Witchy-pooh

Five years ago my then 4 year old daughter wanted to be a witch for Halloween.  I excitedly started Pinterest searching witch costumes and was dreaming of a purple and orange tulle masterpiece.  Sadly my daughter had other ideas.... witches wear plain black dresses.  Booooo!!!!

I made her what she wanted, and in the end I was glad because she was the cutest damn witch I'd ever seen.

Fast forward to now and my 4 year old son wanted to be a witch for Halloween.  I asked him what a witch wears and he said a dress, so we headed to the Pinterest search again and he loved the fluffy tulle numbers.  He wanted to be a "rainbow witch".  All my dreams from five years ago had come true!!

My daughter's dress was made using Butterick 4319, with the hat coming from Simplicity 3680 I believe.  All made out of black poplin from memory.

For my son's dress I wanted to use knit as I had a roll of black jersey, and wanted to use a pattern I already had.  I went to the Stitch Upon a Time Girls Shirtzie pattern.  Advice from their Facebook group was to size up because it's a snug fit and boys aren't usually used to that in clothes.  He measured between a size 4 and 6 around with a 4 in height.  But when I compared the finished measurements to one of his (smaller) t-shirts, it was more like a size 10.  In the end I decided to cut a size 4 bodice with a "full bust adjustment", pivot method, to take it out to the size 10 line on both front and back.  I do FBAs for myself all the time, so this seemed like an easy solution.  It kept the smaller shoulders but added girth to cover his round middle.  I then cut the skirt size 10 at the waist, but a 4 length.  It turned out the perfect size, easy to get on and off, but not so loose that it lost it's shape.

For the bodice, I sectioned off the front and redrew the neckline to get the front panel, and then attached rainbow ribbon.

For the skirt, I was using 6" wide tulle off a roll.  I decided that 6" scrunched pretty nicely into about 1" so I did some maths and cut 9 strips of each colour, which I then divided into 3 rainbows around the skirt.  I just bunched up the tulle and pinned it in place all the way around then sewed it down before gathering the skirt into the waistband.

And that's how I made my rainbow witch, using the hat from 5 years ago with tulle added, and a pair of his sister's slightly too small rainbow leggings.  I loved it, and he loved it which is the most important part.

And the Puppy got pyjamas too....

As mentioned here, Puppy needed some pyjamas

Baa Baa Blue Sheep, Have You Any Pyjamas?

My little boy needed new pyjamas, as all growing boys ALWAYS do.

After tracing off the pattern for him, I decided I would try to make a matching pair for his favourite toy, which is a "sitting" blue sheep called Baa.  But what to do for a pattern?

His pyjamas were made from the Sew A Little Seam Holiday Night PJs. I used this pattern last winter for his pjs and knew I liked it.  I wanted a similar style for Baa so went pattern hunting.  Of course not being a standard toy, I couldn't easily find a pattern that would fit straight away.  After measuring and comparing to patterns designed for Build-a-Bear, and subsequent paths that Google lead me on, I realised that Cabbage Patch Kid patterns might come close.

I have Butterick 5902, which included a front buttoning, collared shirt, so that seemed like a good place to start.  The shirt has kimono sleeves (cut in one with the body) which are a bit flared at the end. The pattern was designed to have the sleeves gathered at the cuffs, so I guess this gave it a more puffed look.  I straightened the sleeves out slightly at the top, and more so at the underarm.  I was a bit worried about their Y shape, but decided to leave it as it would provide room for movement.  I also shortened the sleeves a little after holding it up against Baa to check.

Original shirt pattern underneath with my altered version on top

After sewing the shoulder seams, I tried it on and marked the hem line for the sleeves.  I also decided to create a hi-low hem for the shirt because of Baa's sitting shape.  There was just too much fabric on the front, but the back still needed the coverage.

That sorted out the top pattern and it was just a case of putting it together as per the instructions.

For the pants, I started with the free Hospital Attire pattern from Bear Wear Patterns, which I had found and printed for my daughter the other week because she wanted to make clothes for her Big Ted (yet to happen).  Going by overall measurements, I decided the 15"-16" size was the way to go, but because this pattern was drafted for a standing bear and Baa was sitting, I did a rather large back crotch adjustment, as shown here by the white line.  After sewing them up the basics and trying them on, I needed to shorten the legs, but the crotch/waist was fine.

Lengthened back crotch to account for sitting position

After sewing them up the basics and trying them on, I needed to shorten the legs, but the crotch/waist was fine.

I had a fleeting thought of making a matching dog coat for his little puppy as well (his other favourite toy), but put the thought aside for later.  Of course upon being excited about matching pyjamas for Baa, I was promptly told that he needed matching pjs for Puppy too!!   Guess what's on the cutting table tonight.     *EDIT: Puppy pjs are HERE*

Pants Maketh the Man

Heading into autumn, my little man needed some cotton pants. It's starting to be cool in the morning but warms up later, so still to soon for trackies or jeans.

I made lots of cotton shorts for summer. They are cute and functional, but a little plain. I wanted to make it a bit more interesting with pants. Plus as he gets a little older, he can make use of pockets!

I went to Pinterest for inspiration and found these

Left is a free pattern from ikat bag. I'd made this once before as a test run, but it doesn't fit my chubba bubba that well becausae there isn't a lot of crotch curve.  So I traced out the crotch from the shorts pattern I'd been using, because I knew it fitted well.  Other than this, I made it as per the pattern, but I didn't have enough of the print to make the waistband so used plain black.  They are meant to be 3/4 length when rolled on up, but on my little shorty, they're almost full length, so they wont be rolled down until he grows some more!

The centre pair was a free pattern from Compagnie M. but it's no longer offered so I just worked out something myself.  I started with Kwiksew 4080 because he's currently wearing a pair of pants I made from this and they fit well.  Which is actually surprising because he's 1" taller and several kg heavier than the 'measurements' for the largest size.  Oh, well, you  make what fits, regardless of the number on it.

I'm not sure what the original version was inside, but my version is a false opening at the front.  It's is a real flap, but underneath the left and right front are joined together, so I just sewed the decorative buttons on through all layers.  This does mean that the pockets are technically one big pocket across the front but my boy is only just working out pockets so I'm not sure he'll realise any time soon.  I used the flat from from the original pattern as my guide for the pockets, but I probably could have put them closer to the centre.

He hasn't worn these yet so I don't have an 'action' shot

The pair on the right appears on the  Made by Rae blog, and inspired me to do the same.  I used the same Kwiksew pattern above and just made it up as a full elastic waist rather than with a flat front.  Then added the side panel, including pockets.  So simple!  And after wearing both these and the black ones, this seems to be the best pocket style for his age.  He had great fun putting "lego" (actually lego style blocks that are erasers) in them.

I think I need to work on my 'action shot' photography skills..... but it's so hard to get an almost 3 year old to stand still and/or do what you want for photography purposes.

With what he already has in his drawers, this should see him through the in-between weather, so now I need to start thinking about warm pants for the cold weather, and apparently winter PJs too because these kids just keep growing...

A quick project is a good project

My ever growing little boy needed more short pyjamas.

The 52 Week Sewing Challenge theme this week was 'something for a boy'.

Enter the Sew a Little Seam pattern, Movie Night Pyjamas (free if you join their FB group), and a $5 clearance table cotton/lycra and we end up with these:

He needs another pair, and I think I'll make the shorts one size bigger around, just to give him some growing room.