KCWC Day 4: More Upcycling

I figured since I had gotten the chance to sew for my boys earlier in the week it would be fun to sew for my niece, Lauren, too.  Lauren is only two months younger than Carter and my only niece and god child  (I have 6 nephews!), so I love to spoil her with fun "girlie"clothing items.  This skirt is made somewhat based on the tutorial from Dana Made It.  It is upcycled from a baby doll style shirt I found on clearance at Gap a couple years ago.  I purchased it knowing I would probably end up cutting it up since the fabric has really cute polka dots. 

I'm a little behind on my postings because the last week of the month I usually work crazy late nights.  I'm hoping to catch up on my recaps later this weekend.

Kids Craft Week Challenge: Day 3

Not the greatest picture of my day 3 project.  21 month olds aren't the most cooperative models.  Upcycling is really not as scary as I thought and my first knit project went much better than I expected it to.  The material for the shorts was from an old pair of my work-out pants.  I cut the pieces for the shorts from the top sides, so I could keep the cute white stripes and that I didn't have to mess with the waist band.  They're definitely not my best work, but they're wearable and look pretty darn cute on Jack.  Maybe I'll try to make some pants from the leftover pieces of the pants. 

Fabric by Fabric: One Yard Wonders

One-Yard Wonders: 101 Sewing Fabric Projects; Look How Much You Can Make with Just One Yard of Fabric! is a fairly popular book in the craft world.  I've looked at it at Barnes and Noble almost every time I've been there in the last year.  I was super excited to discover that they had a sequel called Fabric-by-Fabric One-Yard Wonders: 101 Sewing Projects Using Cottons, Knits, Voiles, Corduroy, Fleece, Flannel, Home Dec, Oilcloth, Wool, and Beyond.  I borrowed a copy of it from the public library, but I think I'm going to need to spend the money to buy it because there are so many fun projects I'd love to make. 

The pictures are gorgeous!  Which for me, is the deciding factor whether or not I should buy a craft/sewing book.  Most of the instructions are only 2-3 pages long with plenty of diagrams, so that even directionally challenged crafters like me can follow them.  The authors, Rebecca Yaker and Patrica Hoskins (one of the owners for Crafty Planet) are both from Minnesota. 

Check it out if you're looking for some new project ideas. 

(I was not asked by anyone to write a review for this book, I just really love it!)



KCWC: Day 2

My productivity was high again today.  I was able to make dinosaur pajama pants and cute Hawaiian shorts for Jack, both using the same tutorial used yesterday.  The Hawaiian material is from a men's shirt someone gave me.  Ugly as a men's shirt, adorable on little boys.  I'm hoping to get some picture of my little guys modeling their new clothes tomorrow. 
Up next some clothes for the little girls in our lives (and maybe some tops to go with all these bottoms).

Serger?

The more sewing I do for the kiddos, the more I realize how much a serger would really speed things along.  Serger discussions have been very popular on my craft board lately.  Apparently the most popular and easiest to use of cheaper models is the Brother 1034D 3/4 Lay-In Thread Serger. 

Isn't she beautiful?  I keep suggesting it for Mother's Day and my birthday gift ideas.  Hubby says he'll think about it if I get my etsy shop up and running. 

Day one of Kids Clothing Week Challenge has been a success, despite a lack of napping done by either children.  My 3.5 year old, Carter, generally doesn't nap anymore, but 1.5 year old, Jack, usually still does. 

I didn't do anything overly challengin to start out.  Carter is in need of some cute pajamas for summer and fall.  So I used My Cotton Creations tutorial to make some Lightning McQueen sleep pants and some Finding Nemo sleep shorts.  The directions were extremely easy to follow and I was able to create both pairs in less than two hours. 

Happy KCWC!  I'm so excited to participate this time around.  I haven't participated in the past because I was afraid my clothing skills just weren't good enough yet.  But as I've been discovering lately, the only way to get good and learn new skills is to try it.  I've got a lot of projects that I'm hoping to get through.  I'll be braving the fabric store for more supplies this morning, which may be even more scary than commiting to sew an hour a day for seven days.