Thursday, September 21, 2017

Sewing for kindergarten



This September, my youngest started kindergarten, now all our kids go to school in the morning. A lovely occasion to join the Sewing for Kindergarten blog tour which is hosted by Jennuine Designs this year. Seeing that I have trouble closing her dress drawer, she clearly does not need new dresses. A non-need for dresses never stopped me in the past, but I decided to do it differently this time. I actually sewed basic clothing pieces such that she can remain wearing the summer dresses that she loves so much. Besides those basic pieces, I also sewed a backpack, mostly because I wanted to try if I could.




A good basic is a pair of leggings. In the Netherlands your legs can be bare in June until August, but for most of the year, those legs have to be covered. I have sewed leggings in the past, but never as many in one week as I did now. I realized I had the Dressage leggings pattern* in my stash from a long long time ago, and tried it for my middle daughter. The fit was perfect, so I cut four more and cut three pair for my youngest as well. Yes, I sewed eight of these this week, and they are the perfect sewing shot. They are quick, and easy. You can actually make them more sophisticated by choosing a color block. My kids will be colorful enough already, so I only made the straight option.



I addressed the lack of sleeves on the summer dresses by sewed three Aura's from Sofilantjes*. I was not in the mood to search for buttons in my stash and I chose to figure out the optimal (for me) snap closure. I ended up with three slightly different options, but I think I like the one with the dino fabric the best. It actually was a mistake, I sewed it exactly the same as the kitten version, but sewed the inners piece inside out to the outer piece. This way the loop is on the inside and I love it! Another example of why it is good to (sometimes) make mistakes.



The middle color bomb in my overview picture is the Bazinga Backpack from Flosstyle. I have been longing to sew a backpack for long, but I never really dared. I did not feel like buying all the hardware and stabilizers that can make a handmade bag very expensive. The blog tour motivated me to sew at east one really interesting piece and I did it frugally. Instead of stabilizing my fabric, I actually used canvas as the lining, this way the combination of main and lining is sturdy enough. I did not buy anything for this bag. I used scraps of woven fabric, zippers from my stash and upcycled the hardware from an old back pack.




I really love the color block on this bag, it was a joy to mix and match. The bag has a high level of pretty finish. All the inside seams are enclosed with bias tape. This is something that I normally would never do, but I was so smitten with the front, that I felt I had to try to make the inside as pretty as possible. The bag is actually a bit too big for my teeny tiny kindergarter, but I am sure the bag will get a lot of wear any way. All the kids love the bag and I seem to be forced to make a few more, and for now the bag will be used by a bigger sibling until she is big enough.




I choose grey/white as the main color for the legging-bolero sets. I feel that those color fit with almost everything. I could have gone with uni pink, that would have matched will all her favorites for sure, but I wanted to give her some print as well. I had not planned to combine the kitten bolero with the earlier made kitten dresss, I thought it would be too much. My daughter insisted and I have to agree with her, it looks surpirsingly cute. She actually whore the cat ensamble, including the leggings to school today. It was a bit much for my taste, but she was over the moon with the combi. I also wanted to snap some pictures with my middle one wearing her leggings, but this was the only one she was in for.



Feel free to leave a comment in the language you prefer (although Google translate might have to assist me if you choose something different than English, German, Dutch or Hungarian). If you buy anything through my affiliate links (*), I get a small commission (the price stays the same for you), I am very grateful for everything that feeds my fabric addiction.


7 comments:

  1. Love your outfits and backpack! I can't believe how much you made!

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  2. Knap werk, die rugzak! En basic stukken zijn altijd handig in de kleerkast!

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    1. Ik kocht zojuist zelds nog vier leggings, met die gedachte, "kopen"dat is haast vloeken voor mij ;)

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  3. Everything looks just great!
    Could you please let me know what fabric you used for the first and second outfits. Thank you!

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    1. I bought the kitten at www.joyfits last year, but they do not have it anymore. The other greys were founds at textelstad.nl and one in Amsterdam, but I have no clue of their origin, sorry. If will try to check the selvages tomorrow.

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    2. Thank you! Your girl is adorable and such beautiful new outfits!

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