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Today I find myself with a significant backlog of finished projects that have not been photographed or blogged. I am both pleased and bewildered that I have produced a significant enough volume of finished garments to even have the option of falling behind. I enjoy the process of documenting almost as much as the sewing and wearing, so today I hope to get out the very tedious camera tripod, brush my hair, dab on some blush, and dig myself out from under some of that backlog. But first... It's Kid's Clothes Week.
When the weather turned in Philly a few weeks ago, I made the biannual pilgrimage to Target to pick up some seasonally appropriate clothing for my growing children. I flipped through racks of shoddily made knit dresses, in prints that I don't really care for and I thought, "I have a whole closet FULL of prints that I don't really care for, I can sew my own shoddily made dresses!" With this pile of what-was-I-thinking fabrics, along with a few basics culled from the old stash cabinet I whipped up some spring staples.
No one is going to heap accolades onto these dresses, but they serve the dual purposes of making room in my stash cabinet, and covering my kid's nakedness. I will try very hard not to point out further flaws in these humble garments and allow you to discover them for yourselves. Now may I present the first two outfits of spring time.
FABRIC: The fabric for the dress above is a knit blend purchased at Joann last spring. Based on the frustrated cursing I did while hemming, I would say there is some rayon in the blend. The dress below was made with a vintage knit fabric from my MIL's stash. Both sets of leggings are jersey knits of forgotten origin.
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You can find these outfits on:
Kid's Clothes Week
Kollabora
love these! the fabric really are awesome! I will try this alteration you did! my girl would love dresses like these!
ReplyDeleteThanks Sophie! While most of this post is stash busting, I actually bought the School Bus Tee to make these dresses. L wears stuff like this a lot in the spring/summer, so I know we'll get a lot of use out of it.
DeleteI actually really like the first fabric, and both dresses are perfect kid-wear - not shoddily made at all (though that comment made me laugh). Nice work!
ReplyDeleteThanks Masha! I like the first fabric too (though every time it got stuck in my sewing machine I liked it a little less). I also like sewing basics. They're not glamorous but I know these will get a ton of wear.
DeleteI think they are pretty fabulous. Fun color fabric and dresses that look like they will be comfortable and great to play in sounds like a total win in my book!
ReplyDeleteThanks AC. Definitely a win. Quick and practical.
Deletelove this pattern hack! it's the simple, easy-to-wear dresses that really get worn, after all. These fit the bill perfectly!
ReplyDeleteYou're so right Lucinda. This is exactly what L wants to wear (though is is wishing I had made the skirts more "twirly").
DeleteHey not to shabby/shoddy at all. Great for twirling and you didn't feed the fast fashion beasties.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I actually saved money too...or maybe it's just that I used money I'd already spent!
DeleteI'm not doing KCW this time... sadly, because there are few basics my kids would need.
ReplyDeleteIt's a bummer to miss out of the camaraderie, but I wouldn't sew if my kids didn't need clothing. We are usually bursting at the seams (ha! pun) but L has had a recent growth spurt, and was in need of a few new things.
DeleteI'm still sewing though. I just can't blog about it. If I did KCW I would be making basics as I mentioned before.
DeleteSo happy I found your blog- love the honesty! I just did the same wander through Target and now that my girl has moved up to "big girl" sizes the selection and quality are awful, and frankly the prices aren't all that low for dresses. You have inspire me to cut into those sketchy knits I inherited (was forced to take) from my Mom's stash (who quite possibly was given them by her mom!). The outcome doesn't have to perfect, and likely no one will even notice, but they WOULD notice if she were naked all summer! I love reading sewing blogs for inspiration and to learn new techniques, but often I leave with a sense of inadequacy (both in skills and fabric budget)- thanks for keeping it real! Sarah
ReplyDeleteMy daughter just moved up to big girls sizes too. Why is everything so bare!!?! Makes me crazy. My strategy is to use the inherited (i.e. free) fabric on the kids. If I hate it, I only have to look at it for a season or two. When you've honed you skills sewing kid's clothes, buy some nice fabric (like Liberty, so worth it) and sew for yourself! Kid's clothes are good practice.
Deletethese are really cute!! great plan doing some stash busting for KCW, i always try to do that too and it tends to be a great time to burn through some fabric without thinking about it too much.
ReplyDeleteThese dresses are gorgeous! That second dress reminds me of my favourite ever dress when I was wee, a Clothkits jersey dress I had in the mid 1980s. Is the fabric from the 1980s? I've just discovered your blog through KCW and am reallY eNjoying reading back through your posts!
ReplyDeleteWhat's up with the bigger girl clothes at Target?!? We used to find totally acceptable basics in the baby/toddler section. And I can still find things there for my son. But the things for my daughter were kind of horrifying. Those dresses look like perfect warm weather wear. Plus your post made my laugh- thank you!
ReplyDeleteI'll throw some accolades your way... the dresses look great. You've made everyday clothes that the kids will love, taken the sweatshop into your home and under your control and freed up some room in the fabric stash. I say that's awesome!
ReplyDeleteThat fabric stack had me drooling! Love the dresses too! Well done :)
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