shorts.  The fit on these is so much better.  There is still room to grow a bit in them though, which is good.

I left the zip off this pair and did a mock fly instead.  So much easier!  I even fooled Katherine - I caught her trying to undo the button (which is firmly stitched on).  Haha, gotcha!

I took them in at the top but left them sort of flared around the leg.  Plus I had a bit more length to work with, so I just did a rolled cuff on these ones.  The denim ones had a separate cuff attached because I was worried about the length.  

They sit nicer at the back too, I think, because there isn't so much bulk cinched in at the top.  So happy with these - I might make a few more pairs yet!  

One pattern, two dresses

Pumpkin Patch, one of my favourite children's clothing stores, had a sale on the other day, so I went in for a browse. Before I started sewing for my girls I would spend a fortune at this place! The sale was a good one, but I just can't look at anything any more without thinking "I could make that myself." I actually did buy a few things - leggings and tees, because I prefer to sew the "fun stuff". But there were a couple of dresses that caught my eye and when I got home I whipped up my own versions of them.

These were the dresses I saw in the store:

For both dresses I used a simple A-line pinafore style pattern, in this case it was the Winter Plaid dress from Ottobre 6/11. I hadn't made this dress before but it looked like a good starting point that I could customise pretty much any way I wished.

I loved how the red dress was such a simple design but with the interesting effect acheived by cutting fabric on the bias. For this one I cut the pattern across just under the armholes, and then down the front of the skirt, to make a bodice and two skirt sections at the front. I cut the skirt sections on the bias and I also cut an extra skirt panel about 3 inches wide for the inside of the pleat. The back of the dress I also split down the middle, and cut those pieces on the bias too.

The dress was supposed to be fully lined and have a zip in the back. I only gave it a half lining and I used a simple single button/tab closure at the back, as I really couldn't have been bothered with a zip!

I decided to make some little hair clips to match the dress as well. They were a big hit!

The navy blue dress inspired me to try something I'd been thinking of for a while. For this dress I kept the pattern pieces as they originally were, but I added a couple of little panels on the front to give the dress a bit of a nautical/military feel to it. I made this one out of some winter-weight navy blue jersey knit and again gave it a half-lining and finished it at the back with a button/tab closure.

I thought about lining it completely, but didn't want it to be too heavy, as I figured Katherine could wear it in the Summer if it still fits her then. For Winter we will just layer it with a little skivvy and tights underneath.

I'm very happy with how these turned out. I can see this Ottobre pattern becoming my go-to pattern for A-line dresses.

Just make it up as you go along...

That's what I like to do, sometimes.

After I made the girls dresses the other day, I had some of the fabric left over - from the bottom founce on Ellie's dress.  There wasn't much of it, more than a fat quarter but less than half a metre.  Anyway, I thought I should do something with it rather than put it back in the scrap box.  I really wanted to make it into a skirt but it was an odd shaped piece and I wasn't sure I would get a decent panel out of it.  Also, it's getting quite cold here so I wanted a Wintery-type skirt.  Something lined.

I was able to cut a few rectangles out of it, and piece them together kind of using the technique used in the Oliver + S Hopscotch skirt.  You know, with a flat front and an elasticated back.  I added a faux placket at the front, and some cute vintage buttons.  There is actually no opening at the front of the skirt, I joined it all together.  I used an old sheet for the lining (not the first time either, I have a couple of old sheets that I like to use for lining things - more economical I suppose, and I don't see the big deal in using a boring old sheet if you're not actually going to see the lining of something).  Because the back panel came up short (I didn't have enough length in my original peice of fabric) I cut some smaller strips and made a ruffle for the back. 

You can see what I mean in this photo here, with the ruffle at the back hem.  I think it looks pretty cute actually.

There must have been something interesting in the garden when I was trying to take this shot!  Four year olds are so easily distracted!

 

You can see I was having some difficulty getting my little model to stand still, so here's a photo of the front of the skirt to show you what I did with the faux placket.  I am also pretty happy with the way the plaid matched up in the middle.  Actually, it was just pure luck that it matched, to be honest.

I like it when I actually have the energy to do something a bit creative.  Following a pattern is all well and good, but I think it's these "one-off" projects that I have the most fun with.  They don't always work out the way I expect, but occasionally I will have a little win like this and make something I am really pleased with (and most importantly, something that my daughters are pleased with!).