My shirt/his shirt: Wordless Wednesday

This was my shirt. I really liked it. But it was a bit too close-fitting...

So here it is again. Resized into a retro-style slim-fit t-shirt for Mr Sociable:

You may remember I made a shirt for Mr Fun using the same pattern from Made by Rae. 

Slim-fit t-shirt for Mr Fun

I've never made a t-shirt before, nor have I done much sewing with stretch fabric. But it's on my list of things to learn this year. I cut out the fabric for Mr Fun's t-shirt at least a month ago, maybe more, and I've been avoiding sewing it together. So this long weekend, I decided it was time to finish it off. It only took a couple of hours and I'm really happy with the finished product.

I bought the pattern online from Made by Rae. It is very easy to follow, with photos of each step. A great pattern for stretch fabric novices.

If you've been thinking about upcycling some old t-shirts into shirts for kids (size 1-5), this would be a great place to start :)

Sewing with kids: Sewing on hessian

Do you remember sewing with pieces of hessian when you were in primary school? I found some hessian in a cupboard, so I decided to start teaching Mr Sociable some simple sewing.

I bought some thick plastic needles from a sewing shop. I found some scrap wool at home. I traced a picture of a car onto the hessian with a permanent marker. I also drew a tree freehand. Mr Sociable chose the tree (so I made the car). It was really nice to sit together and sew.

I taught him how to stitch in and out along the line. I tied a knot in the end of the wool and I also tied the wool onto the needle (he got frustrated with the wool regularly becoming unthreaded).

We started this project in September last year (a few months before Mr Sociable turned 4). He gave it a good go, but needed quite a bit of help.

Mr Sociable sewing, age 3 years 9 months

Last week, Mr Sociable reminded me about the sewing project and asked if we could finish it. Being a bit older, he found sewing easier this time. He was much quicker, needed less help and his stitches were much more even.

Left: Mr Sociable sewing, age 4 years 5 months
Right: The back (notice the knots and the red marker)

Finally, I cut a frame out of red card to frame the sewing for Nana for Mothers' Day. To make the frame, I cut a rectangle out of an A4 piece of card (leaving a 4 cm border). I used PVA glue to stick the hessian to the border & then stuck a full piece of A4 card on the back - hiding the knots and the red marker.

My Nana loved receiving something that Mr Sociable had made for Mothers' Day. Mr Sociable and I really enjoyed sewing together - I think there will be more of these projects to come! He kept telling me how nice it was to sew together (I think he enjoyed sharing in something that I like to do).

Upcycle: Collared shirts that become long pants

A few weeks ago, I wrote a tutorial for making some easy-peasy pants for kids. Today, I'm going to use a similar process to upcycle one of Franky's collared shirts into a cool pair of kids' pants with pockets.

Making a pattern

Create a pattern by tracing around a pair of pants onto tracing paper/greaseproof paper (for more detail on how to do this, check out my easy-peasy pants tutorial). Cut out your pattern.

Cutting out the fabric

You will find the shirt easier to work with if you cut it into separate pieces - this helps you to lay the fabric flat for easy cutting. I cut mine into two front pieces and the back piece, with the sleeves removed.

First, we will make the back of the pants, from the front of the shirt.

Lay out the pattern piece on the front of the shirt (right side up). Be aware of the position of the pocket. I traced over the outline of the pocket to make sure I was happy with the position on the pants (and actually moved the pattern higher as a result). If you have two pockets, marking the pocket position on the pattern will also help you to put the pocket at the same height on both legs.

Pin around the pattern piece and cut out the fabric. Remove the pins.

Flip the pattern piece over and lay it on the other front piece of the shirt, right side up. If there is a pocket on this shirt front, make sure you place it in the same position as on the other side.

Pin around the pattern and cut out the fabric. Remove pins.

Now you will have two pieces that will form the back of your pants. Mine both have pockets, as Franky's shirt had pockets on both sides. 

Now it's time to make the front of the pants, from the back of the shirt. 

Fold the back of the shirt in half. Lay your pattern piece on top and pin it down. Cut around the pattern piece and remove the pins. Now you have the two pieces that will make the front of the pants.

Stitching the legs

Match up the pieces, right sides together, so that you have 2 separate legs. Make sure that you match the pieces up correctly - so that both pockets are at the back and the plain pieces at the front.

Pin along the inside of the leg and the outside of the leg. Sew these seams (I have used an over-locker, but a regular sewing machine is fine too - just sew a straight seam, about 1cm in from the edge, then finish the raw edge with an over-locking stitch on your machine).You will see in the photo that I overlocked the top and bottom edges at the same time.

 

Now it's time to sew along the crotch, so that the two separate legs are joined together. Start at the top of the pants, matching up the edges and pinning along the crotch. Once it's all pinned, you can sew it in a straight line from back to front. 

