For this Kids Clothes Week I am aiming to create outfits which are inspired by picture books and movies. As I finish the outfits, I’ll share my inspiration and the process

Wombat Diary – Jumper (Sweater) and Shorts

I ADORE Diary of a Wombat. I first read it when I was teaching Year One on prac and I laughed so much I had trouble finishing the book. It’s the Diary of Mothball, a hungry and persistent wombat who ‘befriends’ a family and demands a lot of carrots. After looking through the book I knew exactly what I wanted to make . . .

I wanted a cuddly, but vaguely vintage look for this one. There’s lots of great photos around from earlier times of young boys wearing jumpers (sweaters for those who think jumpers are dresses) and shorts. And it’s quite practical in Queensland where our winters are kind of a joke to those from colder climates. For the jumper, I wanted to recreate the boarded up door which Mothball begs in front of. I wanted the shorts to be the dark brown of the wombat, but with appliqued carrots poking out of the pocket.

I used two old jumpers from the op shops for this, plus material from a men’s shirt to line the shorts. For the patterns, I used my old favourite, the Beachy Boatneck, but went up a size to make a roomier jumper. For the shorts I used the KID Shorts pattern, but with cut down pockets and adding a waistband. (Plus, did I mention that I lined them? This was pretty advanced for me!)

To do the front of the jumper, I arranged and then sewed the ‘planks’ onto the front piece, then made use of my inability to sew in a straight line to add detail lines.

I might yet add ‘nails’ to it, but I’m pretty happy with how it looks for the moment. I then made up the Beachy Boatneck as in the pattern (I love this pattern), but was able to use the pre existing hems for the waist and the sleeves (yay!)

To make the shorts, I actually made two pairs – the outer and the lining – but without the waist or hemming. I waited until I’d made them up to add the pockets, which was a bit trickier on sewing, but meant I got better placement than I have been getting. I also sewed the carrots on at the same time.

I attached the two pairs of shorts together at the bottom of the legs, which was a process fraught with fear and concern and I have no way to explain it to you, except to let you know that it worked, and that there must be an easier way!

I then turned them into each other, added a tag and then sewed on the waist. And then I had some shorts!

The waist band actually sits too high on Squirm, so I’ll end up folding it down and sewing it, but they look wonderful and were actually a lot easier than I thought they’d be. They’ll look even better after an iron, but the light and my model were fading, so we ventured into the wild backyard for some more glamour shots.

I am really proud of this outfit – it fits well, looks great and will work well with other outfits. It was also really fun to make, which is just an added bonus!

For this Kids Clothes Week I am aiming to create outfits which are inspired by picture books and movies. As I finish the outfits, I’ll share my inspiration and the process

Seeker – T-Shirt and Pants

I’m a massive Harry Potter fan, so I was eager to make some clothes inspired by Harry Potter. For Kids Clothes Week, I wanted to use the movies as inspiration rather than the books. When it came to the first movie – Philosopher’s Stone – Quidditch seemed the perfect way to go.

I was conscious that I wanted the outfit to look like clothes, not a costume. I also wanted the different pieces to be wearable with other clothes.

The material for the shirt was basic knit material from Spotlight, while the material for the pants came from skirt from a local op shop. I used my self drafted shirt pattern, but redrew it to allow for the two different materials. For the pants, I modified the KID Pants pattern adjusting it so it would fit Squirm better.

I’d started sewing the shirt together yesterday, piecing the front pieces together and joining them to the back (which was already painted) at the shoulders. I also had one sleeve in yesterday, so today I just needed to finish the other sleeve, then sew up the sides. Finally I needed to hem the sleeves and bottom of the shirt.

To add interest, I was adding top stitching at the front and sides as well as on the hems. I really need to work out some way of sewing in a straight line though – it would look so much better if I could do that.

The pants were really similar to the KID Shorts I made yesterday. The material was cut in all sorts of directions and turned out to be much stretchier than I thought it would be. Nonetheless, they came together really well, and I sewed on a fake fly and some fake pockets which added to the fairly simple pants.

Then it was just a matter of waiting for the model to wake from his nap and time to head out into the sun for some photos

For this Kids Clothes Week I am aiming to create outfits which are inspired by picture books and movies. As I finish the outfits, I’ll share my inspiration and the process

Donaldson’s Dairy – Shirt, Shorts and Cardigan

One of our favourite picture books is Hairy Maclary of Donaldson’s Dairy. This lovely, rhyme-filled book introduces a number of dogs who head out on a walk together. The main dog is Hairy Maclary.

I was inspired by two different images from the book – the one above and the last image in the book. I decided to sew a blue shirt with railings painted on (like the railings in the above image). For shorts, I was inspired by the last image, where Hairy Maclary hides underneath a checked blanket. Finally I decided to make a black cardigan (black for Hairy Maclary) with an image of the mail box on the back.

I sourced my material at a couple of op shops – a woman’s t-shirt, a women’s sweater and a men’s business shirt. (I forgot to photograph the t-shirt before I started cutting)

I partly made the shirt and the shorts at the same time this morning while I was waiting for the shops to open to buy a new iron. The shirt was the Beachy Boatneck pattern from Blank Slate Patterns. It’s one of my favourite patterns and I didn’t even need to refer to the instructions to make it this time. The material of the shirt was my main difficulty – it’s an incredibly fine rib which has caused me problems before, and I think I’ll avoid it as much as I can in the future. I find that simple seams and hems often stretch despite my best attempts, so because of this, I left the shirt sleeves unhemmed. I might do something about it later, but for now it’s fine.

The shorts were made to a slightly adapted KID Shorts pattern. Because Squirm has big cloth nappies, I needed to add a bit extra in a few places – I tend to cut to a bigger size, then add an inch to the waist. I’ve used this adapted pattern a couple of times now and I really like it.

I had the worst time cutting these shorts. I did it way too late at night and ended up cutting four front pieces. Then I cut two back images, but not mirrored. Luckily I had enough fabric to finally get the pieces I needed! I used the shorts template as well, and added a little strip of fabric as a detail to the pocket.

The cardigan was also from Blank Slate Patterns – Cool Cardigan. My version was incredibly basic – no cuffs (I used the ones from the sweater), no pocket, no waistband. I haven’t put buttons on it yet, and I’m thinking I may not. I appliqued a letterbox on the back of the cardigan – a simple white rectangle with a cut out and a green strip for the top – but otherwise kept it very basic.

I had a couple of problems with the thickness of the material, so I might try a different needle next time I use this kind of material. However, although the cardigan isn’t perfect, it does fit him really well and looks pretty cute. Luckily he woke up from his nap and the rain held off for us so we could get some photos of the whole outfit together.

Have you made anything for Kids Clothes Week this week? Are you a Hairy Maclary fan?