Category Archives: Sewing for children

January 7, 2015 · 5:07 pm

Sewing a Circle

December would not be December without a sewing project intended for gift-giving. Last year found me working furiously on a quilt for granddaughter Aida. This December I finished a dress for her the Saturday before Christmas, just a day before she and her parents arrived for the holiday. Just a few days before, I had finished a corduroy jumper for her.

This jumper turned out to be a little too big for our petite little girl, so she will have to wait a bit to wear it.

Rick rack and primary colors – a favorite combination!

I knew this was the year I had to make this flannel “Black-watch” plaid dress.

I had limited fabric, enough to fit a 21-month-old, but only enough. The fabric was left over from a dress I had made for her mother (my daughter) twenty-some years ago. The pattern I used actually was designed to be smocked below the front yoke, but I had neither the time nor enough fabric to manage that little trick. So I took out some of the width of the skirted section of the dress, machine-gathered along the smocking lines and placed rick-rack on top of the gathering lines. Another line of rick-rack along the lower edge of the dress tied the whole thing together.

With plaids to match, I was really tight on fabric. I faced the hem to stretch it out a bit, but the dress ended up fitting Aida perfectly!

It's difficult to pose for a picture when there is cooking to be done with Aida's new kitchen!

It’s difficult to pose for a picture when there is cooking to be done with my new kitchen!

What does everyone want for Christmas dinner?

Next year, I think I had better start earlier, as next year I will be making another baby quilt (now that I have set a precedent!), this time for Aida’s brother or sister, due in April. And, of course, Aida will have something handmade by me as well. This is what we, as sewers, do. We give a bit of ourselves even when it means late nights, and fitting sewing time in between a million other things.

Did someone say sewing?

And then, in what seemed to be a time-defying split second, it was the end of the year – and the final chapter in one life. My 90-year-old mother died on December 31, a much-needed peaceful end to a life increasingly compromised by illness. My mother sewed for me when I was young. And I am sure she, too, spent hours making Christmas gifts and dresses for my sister and me.

My mother taught me to sew, and that has made all the difference.

The beginning of a new year now brings with it the anticipation of newborn life and the continued wonder and joy of our little granddaughter. The never-ending circle of life has never been in clearer focus for me: it is scattered with fabric and buttons and pins and thread, just the way it should be.

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October 31, 2014 · 4:30 pm

A Little Pumpkin Magic

There is something endearing about pumpkins. A native North American squash, the name “pumpkin” was coined by early settlers to this country. I think they knew a good thing when they saw it, as the popularity of all things pumpkin continues to grow. In many ways our Fall is defined by all that this beautiful and delicious vegetable offers us. There are pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin scones, pumpkin spice cakes, pumpkin pasta, traditional pumpkin pie, pumpkin flavored coffee, pumpkin butters, toasted pumpkin seeds – the list goes on and on. There are carving pumpkins, sugar pumpkins, gigantic pumpkins, mini pumpkins, gourds that look like pumpkins, but really aren’t! And then there are pumpkins made out of fabric.

I decided I could not let this October pass by without sewing a little pumpkin fun for my granddaughter Aida. First up would be a bib for this one-and-a-half year old.

My study of the perfect bib for this age resulted in one which I designed to have these details: 1) large size to cover the entire front of a wiggly toddler:

2) front made out of terry cloth to quickly absorb sloshy, drippy food, 3) a pocket at the bottom which protrudes just a bit, to catch errant Cheerios and other things that may fall off of little silver spoons and forks:

4) a Velcro closure at the back neck to make it easy for MaMa and DaDa, 5) a cotton backing to make it the perfect weight:

and 6) a nice plump fabric pumpkin happily sitting in its patch, embellished with rick rack.

Next on my list was a snuggly little vest for Aida to wear with her play clothes and add warmth without too much bulk. I paired an orange-flowered fabric with a medium gray-colored calico. The shell of the vest would be out of the gray, the inside of the vest would be out of the orange fabric, and I would make two orange
“pumpkin pockets” for its front, because, well, Aida likes pockets!

The first thing I did was machine quilt the gray and orange fabrics together, using washed natural cotton quilt batting between the fabric layers.

I used an old McCalls jacket pattern left over from my own children as a guide for the vest, but I had to cut it down quite a bit.

I cut out the pattern on the seam lines, as I planned to use a self bias-binding to finish the armholes, neck, front and around the lower edge. Before assembling I finished off those interior seams with Hug Snug seam binding.

The self bias binding and the finished seams are clearly visible here.

I literally cut the pumpkin pockets freehand out of some scraps of the quilted fabric, and bound each one with self bias binding.

Orange rick rack provided the twisted pumpkin stems, and then I decided to add it around the outer edges of the vest, too.

Instead of buttons, I applied snaps, thinking they would be easier for a toddler and her parents to fasten.

I think this vest is perfect for the season, but not too Halloween-y to limit its usage during other cold months to come.

