It's only been recently, that I've taken sewing up again. It's been a loooooooong time since I've sewn much. Really, since I got married. The last big project I did before this past Christmas was my wedding dress 10 years ago! Funny how things change. Kind of embarrasing to say that I have a BA in Fashion Design but haven't sewn a thing in this long. Sadly, I've probably lost my pattern making skills. Who knows, maybe they'll come back some day. I still have all my old school books, so it's a possibility!
Thankfully, I discovered a wonderful pattern company called Ottobre Desgin a few months ago that has really inspired me. It's a magazine subscription that comes with 30+ patterns every couple of months. Lot's of adorable children's clothing!
I even dusted off the old serger. It took a couple of months to find the foot pedal which was in an entirely different box in the garage. I have two giant tubs of fabric in the garage, as well, just waiting for me to dig into them. A lot of it is outdated but, hey, it's nearly vintage now!
But I digress, back to my SWAP plan. Samantha will be starting 2nd Grade in a couple of weeks. She has to wear a uniform of sorts. It's more of a very strict dress code than a uniform. A lot of uniform clothing you can buy around here is either A) not cute/boring (Walmart), B) not unique/everyone else has (Target), or C) too far away for me to shop at/too expensive (everywhere else). Her shirts have to be plain, have sleeves and a collar, and can be White, Tan, Light Blue, Navy, or Grey. Her pants/skirts have to be plain White, Navy, Tan, Grey, or Jeans. Shorts and Skirts have the same color requirements.
We went through all of her school clothes to see what was still useable for this year. The answer? Not much. When kids wear the same things over and over again it definitely takes a toll on them. And let me tell you, Arizona red playground dirt does not come out! Neither does poster paint, marker, dry-erase marker (can't stand that stuff) and a host of other common school stain makers.
Size-wise, it's a good choice for me to sew clothing for Samantha. Since Kindergarten, she has grown up but not out. She's always been very slender due to a combination of being a preemie at birth (4 lbs. 6 oz.), fine bone structure, and genetics (sadly, not my genes). Her waist is the size of a 1 year old. I'm not kidding. She's not to terribly short for her age, however. That means that normal clothing for her height is massive in the waist on her. Thank goodness for the advent of adjustable waist pants. Unfortunately, when you tighten a size 6 pair of pants down to her waist, it's so balloon-y through the hip that it looks more than a little weird. Lots of her clothing have safety pins in the waist so that they don't fall off her. That's kind of annoying when you spend $15 on a pair of pants that don't fit. A funny side note is that she has some capri pants from Kindergarten that still fit her just fine in the waist. She can now wear them as knee length shorts! The other problem we have is that shirts that are long enough for her tend to be very large at the neck and shoulder. So, given Sam's clothing size issues, I figured it was worth trying my hand a making her school clothes this year. She's still young enough to think that her mom's homemade clothes are cool, so why not? My pattern making skills have definitely helped me to be able to alter existing patterns to fit her. For Ottobre, I usually make a size 98 in all the width wise measurements and a size 122 or 128 in the length. That seems to fit her quite well. Thankfully, Hailey seems to be about a straight size 110 so no alteration needed there.
Alrighty then, enough tangents, here is my plan:
2 Short Sleeve Shirts
2 Long Sleeve Shirts
2 Long Sleeve T-Shirts (for under the short sleeved shirts in Winter)
4 Pants
2 Jackets/Sweatshirts
2 Dresses/Jumpers
2 Leggings
Hmm.... seems like a lot, huh? We'll see how long it takes me to get it all done! Maybe by the next school year. :-) My goal is to have at least two outfits done by the time school starts in two weeks. The rest by the end of August.
Now for the details of the plan with Patterns and Fabrics:
For fabrics, I found several inexpensive pieces and some things I already had to recycle. The interlock knits, stretch denims and chambray I found at a discount fabric store while on vacation. The sweater knits and rib knit I found at Walmart on their "Special Buy" table for $1/yard. I'm recycling an old denim dress and two old pairs of tan/stone pants of mine. The material is still in really good shape, I just don't have occasion to wear them any more. Economically, it will definitely be better than investing in the same quantity of clothing at $10-15 per item.
I'm so glad that I've got this now committed to paper... or at least screen. Now, I just have to get off the computer and start sewing!
Thanks for playing!
Jan
