I actually make about 85% of Élodie's clothes with the rest being made up of hand-me-downs (less frequent now), gifts and occasional charity shop clothes (only occasional because being the only granddaughter/niece on one side of the family she is bought quite a lot!). Now that she is 4 I have found that I don't have to make her clothes so often as things don't get grown out of so quickly. For example she has some trousers/shorts which actually say 2-3 on the label but still fit her waist, they are just a bit shorter than they used to be.
However, I realised I was coasting along last summer making a couple of bits for her but the majority of her summer clothes were from the year before, or the year before that. So I have suddenly been hit with a very depleted summer selection, hence my panic sewing!
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| Starfish! |
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| Copying her mother's favourite MMM pose! |
Her first choice was this lovely whale fabric because both the colours and the whales themselves reminded her of the Octonauts! For the top I lengthened the Skater pattern to make it into a t-shirt length (I added 13cm to the bottom) and squared it off then used the stripes to make the bindings. Very straight forward. I made this in a 3-4 which is still fitting her well. For the skirt I used Amanda's tutorial to make a tennis skirt. I cut out a 5-6 but did a smaller waistband so the skirt looks a bit more gathered than it should. It worked, I'm happy!
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| Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery |
Her second choice was these amazing rainbow coloured fish, again because of the Octonaut connotation. I had originally intended to make a peplum top (tutorial here) but realised with only half a metre of each fabric I didn't have enough. Instead I used the skirt pieces from the dress pattern and cut it off half way down. The back skirt section is cut upside down but I don't think it will notice unless you are looking really hard! Again I used the coordinating stripe to make the bindings.
The shorts are Go To Leggings size 4 in short length. I have made these leggings up a few times and they are brilliant, a really useful pattern to have and one which, I am sure, will get used almost as much as the Skater dress.
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| Seahorse? |
So, two more outfits done over two evenings. I have a few more things in the pipeline for Élodie which I hope to have done in the next couple of weeks and then it is back to selfish sewing for a while.
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| Fin |
Love her taste in fabrics and she's wearing some really cool sandals! I need some of that orange and turquoise stripe in my life!
ReplyDeleteI was pleased! Although there isn't much I don't like in KitschyCoo's shop so I was happy to give her free rein.
Deletehere are TOO AWESOME!!! Elodie has amazing taste, just like her mama. That's so sweet that you've got her choosing her own fabric and being part of the process. You are a total inspiration xx
ReplyDeleteThank you, that's really lovely! The only problem is she now expects me to be able to make anything she wants, she is currently asking for a pirate costume and a doctor's coat!
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