What’s inside of this??

Now, this Halloween pumpkin is the one with the real magic to it!

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June 24, 2014 · 5:52 pm

Totes for Tots – and Other Small Things

Sometimes one’s fashion sewing has to take a little break to make way for other sewing projects – of the less complicated sort. Much of my sewing time the last couple of weeks has been dedicated towards getting some baby gifts ready – and making favors for the guests of a baby shower which I hosted just last weekend.

I had seen a Noodlehead blog post for a very cute “baby basket” months ago and had even purchased the pattern (a download, very reasonably priced and, even better, instantly delivered). I thought it might be a cute way to package gifts for all the very deserving moms of my acquaintance and their babies who seem to be arriving quite frequently. What I really like about this pattern is that the basket is the perfect size for storing diapers and other baby supplies, and then it becomes the perfect size for toddlers to load up with their treasures as they become mobile – as in walking!

A picture of one of the Noodlehead baskets in the pattern instructions.

I found myself inspired by some very cute home decorator fabric which I found on Fabric.com – heavy enough to give these baskets some heft, but still soft and manageable.

The pattern calls for fusible interfacing – which I never use for my fashion sewing – but which works beautifully in this application – specifically in the body of the bag and in the divider inside. The directions are quite clear, but I found that using a walking foot made the sewing much easier and more precise, especially on the handles and the top-stitching around the top of the bag.

Here are the four bags I have made – so far…

Looking inside of the totes.

The front pocket is optional, but I think it adds a useful touch!

Of course, I made one for my daughter/granddaughter, and I gave them their choice (although I knew the yellow bag would be the one!) I made the pink one for the lovely and talented honoree of the Shower, and I made one of the gray ones for the new baby daughter of another dear young couple adding to their growing family. I am keeping the other gray one in reserve in case I need a quick gift sometime, and I know I’ll be making more of these fun and useful baskets in the months to come.

Once I had finished the baskets, I turned my attention to making favors for the guests of the Baby Shower for dear Jess. I am kind of partial to making potholders, as I know that everyone uses them, even if just for a microwave. So I designed one in the shape of a baby block, and decided to put a big question mark (?) in the field where a letter or shape would be.

One example of the question mark.

And the finished potholders…

Why a question mark? Easy to appliqué, for one thing, when many need to be made! But it also plays into the age-old question “What’s for dinner?” and, on a more baby-specific level, “Who is this little creature – and what do I do now?” (At least for me, I remember thinking those questions when I had new little ones…) I needed to make over twenty of these potholders, and I wanted each one to be a little different, as shown here:

Truly, I can be away from fashion sewing for just so long – and I was ever so anxious to get back in my sewing room yesterday to continue work on my current linen “dress–in-process”. The biggest question mark I have facing me right now is: “How long will this one take to complete?” Oh, but how enjoyable the process is!

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May 11, 2014 · 12:44 pm

Two Little Dresses

Sewing for very little girls possesses its own special charms, and sewing for a little girl who also happens to be one’s granddaughter is more than sewing – it is sharing part of a sewing legacy. It has its privileges, too. Some of the design details which I most like, I am able to add to these small little articles of clothing. Yes, of course, I am referring to rick rack and sashes.

As our little Aida’s first birthday approached in mid-March, I began to plan for at least one little dress to mark the occasion. I already had purchased this cotton fabric at the Eric Carle Museum last October for just such a dress, and knew that it would be quite perfect paired with yellow rick rack.

I set out to find a versatile pattern which would lend itself to this fabric and found myself thumbing through the New Look pattern catalog. There were many cute patterns, but I settled on this one:

I settled on View D, paired with some bloomers.

I decided on View D, paired with some bloomers.

I liked the narrow yoke on the front of the dress, which would be the perfect place to do something creative with rick rack. Specifically, I was thinking of enhancing the little duck theme by turning a strip of rick rack into a row of little duckies. I had seen rick rack turned into little chicks, and it wasn’t too much of a stretch to change the embroidery details to evoke ducklings instead.

Please click on the photo for a close-up look at these little duckies.

Once I had embellished the narrow yoke, I decided to decorate the pocket, too.

Some yellow grosgrain ribbon seemed a good choice for the adjustable straps, which button in back. I added two perky bows to the bloomers, to make the outfit complete.

A front view . . .

. . . and a back view.

By this time, I had decided that a first birthday called for another little dress, one which Aida’s mommy – my daughter – would know nothing about. (Daughter Susanna had been with me when I purchased the Eric Carle-designed fabric.) After seeing a very simple little sundress design on Pinterest, I figured I could make little dress number 2 without a pattern – and also indulge my love of sashes on little girls!

The “going-out-of-business sale” at Waechter’s had earlier provided me with the opportunity to purchase many yards of a red and white chevron print and a petite navy blue trim (among other things). Our perky little Aida may end up with many a dress in this fabric, so I figured there was no time like the present to start the tradition! Here is what I came up with: