KANA'S STANDARD for kids - Ruffle Top and Pants.

 I said on Instagram that I wasn't going to blog this, but together with a few encouragements, I also realized there was quite a lot of information I wanted to give about this book and outfit that was better suited for a blog post than an Instagram post.

The patterns are from the Japanese Sewing book KANA'S STANDARD for kids. It's definitely not my first time sewing Japanese sewing patterns but it was my first time sewing Kana's patterns. And almost by coincidence, I found a HUGE surprise.

Coffee + Thread Tour

Yaaaaay, it's time for the Coffee + Thread Tour!

We could use whichever of Olga's patterns we wanted. In this post I used four patterns. All hacked one way or the other. Some quite a lot and some just a little.

Amelia Earhart Costume with Conifer Jacket.

What is going on? A homemade costume on my blog and we are months and months away from halloween.

A biography project in school and a sold out costume is what happened! 

Petit a Petit Patterns Block Party.

Welcome welcome welcome....

Hmmm, do you know what we should do?

Wild and Free Lounge Pants by Coffee + Thread Patterns

You should think my daughter read the pattern description of these pants because it says they are 'designed with an active child in mind' and I do not have a single shot with a still pose in this post, ha perfect.

It's the Wild and Free Lounge Pants from Coffee + Thread Patterns I'm talking about.

The Tip Top and Morocco Pants by Petit à Petit Patterns.

I have been SO looking forward to post this....even though you wouldn't think so considering that I took these photos over 3 weeks ago. Phew, time flies!

It's Celina from Petit à Petit Patterns two recent patterns The Tip Top (which also comes as dress) and The Morocco Pants.

Let me just make it clear from the start both patterns are AMAZING!

It's funny because the top looks like a lot with the extravagant sleeves and yet it is a super fast and simple sew. 

And the pants look pretty straight forward but they are not a one hour project (okay, nothing is a one hour project for a slow-sewer like me but you know what I mean, ha). As with all Celina's patterns they have a million options so you can make them more or less advanced. I have made a pair (not blogged) with all the bells and whistles (see them HERE) so the pair I'm showing you today is one of the more simple options with elastic waist, faux zip fly and faux back pocket flaps.

 Okay, I'll tell you more later on. I want to talk about the top first.

I'm obsessed over this top! 

I have said it before but managing to make loose and 'oversize' styles look flattering is an art form and Celina has done exactly that with this pattern.

Those sleeves are just incredible and the option with a double layer is just gorgeous and opens up for a lot of fun fabric pairing ideas. The option of hemming with bias tape adds another dimension.

The patterns has lots of options.

Gathered or pleated neckline, elastic or fixed neckline, dress or tunic, welt pockets, side panels etc etc.

I'm dying to make a dress with welt pockets from this pattern but for now I have forbidden myself to sew more for my kids. Mommy needs new clothes now! 

Both fabrics are cotton voile and the rusty red was so thin and sheer that I cut the center front and back pieces double but simply treated them as one layer. That worked great and didn't cause me any problems.

The sewing step you will spend most time on is hemming the sleeves - especially if you choose the double sleeves (obviously) but again do not fret. The patterns has several options for you depending on your sewing level or temper, ha.

I choose the gathered/elastic neckline. I made my own bias tape and for extra effect sewed it on so it's visible from the front side. The bias tape also works as a casing for the elastic.

Super simple and super smart!

Let's move on to the pants!

Oh gosh, another favorite!

This pattern is a $10 sewing lesson in classical dress pants. Really!

Zip fly (regular or faux), waistband (3 different kinds), belt loops, front side pockets and back welt pockets (regular or faux) all done the classical way with facings and beautiful finishes and illustrated in the pattern's tutorial. Excellent!

Seriously, you will learn so much sewing these. Or if you already know these things it will be such a lovely and relaxing sewing experience.

Nothing in this pattern is really difficult but like I already mentioned I would be lying if I said it is a quick sew...at least if you want a nice result. So take your time, check your work after every step and you will end up with a result that might even surprise yourself, ha. A pair of beautiful and pro looking pants.

I absolutely love the tuxedo stripe option but the pattern also comes with a fully classical pants version without the stripe. And the best thing is that you can easy print which option you need without having to print the whole thing.

You know my obsession with this gold elastic from Dritz (and I just saw they made it in silver too - woohoo) so even though the pattern already offers 3 waistband options I decided to make a fourth (because that's what make sewing fun, right!). That worked pretty well. The way I make it (yeah, I still haven't made the tutorial but it's on it's way, promise!) hides the seam but it also means it's double folded and that became a bit bulky because of the front pocket and my medium weight fabric. But the result was good enough for me to keep. And my daughter totally loves her gold elastic waist pants and these are no exception.

The floral fabric is a printed denim from Hancock Fabrics (It seems to be sold out online) and I think I bought the blue solid denim at Michael Levine. Both fabrics has a bit of stretch.

I sized these pants up a lot compared to the previous classical pair I made (that kind of became too small the week after they were finished, wah) so these are a size 8. That explains the baggier overall fit but I love them on her and I love that they will definitely fit until next summer...and maybe next fall too, who knows!? 

I emphasized the bagginess by hemming the pants with elastic. Not super tight, just a bit of gathering. I used my Cover Stitch and it was soooo easy that way but you can of course do this with a sewing machine too.

And yeah they are a bit long at this point...I don't have to mention kids grow like weeds, right ha!

Here are the faux back flaps. And I promise I sewed them on symmetrically, ha. She is just twisting in this photos so it looks like one is placed higher than the other. 

Everything is faux about these. I even just sewed the buttons on afterwards. No pesky button holes to fight with.

That's it.....my favorite outfit I have made in a long long long time.

Get your own Morocco Pants Pattern HERE and your Tip Top and Dress HERE.

Thank you!!

Box Pleat Tunic plus separate Ash Pants.

This top, or more precise the bow on this top, is a good example of sometimes mistakes happen for a reason. I will explain a bit further down in this post....

This top is from one of my newest purchases of Japanese sewing books (at least until those 3 news ones I have ordered arrives, ahem! Yikes, I might need an intervention, ha).

It's pattern b Box Pleat Tunic from the English translated books called Girly Style Wardrobe by Yoshiko Tsukiori. HERE is a link to the great blog Japanese Sewing Books that always makes great reviews/presentations where she goes through the book style by style.

The book is one of my favorites simply because I actually want to make a big number of the styles. Some of my books I just enjoy as inspiration and eye candy and then there is maybe one or two I want to make but this one is really worth the money.

The style is simple. A raglan style top with wide sleeves, a big center front box pleat and then the cute bow.

The printed fabric is THIS cotton poplin from Organic Cotton Plus.

The baby pink in the bow is a cotton voile and the mustard is a viscose found in my leftover bin. Actually it is a leftover from my first STYLO contribution which you can see HERE.

So let's talk about the mistake which turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

I had a hard time deciding which fabric to make the bow with. And I didn't have enough of the printed from the bodice so that was out of the question. In the end I decided to go with the mustard and then I made a piping with the pink. First mistake since the piping made it all too bulky! Second mistake was not to put interfacing on the mustard viscose. I had one of those discussions with myself....to interface or not to interface....and I guess the lazy gambler won....well, until I finished sewing and it just looked so bad.

 Overall the finish just looked...not very good. BUT lazy still won and I went on with it....until I had to rip up some of the very last stitches from when I closed the bow by sewing in the ditch from the front, catching the inside of the bow. Well, it had slipped a few places and when I ripped up the stitches to try again I somehow managed to cut a hole in the fabric. And THEN I finally decided that enough was enough and start all over again with a new bow, ha.

This time I swapped the colors so pink was the dominant and mustard the 'piping'. Except this is a faux piping which is part of the bow and the inside of the bow is mustard too. Together with some added interfacing this created a result that was SO much better it is almost incomparable.

The morale of the story:

Yup, cutting holes in your fabric sucks but sometimes it's just the universe trying to tell you that you should not have gone down this road in the first place.

(Okay, I made that up, hehe).

