By Brienne

Guest Posting at KCW and a Giveaway

Today is my last post over at the luminous Kids Clothes Week Blog before the clothes making derby begins at the end of January. It's been so exciting to post over there alongside the other contributers, Sanae, Laura and Tara. These ladies are some serious sewists. I hope that I kept up!  

So, we wanted to say, thanks! I'd love to send you a hat that I knitted.  Just let me know in the comments which color hat you'd like. You can find them here in my shop. When I reach 200 likes on Facebook, I'll draw a name (using the random number generator) from the comments and send the winner their prize!  

Hooray for Laura!

Guest Posting at KCW and... Ambulance Pants

Thanks to Meg and Co., I'm guest posting over at the Kids Clothes Week blog again today.  

In preparation for that post, I sewed up some Seraphic Pants (do you think Seraphic sounds like terrific?) on Sunday. The boy was thrilled! Chalk one up to flashy boy duds - yes! 

He's calling them his "ambulance pants." They're shown here with a Recess Raglan that I stitched up using the fabric that he designed.  

These pants are quick enough to sew but with some totally kid-friendly details: faux fly, topstitching, pockets and a great shape. I'll definitely be making up some more.

For this pair, I used upcycled sweatshirt fleece and a ponte knit that I got from fabric.com. Colorblocking inspiration came from Noodlehead. Check out her great pair over here!

Thank you to Nicole at Frontier Dreams for providing a space to share. 

Something Blue

More mytholigically cold weather on the way. I won't bore you with the details but suffice it to say that the governor of our rather large state has cancelled school throughout because of the impending cold. Saturday was lovely, though. And we made merry, soaking up the snow and sun all  day long. 

 

Do you know of Norah Gaughan, the knitter? The queen of cables? The Aeneas Sweater is one that I had been drooling over for a long time when I finally cast it on last January. It was a bit of an intimidating knit and it seemed doomed at the beginning and then again at the end when I ran out of yarn. I purchased more yarn in colorway that doesn't match, capped the sleeves, screamed a bit, then stashed it away - taking it out only for a brief appearance at a fibery gathering.

The cold weather demands heavy knits so this weekend I went looking for it again. 

It's a beautiful pattern with such a clever shape. I'd have loved to have had those beautiful long sleeves but they're a bit impracticle for a mom who is perpetually scrubbing something or digging in the snow, dirt or chicken coop.

Embracing the imperfection and looking forward to casting on a selfish project again sometime soon:) My complete ravelry notes are here.

Flashback Hack: Hi-Low Swing Top

I tend not to buy my kids clothes - since I love to sew them. This is impracticle at times. My daughter has grown (surprise) since I last sewed her some practical winter tops. She does have two winter sweaters that she's taken to wearing  over the top of one another in lieu of shirts. It's a little grim, although I'm thrilled that she likes her handknits.

I remembered I had made this riff on a flashback tee back in October but didn't like the neck and never really put it into circulation.
 

I decided to dig out the pieces and give it another go. These go together so quickly (the raglan sleeve is a breeze due to its straight lines) and the shape is great because it layers over a dress easily. 

First in a grey stripe with elbow patches. 

 

 

Then in strawberries for her. 

Her brother wants in on the picture taking. Come to think of it, I am slacking on the boy duds. Better get with it. 

These should hold us until KCW. 

Guest Posting at the Kids Clothes Week Blog

Today I'm sharing a post over at the Kids Clothes Week space about winter fabric inspiration. Making clothes for kids is something that I'm passionate about and I'm thrilled to be included there as a contributer. 

I talked over there about fabrics available for purchase but I  love to repurpose fabrics too. Tis' the season for clearing out, right?

I’ve often upcycled clothes for my kids just out of necessity when I have an itch to sew but no access to a fabric store. But I find that there are many advantages to doing so in addition to that thrifty-green feeling that you get. For example, when you re-make something that you’ve previously worn you already have a good sense of how the garment will drape and wear. This feel for the fabric is hard to achieve when you’re shopping online and even when you’re in the store. I find too that I’m more likely to be brave when I’m working with a recycled item. It’s a good way to experiment with a new pattern before you chop into that beautiful piece of double-gauze that you’ve been hoarding:)

Here are a few of the things that I've made over the past year using recycled fabric. 

I think that this is my favorite, it's a Geranium dress using a garment that I thrifted. More about it here. 

This is a Purl Bee tote that I made using canvas and a baby sling that was no longer in use. 

And here's a couple of flashback tee's using recycled knits. The first was stenciled on by my husband. Love that piliated woodpecker! 

Finally, the galaxy wear... Maybe these are my favorite.

What's your secret fabric source?