Kids Clothes Week July 2014

 Kids Clothes Week is done and I finished the two pairs of shorts that I had planned to make.

 I got this Clever Charlotte Finch Shorts paper sewing pattern back in January and now I finally sewed up a pair. I love that there are buttons, but no buttonholes! Instead of the full pleats I made box pleats because I really like box pleats and liked how Jessica's turned out. These were made up in size 6 in khaki cotton twill. Khaki bottoms are required at school as part of the school uniform. Maybe she'll wear these on the first day of school...

 The other pair of shorts I made were the Oliver + S Sunny Day Shorts. They are summer pajama shorts sewn up in size 10 in octopus fabric for my octopus loving son. Summer pajama shorts were much needed.

I'm on a shorts kick right now, next I want to sew myself some shorts using this pattern.

What I made out of one yard

 ...of Paint by Number Deer from Erin Michael's Lush Uptown line. I'm reorganizing by sewing studio this summer, going through everything, getting rid of what I'm done with, and figuring out what to do with some of the fabrics in my stash. It was quick and easy to decide what to sew from this fabric.

 In order to get these 2 dresses to fit in one yard, I made the Oliver + S Popover Sundress in size 5 and for the Made by Rae Little Geranium Dress (which is 0-3 months) I made the skirt 34 inches wide instead of 44. I still can't believe I got 2 dresses out of only one yard! Plus the secondary fabrics (from my stash) were pretty minimal.

 Two dresses sewn up in one day was just the sense of accomplishment I needed right now.

These will be donated to Dress A Girl Around the World. I hope they go to sisters, wouldn't they be super cute in these coordinating dresses?

Croquet Dress

 Happy 4th of July!

I have had this Oliver + S Croquet Dress paper sewing pattern for I don't know how long, at least over a year.

 It's the pattern for July for Flip This Pattern at Frances Suzanne.

 That was just the motivation I needed to finally sew one up!

 Project details:
Pattern: Oliver + S Croquet Dress (rating of 2 out of 4 scissors)
Size: 6 with size 7 skirt length
Fabrics: red, white, and blue plaid seersucker, chambray
Notions: red button from my stash, instead of a thread loop I grabbed some red & white gingham ribbon from my stash to use as a button loop

 Want to sew along with a friend? There is a step-by-step photo tutorial for View A and View B.

I really liked how this dress was constructed, it came together rather nicely. And the 2 out of 4 scissor rating is spot on. I'm pleased with the color combination and the fabric combination. You know, this was the first time I had ever sewn with seersucker. Why have I never sewn with seersucker before? Anyway, I will definitely sew with seersucker again in the near future.

Enjoy the 4th of July fireworks!

Refashion Month

 Magda from House of Estrela is hosting a Refashion Month during July. Today it's my turn to share my refashion...

 This refashion is super quick and 100% FREE! Everyone loves free, right? So first of all, I grabbed some of my daughter's old t-shirts. They were too small, had stains, had holes, but the majority of the fabric was still in pretty good condition. I printed out this free 18" doll t-shirt pattern and placed the pattern pieces at the bottom of the original t-shirts taking advantage of the original hem saving me a step in sewing. I eliminated the sleeves and made tank tops which is mentioned in the instructions. And that's it! It goes to show you just how easy refashioning can be.

Here are a couple more ideas:
Jeans cut off into doll jeans
Girl swimsuit to doll swimsuit

Be sure to check out all the other refashions this month.

Magda has a huge giveaway going on. One lucky winner will get a bundle with patterns from 12 designers.

Enter the giveaway here:
a Rafflecopter giveaway


There is also a sew-along with a sew-along winner, so do add your refashion to the flickr group to enter. Have fun refashioning!