Kids Clothes Week - October 2014 edition

earichar23

I just signed up for the October Kids Clothes Week which starts October 20th, anyone else doing it this month? How many projects are you hoping to complete? What are they?

I'm hoping to make 3 peasant dresses for Adelinde Rose. I bought fabric this week, one's a fall color chevron, one's got reindeer for winter, and I haven't decided on the 3rd one yet but something non seasonal. I'll probably put an applique of a pumpkin or owl on the fall one if I have time.

mamarazzi528

Thanks for reminding me about this.    I signed up a few weeks ago!  For those who might not know what we're talking about, here's a link: https://blog.kidsclothesweek.com/about/ and sign-up: https://www.kidsclothesweek.com/

The last KCW I did I planned for 3 items but only completed 1 and it was mostly due to difficulties on one of the projects.  This time I think I'll aim for 2.  I know I really need to prep and cut out fabric this weekend or I definitely won't finish them!

I have a huge list of Ottobre items I want to make, so I'll choose from there.  Probably a long-sleeved shirt with pockets for DD and maybe a dress that I've had fabric sitting there waiting for a long time.

Let's make sure to have KCW thread next week and post our progress!

earichar23

I was really impressed by how much I accomplished last KCW but I was still pregnant back then and now I have a 3 month old so my time is limited! I'm hoping to do cutting and pinning and whatnot during her 45 minute morning nap and fit in actual sewing with her on a playmat in the room for 15-20 minutes a day. Fingers crossed!

earichar23

What did you accomplish for Day 1?

I'm a big fan of assembly line sewing, so today I cut the fabric for all three of my dresses while Adelinde napped.

earichar23

@MadApple are you going to work on it this week? Mamarazzi528 and I need fellow KCW-ers!

mamarazzi528

@MadApple - You should join in and finish it! 


Day 1:

Here's the shirt I'm working on:



I started with the first steps, then got to the step about attaching the pockets and realized I've never done pockets before and they are trickier than I thought (especially with Ottobre instructions, which means a lack of detailed instructions!).  I figured out I'm trying to do "welt pockets" and have now resorted to reading online tutorials and videos (of course so far none of the instructions are exactly the same as what I think Ottobre is trying to have me do).  I decided to do a mockup first on some other fabric, so this is going to slow me down a bit!  Hopefully I'll understand them tonight!

mamarazzi528

Day 2:

I finished my pocket trial run and it worked out pretty good.  I did make a couple mistakes, so good thing I did a trial!  I started both of the real pockets and they are going great so far:



Tonight I will finish them and then it should be smooth sailing assembling the rest of the shirt!    Well, except it calls for doing a 3-thread flatlock decorative stitch for some of the seams which I've never done before!

earichar23

Omg @mamarazzi528 I love strawberry fabrics! So cute! Can't wait to see how that turns out!

Day 2 I stitched the sleeves on and sewed up the sides of two dresses and started piecing the third.

Tonight I plan to do a lot of ironing to prep for hemming and neck stitching. Still need to decide how to finish the sleeves. Bubble sleeve with encased elastic or stitched elastic with ruffle ends?

mamarazzi528

@earichar23 - I think your assembly line idea is great!  You are getting a lot done!


Day 3:

I finished the pockets -- they aren't perfect...  but decent.  Started attaching the sleeve cuffs.

If everything goes well tonight, I will hopefully finish the shirt.

earichar23

So Wednesday night I found the flaw on my assembly line! The finishing threads need to be different colors. So I made all of the elastic casings on one dress and called it a night.

I got nothing done yesterday. Thursday is the one day I work at the office so it was unlikely I'd get anything done. Hoping to do the casings on dress 2 today and make a trip to the store for more elastic!

mamarazzi528

Day 4:

Sewed on the neckline binding and practiced my flatlock stitch on fabric scraps.

Day 5:

Spent at least 3 hours trying to perfect the flatlock stitch.  I rethreaded my serger like 20 times, and I'm not exaggerating...  one of my threads kept breaking because the tension needed to be high.  I finally got my settings great at hour 2 -- added the flatlock to the sleeve cuffs, left my machine unattended and while I was talking to someone my 2 year old unthreaded it and SPUN THE DIALS.  UGH!  I hadn't written down the settings yet!  Spent the last hour trying to figure them out again.    Did the flatlock on the neckline and finished all the seams.

Now I'm exhausted!  Everything is done except the bottom hem.  I'll do that tomorrow...  I'll also get DD to try it on and post pictures.

mamarazzi528

Day 6:

Finished it!



My most productive KCW yet! 

Here's my flatlock stitching:




Day 7:

Thinking about making this same shirt for DS (I think it looks like it could be a boy's shirt too?).  It would give me more practice with pockets while they are fresh in my mind.    Off to go trace the pattern again!


@earichar23 - How did you end up?  Pictures please!

earichar23

Day 7:

I finished Dress #1! Here's Adelinde posing in it! The sleeves are way too long but that's an easy fix. I'm still pondering putting an applique on it. A pumpkin? An owl?

Dress #2 is half done so I'm hoping to get the elastic casings done either tonight or tomorrow. It's a Christmas themed one so I'm not in a terrible hurry, just wanted to get more done this week for KCW!

mamarazzi528

@earichar23 - Great job!  I love the colors of the chevron and the coordinating headband!  I think it looks really cute as is.