Following on from my theme of being a pinterest inspired kids' clothes week, I made Isabella this 'Cats meow skirt', inspired by this pin...

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After seeing this image, I knew Isabella would loooooove a skirt like this!! She loves animals and she loves pretending to be an animal - particularly - cats, dogs, rabbits and foxes!! We also have a cat, so making her a cat skirt was sure to be a good idea... 

As you may have read here, I happily sewed up Marte from Compagnie M's debut commercial pattern - the Mara blouse.  I LOVED the yoke detail and really wanted to have a go at making the dress version using Marte's tutorial included in the pattern.  I was flicking through my pinterest images thinking about Kids' Clothes Week, and I found this one....

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I made the dress with butterfly sleeves this time and I also added rounded pockets with bias trim.  I really love the Mara blouse pattern.   The yoke is adorable and the sleeve and blouse/dress options make it a pattern you can use all year round.  I know it will be a pattern I will pull out again and again.  It has just the right mix of a bit of a challenge (yoke) and a straightforward sew (the rest of it!) to keep me interested.

I used apricot coloured store bought bias to make the piping and to edge the neckline.  For some reason, white piping in the size I like seems to be as rare as hen's teeth at my local fabric store.  So for this dress I actually twisted to pieces of acrylic 9ply wool to make piping!! It didn't retain it's form as well as regular piping but I kind of like how it sits flatter.  The buttons were a 'Eureka'! moment...I was hunting though my orange button bag and could only find mediocre flower buttons that I didn't feel lifted the dress.  I randomly looked through my pink bag and found three of these gorgeous vintage ones I forgot I had. Yessssssss.

 

Marte and I have become good blogging friends over the past couple of months and after I sewed up her pattern, I decided to also offer her mine.  You can imagine my delight when I opened the photo she sent me today to attach to this post.  Have a look!!! Just like the real Belgian Debbie books!!! Thank you so much Marte!!!!

I finished this little ensemble yesterday for Isabella - some polka dot leggings and straw yellow raglan top with some sequin shoulder bling!  I pinned this image a while ago and decided to use pinterest as my inspiration this week for Kids' Clothes Week to make some clothes for my girls. 

I traced the leggings from a pair Isabella already had.  I used my overlocker for the main sewing, only using my machine for the leg hems and waistband.  I added some ribbon bows and buttons to the bottom of the leggings for fun.

The yellow knit is super soft and I had some sequined fabric in my stash which I ruffled to create some fun on the top.  My machine did not like the sequins though and a bit of hand stitching was involved to gather the pieces.  I'm talking super fast not too neat hand-stitching.

The last garment I made for Kid's Clothes Week is a dress I made for my niece Lucy's 7th birthday.  I used my (free) Perennial Dress pattern.  The dress is made from a soft grey pinwale corduroy.  The contrast fabric is Far Far Away (III) by Heather Ross.  You can find it here.  The sleeves and pockets are edged with miniature pom-pom trim.

Lucy is a slight little girl and is pretty much the same size as Isabella.  Isabella gave Lucy her present yesterday and she loved it! 

By the way, thanks to my friend Ros from Sew Delicious, Belle and Boo contacted me asking if they could feature Emily's jacket on their website to show off their gorgeous fabric.  Yay! Thanks Ros!!

I've had lots of fun sewing this week and have some more sewing ideas swimming around in my head for the next couple of weeks!

Here is my next piece for Kid's Clothes Week.  I have had my eye on this pattern since I pinned it a couple of months ago.  I was browsing through the collection of Burda pattern magazines at my local library, when, to my delight, I found the dress pattern.  You can buy it from Burda online here.



 

I made this dress for Issie in the 110cm size (she is about 105cm).  I'm glad I didn't go smaller as it is quite a short little dress.  The fabric is a Japanese jersey I bought at Spotlight.  I used my stretch needle and had no problem with loopy, skipped stitches. I actually didn't bother over-locking, since jersey does not fray.

I love this dress for many reasons.  It was relatively easy to make, will be very comfy to wear, can be worn with tights and a long sleeved tops or as a lighter summery dress, and last, but not least...it does not need ironing!! Gotta love that.

 

I will definitely be making this dress again.

Project details:
Pattern - Flouncy Dress by Burda
Materials - Japanese jersey
Cost - $15
Time taken - 1.5 hours
 

 

I love this pattern so much I have made it three times.  It is the Little Uptown Girl jacket by Make it Perfect.  I made it up in a size 1 for Emily (who is almost 14 months).  I sewed slightly narrower seams so that hopefully this will also fit her next year. 

The jacket is fully lined so takes some time to construct as you are essentially making two jackets.  It is a straightforward pattern though and very satisfying to put together.  I was lucky to score the checked wool fabric for free from the mother of a friend of a friend (it pays to tell people you sew...and love free fabric!).  I lined it with this gorgeous print I found at my local Spotlight.  It is called Woodland Walk by Belle and Boo.  I was very excited when I found it, as not only does it match perfectly, it is also so pretty and perfect for an incy, wincy little girl!

 

 

I went a bit overboard with photos, but I thought since Emily hasn't featured so much on my blog so far, that she needed some air time!

For day two of Kid's Clothes Week, I recycled a ladies top I found at my local oppy (Opportunity Shop for non Aussies!). 

After some chopping, sewing and overlocking, I made a top for Juliette.  I was poking through my ribbons/embellishments draw looking for something to add to make the top a bit more interesting.  I was excited to discover a little lace peter pan collar (not sure where I acquired it from!).  Perfect.  A couple of little white buttons and I think this top is pretty sweet! 

I decided to get back into the sewing this week, and just in time for Kid's Clothes Week.  I took part in Elsie Marley's sewing challenge last October and found it a great motivator to get heaps of sewing done as well as a great way to uncover some great blogs.  The idea is that you sew for your children (or others'!) for one hour a day for one week..

The first thing I have sewn for the week is the Sunday Brunch Skirt by Oliver & S.  I have made this skirt a few times and think it is such a cute little pattern.  Simple, sweet and comfy.  I had just enough heart printed denim left over from my Perennial Dress.  I teemed it with a sweet 1930's reproduction print for the pocket linings and I used orange top stitching for a bit of interest.

Cute!

Project details:
Pattern - Oliver & S Sunday Brunch skirt
Materials - heart printed denim from Spotlight, 1930's reproduction print
Cost - about $7 worth of fabric
Time taken - one hour

For the rest of the week I am hoping to sew a winter jacket for Emily, some comfy jeans for Isabella as well as recycling a couple of my tops into some sweet long sleeved ones for Juliette.  If I am super efficient, I might manage to make a Perennial dress for my niece's birthday and Isabella this Burda dress. 

Are you taking part in Kid's Clothes Week?  What are you making??