KIDS CLOTHES WEEK - Wrap up!

M's textile design (train tracks in blue) and Oliver & S Ice Cream Dress.  

It is summertime and our crazy fun activities did not step aside for a week of sewing.  We went to the zoo, to the pool, to the beach, to the forest, tidepooling, and also had preschool -  I would say it was a more busy than usual week for us.  Add Kids Clothes Week to the mix and well, a week later here is the post and here are the pictures!

Back of the dress - used wooden blocks as stamps.

The theme for this round of Kid's Clothes week was Kids Art.  This pink pink pink dress is the Oliver & S Ice Cream Dress pattern in a size 3T made in the blouse version with the end extended into a tunic. M painted the pink cotton voile fabric after I cut it out and it was a fairly straightforward sew.  Like all things with preschoolers I had to let go of the product and embrace the process while we were working - in the end it looks so different from what I imagined but so much better!!  There was a point where she was totally done with my idea of taking blocks and stamping them and she grabbed a toy train and ran its wheels in blue paint and then back and forth across the dress. When M saw the finished dress she pointed to the tracks immediately so totally stoked her train painted on it too. She will get that little thrill of memory when wearing something handmade that the maker has- a memory of working on this together in the backyard painted and stitched into the dress. 

Oliver & S Ice Cream Dress + most gorgeous fabrics ever = in love.

This shirt is my favorite fabric combo in the universe.  I had no idea what to combine with the Kaffe Fassett Stripes but had to find something that would work as I had the littlest rectangle left over of it.  The polka dot fabric is a polkadot quilting cotton, overdyed with indigo at A Verb for Keeping Warm.  It is so alive and gorgeous a color - blue and deep teal green.  Unfortunately its too short!  M went through a crazy growth spurt the last couple weeks and all her shirts are half shirts now!  Thankfully I have more of the polkadot fabric and will pick out the hem and add another panel to make it a dress.  Its really magical to sew with fabrics that you really resonate with.  The yarn dyed stripes and weaving of the stripe fabric feels so handwoven and the polkadots vary in intensity of indigo dye.  I cant wait to finish sewing through my stash of fabric (almost done!) to seek out more handwoven/handprinted/handdyed and dye and weave my own textiles to sew with.

Handstitched Sashiko bodice, Geranium Dress

Where I am in love with the fabric combination of the previous shirt, I am in love with the construction and everything else of this one. Every piece is a little different color denim as its completely from scraps from four other projects, similar weights, but unified in a simple shape and sashiko stitching done by hand to transform it into maybe the thing I am most proud of making ever.

Full length - will fit for awhile!

It is a size 3 and there is totally room to grow.  I used more Kaffe Fasset shot cotton stripes for the lining - it is so soft and the color a nice surprise inside.

In studying alot lately about Japanese textiles techniques (I tend to really get into it needing to learn EVERYTHING)  Ive learned that sashiko (or boro stitching) is found in vintage japanese textiles alot to unify patchworked pieces of cloth into a whole again.  Full kimonos made from many different parts or  an obi unified with an overlaid pattern.  I wanted to try to apply sashiko to garment making, designing a pattern from scratch to fit the space of a pattern and see if I could stitch it all and sew it together in a week (along with the other clothes!)

The back 

Making my own fabric from something plain and leftover fabric is something I intend to do more of.  I love this dress.  More importantly M does as its super full and twirly.  She said  that it is very comfy!

The Dinosaur Map Dress!!

There is not a fancy picture of this right now because M wore it to school this morning!  So this one taken in the middle of the night will have to do for now.  The Geranium Dress pattern is a wonderful canvas for playing with fun fabric and this one is obviously someone dinosaur obsessed favorite dress.  

Perfect for someone who came home from school with this one day.

News Flash!  Someone let me take a picture of her in it, but just wants to eat her sandwich..

Till next time Kids Clothes Week.......