Raglan sleeve Bubble dress for Christmas

A bit past Christmas I know, but LittleImp did get this Raglan Sleeve Bubble Dress (Kwik Sew K3935) in time for Christmas 2015.

Didn't quite have enough of the Christmas fabric I wanted to use, so improvised and used plain red for the back and also a band along the waist at the front.

Ta Da!

Can't forget the  naughty Christmas Elves. Tears when they headed back after Christmas, and even this weekend Little Imp asked after them.

A matching hair clip obligatory of course.

Some Little Boy shorts...or trousers as they turned out, and a skirt

Part of our holiday last year was to Melbourne to stay with some friends. I made some little clothes to take as gifts. The shorts definitely were a bit more trouser like! The skirt was sized much better.

Lots of super easy and fun clothes patterns in this book Making Children's Clothes by Emma Hardy

Pyjamas for dolly please

Little Imp does not often ask me to make her anything in the ButtonRoom, but the other night, just before her bedtime she did. "Do you think you could make dolly some pyjamas mummy?"

Oh dear. I have been thinking for a while that dolly could do with some new attire. All she came dressed in is definitely from a summer range, and I feel cold just looking at her at the moment! But she is quite small, and plastic, and not very bendy, so I was scared of how I could make something that Little Imp could also get on and off of dolly without needing my help.

And then I had an idea... I keep many of Little Imp's old clothes for cutting up and sewing with & this was a perfect reason to use them. Once I got going it was actually fun, and before I knew it, not only did dolly have some pyjamas, she also had some cords & a skirt!

The PJs came from a sleeping bag. A sleeve became the pants, with the sleeve cuff as the waist band and a triangular seam creating the legs. Pinking shears worked to eliminate the need for sewing seams. THe top was made out of the base area of the bag. I pinking sheared a circle for the neck & stitched a few seams to create the shape of a long sleeve top. Done, & stretchy enough for Little Imp not to need me!

To make the corduroy pants I cut a square from the top of a pair of pants, including the elastic. Dolly is lying here to help me gauge the length.

A few simple straight lines of sewing along the open edge to create a tube, and then along the purple lines you can (just) see below to create the legs.

 And then pinking shears again for the base of the pants.

The skirt was even simpler. Cut out from the top of an existing elastic waistbanded skirt with a single seam to create a tube. Pinking Sheared bottom. Done.

Saved this picture for last. Dollys scare me. Even when they are in their pyjamas.

T shirt dress upcycle

Little imp was given a hand-me-down dress that she has worn until it tore on the bodice. She loved it so much I wondered if I could use the skirt part to make into a new favourite. This is how it turned out.

This is the first edition, taken apart at the seam.

I found a long sleeve top that would become the new top half of the dress, perfect for winter. I used the original to roughly gauge where to cut the new top - making the bodice a few inches longer this time given Little Imp has grown somewhat.

Somewhere online I saw this trick - add a piece of iron on interfacing just above where you will cut the bodice - this will help the tshirt material keep its shape once the skirt is added. Given the skirt I am adding is quite heavy I thought this would be worth doing. **Note- I later ripped the interfacing out as I had used waistband interfacing that was way too heavy & so you could see a solid, stiff band through the t-shirt fabric.

interfacing ironed on just above the line where I will cut the shirt

cutting the shirt at the line just below the interfacing (photo upside down)

With right sides together I pinned the skirt to the shirt bodice - you can see the interfacing in the picture below. Then I stitched this together using a sewing machine.

 This is what it looked like turned right side out with a heart applique (from another well loved top!)

A bit too hot to wear it today....

But this day was the perfect day to wear it:)

Kids Pyjama Pants

What a super easy pattern!

Kids pj pants from this book - The Liberty Book of Simple Sewing by Lucinda Ganderton. Instead of needing front & back leg pieces, you cut each leg as a whole & essentially make 2 leg tubes that you sew together & then add a waistband. Easy peasy.

The pattern called for basting most seams first - I went straight ahead sewing without basting and it worked out fine. I adjusted the length of the cuffs in the given pattern & could have gone even shorter, but guess that means there may be room for growing into.

Someone likes them a lot - she wore them all night...and day!