KCW: Day 4

Which is my final day for this KCW. I did cut out another dress for Alyssa, but not sure when I will finish it. All the different things suddenly caught up with me so I did not have time for sewing these last days. That's okay though because KCW will be happening every season from now on. So no pressure.

On day 4 of the KCW I made a sundress for Emma. She is the one who needs clothes the most. Isn't it always the case with the oldest child?

Pattern is from the Japanese book Happy Homemade Vol. 5. Size - 130cm. Fabric - cotton from my stash. As usual, Japanese patterns do not disappoint. This one was quite simple and looks very nice finished.

I am glad I participated again in KCW. Usually I am so productive during the Kids Clothing Week but this time around I had some things that disrupted me from being fully invested in it. Good thing there's always next time.

KCW: Day 3

I have been drooling over Citronille patterns for so long I cannot even remember when this obsession started. I had purchased a couple of their patterns while on my vacation in Paris. And have been meaning to use them since then but did not have the chance. KCW was a good time and excuse to dig that pattern out and work on it.

I am so glad I made this blouse. It is perfect in every way. I love how easy it was to put together. I was a little intimidated by not being able to understand the instructions but I shouldn't have. There were some drawings which helped a lot. So I went with the drawings while making it.

Pattern - Capucine by Citronille. Fabric - lightweight cotton from my stash. Size - 6 but I lengthened it by an inch as my kids are giants.

Emms was very excited about her new blouse that she wanted to wear it to school today. Good thing the weather today is absolutely beautiful so I let her do it.

KCW(C): Day 1 & 2

Yesterday started Kids Clothes Week for me (and for everybody else who's doing it). I was very excited about it until the last minute. Then I realized that we are having friends come over for almost a two week visit next week and that I should be getting my house in order instead. That and some other things slowed my sewing down. So I don't have anything finished to show for the Day 1. But I did finish it today after K's doctor's appointment, thus Day 1 & 2 progress.

The pattern of this dress is out of one of the many Japanese books that I owe. Usually I love Japanese instructions as they are very clear because of all the drawings in them. But this book is like a comic book with no instructions. So I had a pattern and kind of went to town with it. Maybe that's why it took me longer as I love detailed instructions. Size - 90cm.

The fabric is from my beloved un-ending stash. (And, yes, I do have that much fabric. I am pretty much a fabric hoarder.) As much as I like the fabric color and polka dots, I really disliked how it behaved when ironed. You can still see all the wrinkles and, I promise, I did iron it many times.

Sorry, there will be no picture of K wearing it because she got shots today while at the doctor's and not in the mood for modeling.

Good Idea But Not So Good In Life

I've been a little absent from the blog lately. Not because I am not sewing. I was working on a lengthy assembly line project. With our foreign service life we are pretty much all given the same furniture all over the world. Some people choose to bring their own furniture with them, but we did not have much at the moment we started this nomadic kind of life, so we went with the standard state department furniture. Which is not that bad but it wasn't purchased with the little kids in mind. It is not as wipe-able as I would like it to be. The dining chairs get the most wear and tear with our kids. So I got an idea that I could make some chair covers that would be washable.

Well, it took me a month to finish covers for all eight chairs we have. It didn't help when I decided to add a water resistant layer and had to order and wait for the fabric to get here. It took me a couple of hours to figure out the pattern and make the first cover.

After that it all went like an assembly line. I was getting a little tired of sewing the same things over and over. Then I finally finished them all and sighed with relief. Hopefully I will never have to do it again. Too tedious.

I made two different types of corners. Not because I wanted to see how many corner types I can come up with BUT because I had limited fabric amount. First type consists of three valance (what do you call the bottom strip of a chair cover?) pieces and little tiny one in between of them.

The second one is just one long piece with two pleats at the corners. They kind of looked wacky so I had to sew little tacks to keep them together which looks a little better.

So after I put them on the chairs I got quite disappointed with them. As they look nice on individual chair, they look a little weird when all together on eight chairs. I don't even know how to explain the feelings I have about them. It just doesn't look as good as I wish it did. I would rather get some chairs that are easy to wipe but for a couple of reasons we cannot do that right now so I will have to endure this ugliness for another couple of years. Or if they bug me too much I will just take them off and Matt would have to go back to cleaning the chairs every week.

In other news I am getting ready for the KCW. It is happening in a week so I better be ready by then. Last time I was not prepared and it was not as enjoyable as I wish it was.