And then we have these lovely, loose and easy (in every way) pants. The pattern is the pants from the Ash Jumpsuit from Petit a Petit Patterns. The patterns comes with a separate top and pants pattern pieces too so you do not even have to make a pattern remix....it is all being served to you for the low price of $10.

I made these for spring but they ended up hanging in my sewing room for like two months before I came around photographing them. Jeez! Well, they will be perfect for fall too!

Actually W is wearing them again today since we are having a just-hot-not-scorching day which means we take advantage of the opportunity to wear someting else than shorts and t-shirts. 

Yeah, boohoo I bet you feel really sorry for us and our semi-tropical temps, haha.

These are made with tencel denim which means this is the third post in a row I'm giving you made with that material. I told you I was not quite done using it, ha.

The style is ultra simple which is exactly what you need sometimes (both to wear and sew!). An elastic waist and hem plus some side inseam pockets. Clean, simple and ultra comfortable, ahhhh!

There was something about this photo above that just screamed black & white to me...so here you go. I hope you agree?!

Thank you!!

Soft Denim Overalls

It does not take a lot of browsing around to notice that denim overalls are all the rage these days. And the cool things about kids is that they (together with adult supermodels) actually looks great in them. So yeah, I'll admit it...this post is a projection of what I really want to wear myself but know not to do. Oh boy, I would look so ridiculous, especially in the loose baggy version I have made today, ha.

These overalls are from the Japanese sewing book called Boys and Girls Clothes and Goods. Or at least that is what the Etsy shop calls it...what do I know since it is all in Japanese.
I bought the book at the Etsy shop called Pomadour24. I can totally recommend that shop. Tons of different books. Unfortunately does it seem like this book has since sold out. But here is a photo of the book cover and the style that I made in case you want to start searching for it elsewhere or ask if they can get more. The service is great and friendly there!

I have to make the dress version too. So so cute!!

I did have some problems with the fit.

The biggest size in the book is 130 cm...and since W is around 123 cm that should not be a problem. But when I did the first fitting halfway through they were too short. We could choose between the pants being pulled up way too high (the style is obvious meant to be loose fitting and low hanging so that looked ridiculous since the crotch is fairly long) or we could keep the crotch loose and low hanging and then the front flap would stop somewhere mid chest...and that looked ridiculous too.

Luckily the pattern had me adding 3 cm seam allowance to both the top of the pants and the bottom of the front flap which later was suppose to create a casing for the tie band. SO I ripped that seam up again, sewed the waist seam with 1 cm (so I lengthen the pants overall with 4 cm) and then I quickly drafted and cut a separate casing to sew on afterwards. Before I finished I did another fitting which was lucky because it turned out the sides of the front flap was now too long. Gah. SO I ripped up some of that waist seam again and curved the bottom of the front flap so the center part stayed long and the sides pieces were shortened with 2 cm. and THEN things finally started looking okayish.

What's the morale of this story? Doing a midway fitting if you are sewing a new pattern is a very good idea...even if it means you won't finish the garment that day!

Yes, yes I'm patting my back for remembering it this time, hehe.

As you can see here it is a very loose style. And if I ever made another pair (if she wanted to wear them, wah) I would probably add even more length to the back so they were even more hanging in the bum area.

I decided to add an elastic too in the casing so it was not only the tie band that should gather the whole thing. I think that gives a better control of the gathering.

I love that the pattern comes with a gathered front side of the front flap and a non-gathered piece for the inside so you do not add unnecessary bulk there. Good pattern making there!

The fabric is tencel denim that I also used for my Ishi Dress. See it HERE.
Perfect for this garment.

The t-shirt is another Celestial Tee from Figgy's Patterns. You can see my previous version HERE.

And I have made it in this ultra lovely soft stripy bamboo knit from Fabric Depot's webshop.
When I grabbed the link for this post I noticed it was on sale. I might need some more. It really makes stunning garments because it is oh so soft and the drape is simply perfect!

So yeah, I might love this outfit but W's facial expression clearly shows her opinion about the pants. Ugh. I kind of knew it beforehand but hey it was worth a shot. And the t-shirt has been worn a lot already, soooo I guess that is something.

Thank you!

Rowan Tee with gatherings plus Seraphic Pants.

