Baby refashioning!

My posts are sometimes like buses, I don't write anything for like a week and then two come along at once!

This is just a quick post to write about some baby refashioning I have been doing. I am finiding it difficult to justify making anything for Maria, let alone buying anything these days, as I have so much to hand down from Evan. Her gifted clothes are now running extrememly low, but the weather is scorching and she is getting bigger, so I thought I could make her a dress out of an old vest. This vest is 3-6 months and she is 7 and a half months, so it was cutting her in half a bit, but rather than get rid of it or give it away I had a go at refashioning.

I should probably have taken a better picture than this!

To achieve a dress I simply chopped off the leg holes to make a bodice. I pleated a strip of fabric so that it was about a quater wider than the flat vest and stretched the vest to the pleated fabric to allow some ease. Simples!!! Too many photos??? Oh well, she is such a babe, she deserves to be the centre of attention.

The next refashion is of my old cardigan. I have had this cardigan for about 15 years and I decided it was time to let go! I have reduced the size to make a toddler cardi for Maria in the winter. I used my Oliver and S layette jacket as a size guide when cutting.

I managed to retain the sleeve and side seams and just had to unpick some of the rib edging, join the raglan and add the unpicked edging back. This also meant that I retained the buttons and button holes. Really pleased with this, sorry if I have not explained my process more, but the little angel that is Maria is waking up so I have to go!

Mum made kids stuff!

I've finally done it, I've started making clothes for my children! Now that me-made May is over and the change in weather is upon us I have bitten the bullet. The children need weather appropriate stuff and I cannot seem to justify buying it all new from the high street when I know that I am perfectly capable of making things myself. I'm not saying I'll never buy new, as vests, socks, pyjamas etc... seem a bit beyond my time and motivation at the moment, but I'm definitely going to push myself to make as much as possible.

I started out with the shorts. Heavily inspired by Jenna's Sunny Day shorts (free Oliver and S download) I downloaded and cut the pattern to the 18-24 month size for my 21 month old son. Let me tell you, these are super quick to make. I admit that I am a quick sewer, but I ran my first pair up during Eastenders on Tuesday night and have made 3 more pairs since.

Below is the first pair made from some denim left over from this dress, but he was in such desperate need of them that they have been worn before I could photograph them. There may be a bit of food on there if you look close enough!

This is a slightly 'posher' pair in lovely linen (FYI £2p/m from local market) with a back pocket (saved from refashioned t-shirts further down)

These are just for fun! My son loves trains and is obsessed with Thomas the Tank engine, so I chose this cute train print cotton from Fabricland. I have actually made 2 pairs and they are great for just scrubbing around in the garden.

I managed to make all these for approx £3 investment. Not bad considering that 1 pair from a really cheap shop would cost about that! I have more planned for baby girl, but perhaps with elastic round the bottom of the legs for a bloomer effect.

Now on to the refashioning. I have kept a load of my sons clothes aside for my daughter, because you quickly realise when you have babies that their clothes hardly get worn before they grow out of them. For the most part I think that they are fairly non-gender specific, but some of them have potential to be a bit prettified. You also realise with babies that you needn't have bought any clothes for the first 6 months as you get gifts from everyone (even people you've never met). It's like this big amazing secret that no-one shares, so it's only now really that I'm thinking what I can do for Maria as her girly wardrobe is suddenly looking a little sparce (not that she minds!)

I kept back these plain t-shirts from last summer which, although servicable, are a bit plain.

Plain!

FUN!

I made a simple bow out of a scrap of fabric and pinned it to the front and machined flat

 

Ta dah!

For all the t-shirts I removed the front pockets, neck binding and sleeve hem. I simply overlocked the raw edges.

 

 

Above is a free hand cut bird, machine appliqued and embroidered with a repositioned button for an eye (securely attached) and below is a machine appliqued heart. Both used some Liberty scraps I got free with a Mollie Makes subscription, so no further financial investments, yippee!
 

So, some quick and dirty, but practical sewing. I loves it!

Continuing the hand made kids theme here are some gorgeous hand knits from my mother in law. Lucky kids!

For Maria

For Evan (then Maria)

Ta ra for now and have a good weekend!