Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Preschool Sewing Again

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What are the best characteristics of preschool clothes?

  • cute and fun to wear
  • comfortable for any activity that may come up
  • functional -for play, for learning, for going potty without needing help
  • modest - when sitting on the floor, or climbing on big toys, or whatever
  • little concern for ruining them with paints and other crafts


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Most of these fabrics are knits from Girl Charlee. The stretch lace is from a thrift store top, and so is the FOE elastic on the neckline. Knit is just the most comfortable and practical material. Ever. There may be $5 worth of materials in this outfit, so that covers not caring if they get messy. There are no buttons, snaps, or zippers to make it hard to dress/undress herself. She looks cute, will stay covered and can do anything in this.

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The leggings are a copy of Carter's 3T leggings that fit her well, with added length. You can see that I didn't bother hemming anything. I never used to do that, but I must be getting even lazier, because I find myself doing it more often. And I can honestly say that sometimes I really like the rolled up edges better than a hem.

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The bodice began as a dolman sleeved top, but I didn't like it and decided it would be easier to layer if I just cut those puppies off and hemmed them. So much cuter this way.

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These are basic pieces to mix and match and add or remove layers. We like options around here. 

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Thanks for reading and have a great week!

Monday, August 25, 2014

Sewing for Preschool


It's hard to believe that I am sending this little one off to preschool next week. If you know me, you know I'm not big on preschool and that my other kids either didn't go or only went one year. I think it's necessary in this case so that Elena gets to spend more time with kids her age instead of her teenage siblings.


She is definitely looking forward to it. She asks every day if she gets to go to school today. I hope she is still so excited after a couple weeks of actually going.

So the clothes are nothing too exciting, but I have been absent from this blog for a couple of weeks so I wanted you to know that I am still here and sewing (a lot actually).


The pants are from last year, but with the hem let down. You can still see the line, but I'm hoping that will fade with a wash and steaming. I double hemmed them last year, so it was as easy as unpicking the one line. The pattern is a slightly upsized DanaMadeIt Kid pants - the free 2T version. I added patch pockets to the back with some decorative stitching. They have no pockets on the flat front. The fabric is a super soft denim from my thrift store stash.


And yep, that's another Bimaa. I have even made one previously for her friend in this very same fabric. You won't see anymore of this fabric because I used every last inch and had to use some plain white for the bottom band. The cowl is also an inch or so shorter because of the small amount of fabric available. The fabric is from Girl Charlee at least a year ago, probably more. It's pretty lightweight so that makes it nice and drapey and also not too hot for fall.



I think she certainly looks old enough to go to school. Time keeps marching on and I guess I have to roll with it. Today is also a very big day for my son who starts high school. He leaves the comfort of the private school he attended for 10 years (including preschool) to enter a very large, urban, public high school. He is ready for it, but again, am I?