My love affair with my new CoverPro from Janome continues and my favorite knit patterns are getting extra attention from me these days.

This is The Rowan Tee (slightly altered) from Titchy Threads and The Seraphic Pants from Figgy's Patterns (also slightly altered).

I recently bought this 100% rayon knit from Fabric.com and it was quite light weight. Which means excellent drape but also not super suitable for a slim style t-shirt since they are usually a bit see-through if it gets too close to the body. So I took my Rowan Tee pattern because I love it and I know that the fit is right AND then I added some center front gatherings. 

That is simply done by moving the pattern piece out from the fold line on the fabric before cutting. I moved it 10 cm / 4" away. Which meant that I added a total of 20 cm / 8" extra fabric to the front piece. I added two rows of long gathering/basting stitches to the neckline and gathered a 30 cm / 12" center front piece back to 10 cm (5 cm on each side of center front (CF)) so the neckline stays the same size as the original pattern.

I'm sorry if I'm making it sound complicated. It really isn't, promise!

Then I overlocked my neck rib on and used my cover stitch to sew a single stretchy chain stitch to hold down the seam.

Stitching the seam down afterwards it not at all necessary but it helps the overall look of the garment after wash. I'm sure you have noticed how your seams looses that lovely pressed looked it had when you just finished sewing it after the first wash. And sure you can press/iron it again but seriously to me life it too short for ironing t-shirts (and most other things too, ahem) on a general basis.

I kept the back and short sleeves as it is from the original pattern but I overlocked it together with 0.7 cm SA instead of using the pattern's 1 cm / 3/8" which overall gave a tiny bit looser look.

I'm super happy with the result and I can't believe how much different this tiny change with the gatherings made.

HERE is a link to a post where I made the original pattern by the book for comparison.

The Seraphic pants is a new favorite. I have already blogged about the original version HERE and in that post I talked about putting elastic at the bottom hems for my next pair and oh, how I love that. I also made them more cropped and I think it gives such a funky yet ultra relaxed look. I seriously wish I could rock pants like that, ugh.

The fabric is the same type in navy blue and royal blue. Both are Laguna cotton jersey from Robert Kaufman bought at Imagine Gnats Shop. I seriously LOVE this knit. Firm and medium weight and yet soft and stretchy at the same time. LOVE!

The waistband rib is this heather sky blue rib from Girl Charlee. The rib is quite loose and very stretchy and I have an elastic inside the waistband too.

If I didn't already love my cover stitch machine I really started doing it after making these elastic hems.

I basted the elastic on the very bottom of the pant hem, folded the elastic up including fabric and then cover stitched from the right side of the fabric through the elastic (which is as wide as the top of the cover stitch that you can see above) while stretching out the elastic to fit the fabric. It worked sooooo well and no annoying twisting elastics in casings anymore, seriously yay!

It's funny because the machine can at times have problems sewing over many layers of fabric (e.g. at a seam like where the navy and royal blue meet above) but when it sews through a thick elastic there has been NO problems. I guess it is in it's element there.

That's all from me for now.

Thank you!

The Celestial Tee + Mini Hudson Pants.

This outfit is a few weeks old and has already gotten lots of wearing time.

It was made that weekend where I sort of pretended I had a deadline and sewed almost for an entire weekend while hubby hung out with the kids. Glorious!

(Feel free to borrow the idea, ha)

The t-shirt is the Celestial Tee from Figgy's Patterns and the pants are a below-knee length version of the Mini Hudson Pants from True Bias.

All the fabrics are from Girl Charlee. The orange and pink is this amazing thin stretchy  French Terry and the heathered blue is a rib.

It's my first time sewing the Celestial Tee and it worked like a charm. It's a super simple pattern with a front and back piece, three pleats at the front neckline, a neck rib and a high-low hem. That's it and the result is a super wearable t-shirt with a few details that makes it a bit more interesting than the average t-shirt. Many more to come for sure! 

I want to lengthen it too to a cool t-shirt dress.

This outfit was part of my fun with my new Janome coverstitch and you can see all three types of stitches that the machine can do in this photo above.