Inserting the elastic
Fold the top of the pants over (about 3cm) and pin. Sew close to the overlocked edge. Leave a 3cm gap where you will insert the elastic.

Measure around your child's waist and cut the elastic to size. Use a safety pin to pull the elastic through the casing.

Use a zig-zag stitch to sew the two ends of the elastic together. Make sure the elastic is not twisted!

Push the elastic inside the casing and sew the opening shut with a straight stitch.

Making a hem

Pin the pants up at the bottom to the desired length. Make sure both legs are the same length! Sew around with a straight stitch.

The finished product

and modeled by Mr Fun:

I loved these pants so much that I made another pair from a "work shirt":

and another (yes, Franky does wear a lot of stripes...)

 And one more pair...

You may have guessed this last pair were not made from a shirt! I upcycled some fabric that I used to cover a wardrobe a few years ago. The wardrobe is living in the garage now (storing our camping stuff), so I rescued the cool fabric!

I made a balloon ball!

Tonight while the kidlets were sleeping, I decided to make a fabric balloon ball. I found a free pattern for these a while ago & I have been keen to make one with some dinosaur fabric that a friend gave me. I'm planning to take one camping with us in the holidays. A balloon ball is light (so it won't damage things in a tent), packs away very small once deflated and is safer for babies than a regular balloon.

I was a bit surprised how quick this project was!

Inside-out

Empty, finished ball

The trickiest parts were the two ends, but I found it didn't matter if the pieces didn't quite match up, I just mowed straight over the top of them with the overlocker and they turned out fine! You could still sew one of these quite easily with a regular machine - you would just need to be a little more careful to match the pentagonal ends to the side pieces.

The top piece has an opening, so you can insert the balloon

The bottom

It had an eggy balloon shape - I may have inflated the balloon too much!

I'm excited about playing with this with the boys tomorrow. It bounces quite well.

I'm pretty happy with it! Going to make a few to put in the present box (would be a good first birthday present).

How to make easy-peasy pants for kids

Despite being a reasonably mild summer, I was still caught by surprise a couple of weeks ago when the weather turned cold and Mr Sociable only had 1 pair of pants that fit him. I quickly made these pants one morning before we went to church:

Since then, I've made him a few more pairs for this winter:

Today, I made him some polar-fleece track pants as pyjamas. They are super-easy to make and I took photos step-by-step to walk you through it. When I'm not taking photos of every step, they take less than an hour to make. The process is the same for making the slimmer style pants (above) or the looser-fit pyjamas.

Tracing and Cutting
First, find a pair of pants that fit (either loose or slim fitting, depending on the style you want to make).

Fold your fabric in half, right sides together. Lay your pants on top, inside out.

Trace around the outside of the pants, allowing room for a seam (about 1cm). 

Make sure you stretch out the elastic when you are tracing at the top of the pants.

Allow room at the top to fold the top over and thread elastic through (about 3cm or so).

Cut out along the outline. Now you will have two pieces (that we will sew together to make 1 leg). 

Fold another piece of fabric over, right sides together. Lay one of your cut-out leg pieces on top and pin it down.

Cut around the leg piece that you have pinned onto the folded fabric.

Now you will have 4 leg pieces, all the same.

Stitching the legs
Match up the pieces, right sides together, so that you have 2 separate legs. Pin along the inside of the leg and the outside of the leg. Sew these seams (I have used an over-locker, but a regular sewing machine is fine too - just sew a straight seam, about 1cm in from the edge, then finish the raw edge with an over-locking stitch on your machine).

Now it's time to sew along the crotch, so that the two separate legs are joined together. Start at the top of the pants, matching up the edges and pinning along the crotch. Once it's all pinned, you can sew it in a straight line from back to front.

Overlocking the top and bottom edges
If you are using a fabric that will fray (eg cotton), you will now need to use an over-locking stitch along the top edge (the waist) and the bottom edge (the hem). I didn't overlock mine, as I used polar fleece.

Attaching the elastic
Next, sew along the top to make a casing for the elastic. Fold the top of the pants over (about 3cm) and pin.

Make sure you leave a gap where you will insert the elastic. A trick I find helpful is to put a vertical pin where I want to start and stop sewing.

Measure the elastic around your child's waist and cut it to the right size. Attach a safety pin to the elastic.

Use the safety pin to help you thread the elastic through the casing.

Make sure the elastic is lying flat the whole way around the casing (with no twists). Overlap the elastic by 1cm and stitch it together using a zig-zag stitch.

Push the elastic inside the casing and sew the opening shut with a straight stitch.

Hemming
Fold the bottom of the pants up about 1cm and pin. Make sure that both legs are the same length!

Use a straight stitch to sew the hem.

Cut off all the dangling threads and you have made a pair of pants! Yippee!

Here is Mr Sociable, modeling his new pyjama pants: