Kids Clothes Week - Autumn 2014: The Results!

If you are a regular reader of this blog you will already know how much I love Kids Clothes Week - I find it's a great opportunity to force myself to sit down and make stuff for fun, just for the love of it (and love of your kids.) And you can really have some fun too. You can see some of the things I have made over the years in these posts: Autumn 2011, Spring 2013,  Summer 2013,  Summer 2014 

Excuses, excuses but my new little daughter really isn't playing ball when it comes to letting Mama have time to sew but a couple of times this week she did actually go to sleep at bedtime and stay down for the night. Woohoo! It felt so good to be back behind the sewing machine again so I'm hoping that I'll be getting a bit more time now. We'll see I guess!

All my sewing this time was for Ferne (sorry Wiss!). Firstly, I decided to alter this beautiful dress I got from a local nearly-new sale. It's actually a Kenzo dress and it's wonderfully made from needlecord, but I don't really see the point of dresses on small babies: they just ride up all the time as you hold them and you spend all your time yanking them down again. So I altered this dress to become a little romper suit instead. I didn't have enough of the fabric to make a gusset though so it was a very basic alteration. I made the skirt into two legs to which I added elastic, then used bias binding to make a strong facing inside the crutch to take the poppers.

It worked really well, even if I do say so myself but unfortunately, Ferne has grown so much that it is already a bit snug on her (and when she's wearing her washable nappies there is no chance it will fit. Such a shame.)

Next I made her a sleepsack using this fab organic jersey from Birch (collection is called Elk Grove) Mine came from great fabric shop Ray Stitch. The arms and binding are upcycled from old t-shirts. I added a good few centimetres to my pattern as Ferne is very long. I really love this fabric and pattern so I'll definitely be using it to make some more clothes for her soon.

And finally I had time to make her this cute little outfit. I used a pattern for Skinny Harem Pants from Brindille & Twig, and the top is just a short version of the sleep sack. I am planning on using fabric paints to stencil 'Boo!' onto the top as it will be Ferne's Halloween outfit, but I thought it was simple enough to also be worn after the event. Both fabrics are from old t-shirts (I like to pick up shirts from charity shops or primark to use in this way.)

So this week wasn't my most productive ever, but it definitely wasn't a wash-out either. I guess I spent a total of 7 hours over 3 nights sewing. It goes to show just how much you can get done in a short space of time. So, did anyone else join in this season? Or has anyone been inspired to start sewing for their child? The next challenge will be for Winter 2014 so keep an eye on the Kids Clothes Week website for more details.

Happy Sewing!

Cute as a Button Mobile Tutorial

Way back in July I got a very exciting email informing me that I had been chosen as a blogger to work with Fantastic Ribbons, a great online supplier of ribbons and buttons (and washi tape!) I will be trying out and reviewing their products and of course, showing you what I've made.

For my first project I chose a packet of the 'Candy' button selections because I couldn't resist the gorgeous colours. Wiss and I wanted to make a decoration for the new addition to our family so I devised the 'Cute as a Button' Mobile!

You will need:

Buttons

Origami Paper in squares of various sizes 

Scalpel or Craft Knife

Ruler

Glue or Double-Sided Tape

Thread or String

Large Stick (not shown)

As our baby would be looking up at this mobile I wanted it to look best from that view. Many mobiles you can buy look great from our perspective but can be dull from underneath. I love origami, especially folded birds but I thought windmills would move beautifully in the breeze and catch baby's attention. Plus they are easier to make with a 4 year old!

To make the windmills you need to cut from each corner diagonally in towards the centre, but not all the way. I cut approximately 2/3 of the way, leaving the centre uncut.

We used small squares of double-sided tape (but you could also use glue) to stick all the left-hand corners into the middle of the square. This will create your windmills. I made some by sticking all the right corners as well (this will cause the windmills to turn in different directions.)

Using glue we stuck a button into the centre of each windmill. Not only does this give them a nice finishing touch but the button helps to weigh the windmills down and hang straight.

Next you need something to hang your windmills from. We went looking for a large stick on a walk in the woods but you could use bamboo canes, dowelling or even coat hangers if you prefer. We scrubbed our stick and let it dry before giving it a coat of white acrylic paint.

Now to hang your windmills! Make sure you hang them at various heights and spacing so they can spin freely in the breeze. I drilled holes in the stick so I could thread the windmills on cotton through them and then secured them all by finishing off with another button at the top. This looks cool but will also prevents the windmill from falling.

I hung the mobile using more thread and some invisible hooks. It looks lovely in our bay window but from underneath, the baby's perspective, it looks fantastic!

Baby Ferne is captivated by it!

I hope you have been inspired and if you do make a 'Cute as a Button' mobile then please share a photo with me, either on here or on twitter @thisiswiss. And don't forget to check out the Fantastic Ribbons website for your supplies. Happy making!