The neckband has the triple decorative stitch.

The sleeves and bottom is hemmed with a traditional two stitch coverstitch. And the rib on the pockets is stitched with the 1 thread chain stitch.

All three types are stretchable stitches.

Thank you!

The Seraphic Pants by Figgy's Patterns.

I have sewed another Figgy's pattern. Actually I have sewed two more since I fell in love with the Sunki Dress and ended up buying the Heavenly Bundled Collection that contains 7 Figgy's patterns (which is on sale btw - and no, I'm not an affiliate, just a fan.)

I have made two Stellar Tunics and you will see them as soon as I'm getting around to taking some photos of them - preferably worn by my kids, said kids that would much rather play in the garden now that it is finally spring than standing still and posing for Mommy and her camera. Can't blame them!

And then I have made a pair of Seraphic Pants.

It's a style made for knit fabrics with seams center front and back for fun color block opportunities (you know I never turn those down), a slight dropped crotch together with slight tapered legs creates a great cool vibe and then lovely side pockets.

Overall an insanely comfortable pair of pants that my daughter wore for a full weekend after I finished them - including sleeping in them, ha.

I didn't even mean to make a blog post. We just went to a park that weekend and I brought my camera. While I was sitting at a nearby bench I could see that this might work so I shot like 10 photos of her and 4 of them are in this post. 

Together with a few spring flower photos just as a service for those of you that lives places where spring is just starting now or for those that live places where fall is starting now. You are welcome, ha.

The fabrics are both oh so lovely - AND environmental friendly.

The grey dot is a bamboo knit from Hart's Fabric. I'm giving you a link to all their bamboo knits because really you need to see them all. The drape is peeerfect, it is super soft and it is medium weight so easier to work with (than light weight) but not see-through. I guess the only downside is the price but at least you get value for your money!

The black fabric is something new to me. It is my first time working with fabric made from hemp (and 45% organic cotton) and it is from Organic Cotton Plus. The texture is much different than from the bamboo. More coarse but still soft and drapey. A bit like a linen blend. It's super easy to work with because of the non-slippery texture. And I could see myself using it for tons of things.

I made no changes to the pattern size-wise. This is a size 6/7 on my 7 year old daughter. I think it is the first time I have not had to lengthen a pair of pants for her, woohoo. I originally rolled them up for her because it is already warm outside and it added some extra cool vibes to the pants but the roll-ups did not survive the sandbox. Well, one half roll did as you can see on some of the other photos, ha.

I did make some changes to which sewing techniques I used compared to the ones suggested in the tutorial.

I know many knit patterns are made so everyone can make them - also people who does not have a serger. And that seems like a nice gesture.

But I did not agree with the waistband tutorial. The pattern is giving two alternatives. One will most likely give you quite a lot of troubles because of suggesting to stitch down the knit waistband from the front with a visible stitch (if only it was in the ditch) and the other is leaving a raw seam visible from the outside of the waistband.

So I simply folded the waistband (I did make it a bit smaller since I used rib) and sewed it on with 1 cm seam allowance and then overlocked the raw edge on the inside. This is the most basic and foolproof way to do it I would say.

I also did quite a lot more stitching as you can see but that is totally extras on my account.

Janome America have borrowed me the CoverPro 1000CPX until their new Cover Pro 2000 comes out and I just had to try it out right away. So I played with the overstitch and the chain stitch (at the elastic). SO fun! And I promise I will tell you much more about it at a later time!

And one last thing that I will add under the photo of these random flowers is that I was missing notches since the pattern didn't have any. Especially one VERY important notch that indicates the CF (center front) of the pants. It's kind of hard sewing a zip fly (faux or real) without that. 

BUT the conclusion is clear. My daughter LOVES her Seraphic Pants and I think they look super cool on her. And I will definitely make many more. Maybe try to put elastic at the bottom of the pant legs? Or make them cropped for summer. 

Even my pants-hating youngest daughter requested some but added...."when it is cold again"...which will be in like 6 months. We will see where she stands by then!?

Get your Heavenly Bundled Collection HERE.

or the Seraphic Pants Pattern HERE.

Thank you!