Craziness | Sewing

Knits galore

September 9, 2008

Before getting my serger for Christmas last year, I wasn’t a fan of sewing with knit fabrics.  It wasn’t the easiest with my regular sewing machine since they stretched so much and the hems looked all wonky.  Now I have a whole mess of knits that are simply begging to be made into cute little outfits for the urchins.  They all begged me to buy them, too.  I am so weak-willed. 😉   Remember all those bins of fabric??  Most of the knits I have for sewing I bought LAST Fall…or Before the Serger! 

This outfit is one of my favorites.  I love this blue fabric, it is one of those “pet-able” fabrics that are so soft and fuzzy and WARM.  She loved it too and wore it to daycare the next day.  The black is a plain knit.  I used a pattern for both the top and the bottoms.  The top didn’t have a hood, so I stole it from another pattern.  I also put pvc grommet tape along the sides of the pants, which I just love how it all looks together.  I tend to buy embellishments with no notion of where to use them.  This is exactly why I buy things I like…so I have them when needed.  The only problem with these pants are they are too short-waisted.  I didn’t follow the pattern exactly, so I need to redo the waist and add some fabric on it.  An easy fix.

This next outfit is another soft knit fabric, just not quite as “pet-able” but nice and warm.  I modified a leggings pattern to add the flare to the legs.  I was going for a more “yoga pants” look.  The inside of the vest is a nice soft tan chamois fabric, and I have a brown long sleeve thermal t-shirt she can wear with it when it gets cold.  The vest was supposed to be open with no button.  I can only assume the vest wasn’t supposed to be worn for more that 5 minutes with that design, so I added a “vintage” button.  Vintage means it was in a big bag of mismatched buttons my Mom and/or Grandma Jo gave me.  I’m pretty sure it’s older than me.

This next outfit I didn’t make the shirt (an ON blank slate), but added the ribbon and buttons…to hide a stain.  You know how it is.  The pants pattern is the same as the top outfit, but I added ribbon along the side seam and pockets to the side…and made it correct this time.  Again, I just happened to have ribbon that matched in my stash.  🙂  She thinks her pants are all too long for her, but when you grow 2 inches in 3 months Mommy wants to make sure they last the winter!

 

I’ll have more to show next week! 🙂

As an aside…on Friday night we met a couple at our friends’ house that go to the same daycare as us.  Their oldest is a little younger than Anya and they have been in the same class before.  We were talking about that and she said she loved all of Anya’s unique outfits and our host, Kelly, walked by and said, “Oh, Stacy makes all of her kids clothes!”  Well, not quite!  Anyways, she had thought I bought most of Anya’s clothes at boutiques LOL!  Um…we aren’t rich. 😉

  1. Her clothes are beautiful. I try to make some outfits for my girls but it takes me awhile and I am no where near that level. Have you thought of adding more stuff to Etsy (I know you had that one dress before)?

  2. These are awesome. That little track suit is the most adorable thing ever!

    I’ve been meaning to ask you…whatever do you do with all of these adorable outfits when your kids outgrow them? Certainly you don’t just hand them over to the Goodwill? Are you saving them for family or special friends or do you sell them on e-bay or what?

  3. If I were on vacation for a week I would come out of it with a home done pedicure and maybe laundry done. I think of you when I look at my craft room. I really do want to get it organized so that I can get to work in there. I might have to post some before pics that way I’ve got some motivation.

    Adorable as always, but I love the vest outfit. I think it’s the print.

  4. Adorable.

    Enviably adorable.

    You are such a talent! I’d say “talented”, but you’re the noun… I haven’t seen something you can’t do yet!

    I love the colors and textures and especially how pleased she looks in her blue outfit!

  5. Thank you all so much. 🙂 I really do enjoy making her clothes – it gives me the occassion to design outfits plus make her unique boutique-y clothes. 🙂

    Margaret, I haven’t had a chance to put up more on etsy. I didn’t sell that dress, so I’ll probably list it again in the spring. My issue right now is having time to make more things for my shop, and since I’m already stretched thin I’m having a hard time getting it done.

    Alissa, I’ve given most of her old clothes to some friends of ours. The more unique and special dresses I am holding back to use for photo shoots. The few times I have sold items on fee-bay have been more work than it was really worth, unfortunately. It would be nice to get a decent price for my work, but people don’t want to pay for it. If I’m only going to get barely the cost of my materials back, then I’m just going to give it away to my friends!

  6. Holy crap – ribbon and buttons to hide a stain! See, that is just pure genius…I’m so stealing that!!

    I really want a pet-able outfit like the first one. Oh, it is so snuggly and warm looking!

  7. Golly I love all of these. I want to be wearing that first set myelf, right now! Does she realize how lucky she is?
    Embellishments to hide a stain – you are genious!
    And clearly, we aren’t the only ones that recognize your talent…you should start selling to the kiddos in daycare!

  8. You simply amaze me. I love the idea of taking a vacation (at home, just to get stuff done). And you have so much to show for it!

  9. For real, THEY SHOULD BE AT A BOUTIQUE. I’m just always amazed when I visit your blog. Either by the clothing or the photos.

    VERY cool Stacy. And what a cute model you have!

  10. Well your rich with creativity and talent and that’s more than any boutique will ever have. 🙂

    I love that first outfit. You’re right it is totally petable and the blue is a wonderful shade.

  11. What a great compliment! Its nice when someone recognizes your hard work. I wouldnt even know where to begin making the outfits you do. 🙂 I am drawn to the second one….and I was before I even read that it was a vintage button. That just seems to add so much more to the outfit. They are all super cute.

  12. You could sell all these beauties in boutiques for sure. I love the stain strategy, if I were a sewer, I would do that too! In fact, I would have a whole selection of clothes to start with. Maybe I DO need to learn to sew! 🙂

  13. Ok I am super jealous. First of all the great knits and second the TIME you have to sew – which amazes me cause you are such a busy girl!
    The outfits are ADORABLE 🙂 I love them. The black trim on the pants is awesome. The added flare is groovy and I love the vintage buttons and the stain cover 🙂
    OH and I’m jealous of the sewing space too – I have been resigned to a small corner of my BEDROOM which I swore never again. But for now it has to do. Either that or share a room with the baby.

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