kids clothes

Sewing with Kids – Making Pajama Shorts Plus A Free Pattern

*This post contains affiliate links.

I made the mistake of taking my youngest son with me to JoAnn’s one day (I’m sure he went along because we always stop at Starbucks afterwards!). He found some woven (non-stretch) material that he really liked. I had no clue what we would make with it, but I bought a yard for him.

He told me he wanted to make a sheath for his sword. Boys! (picture a mom eye roll) I suggested that we could also make some pajama shorts for him and that maybe he could even help with the process – I would cut them out and then he could sew the two pieces together and then I would do the waist and hemming (I’m sure kids can hem, but my 10 y/o isn’t ready for that yet).

I knew that the Walk the Plank PJ Pants by Patterns for Pirates would be perfect and it’s free – no code, no joining a Facebook group, just hop on over and “buy” it.

I made his somewhere between short and knee length. The short shorts I made for him previously were too short for him and the knee length were just too long to be comfy for sleeping.

He was so proud of himself! Using Mom’s machine for the first time, learning to use clips instead of pins (which are so hard for kids!), and the final result is wearable. That’s a win in my book!

For reference, here’s the short shorts length on him. I feel like just a couple extra inches made a huge difference in how comfortable they are for sleeping and lounging.

Even though the directions don’t call for it, I sewed around the top of the waistband too – just about 1/4″ from the fold. I think it adds a more finished look to the waist.

I also made some Walk the Planks for my other two kids. Besides short shorts and knee length, it also comes in pants length (or you can be like me – have them try them on before hemming and choose your length). Both of these are knee length.

There’s also an adult version (I have not made this version) which is also free and includes men’s and women’s sizes. You could make family pajama pants!

*This post contains affiliate links. See my disclosure policy for more details.

Pattern Review – Roxy Bathing Suit by Made for Mermaids

*This post contains affiliate links.

Making bathing suits for my daughter wasn’t something I ever really considered until last year. It turned out that making girls swim suits wasn’t nearly as hard as I thought. So, when Made for Mermaids announced they were looking for testers for their newest bathing suit, I jumped at the chance. The Roxy bathing suit is a two piece vintage style bathing suit. The high waisted bottoms and top with three length options are sure to please even the pickiest girl (and mom)!

The high-waisted bottoms cover the belly button and can either be ruched (have gathers along the side seams) or not and there are optional ties that can be added.

High waisted bottoms (with ruching) cover the belly button

The top comes in three lengths – bikini (no ruffle/peplum), short peplum, and long peplum.

Short peplum – no belly showing

My daughter really wanted the long peplum – she felt like it would cover better. However, even the short peplum covers the stomach since the bottom are high waisted (they cover the belly buttom).

This is the long peplum.

The top has wide stripes that are slightly gathered. Even though they sit at the edge of the shoulder, they still feel secure and don’t slide off. You can add elastic to them to help keep them in place.

Go ahead, jump on over to Made for Mermaids and buy the pattern! It’s sure to be a hit! There’s also a Mama version available.

Interested in a one piece bathing suit? Look here for my review of the Camilla (and notice how my daughter’s taste in swim fabric doesn’t change).

*This post contains affiliate links. See my disclosure policy for more details.

Upcycling A Sweatshirt

Sweatshirt to Raglan

My son recently found a Ninja Turtles sweatshirt in a bag of hand-me-downs. It’s too big for him, but he wants to wear it now.

So sad, the Ninja sweatshirt is too big

It’s also long sleeved and we live in SWFL where it’s almost always summer (except for a couple weeks in January where I actually had to turn the heat on…I hate turning the heat on!).

Long sleeves are no good in Florida

Anyway, I found the perfect color of cotton spandex in my recent material order so I can make him a raglan – short sleeves, possibly with a hood.

So happy the shirt can be resized

My first step is always to cut the sleeves off.

Sweatshirt to raglan - cut off the sleeves

Since I don’t want to rehem the shirt, I’m not going to cut the side seams. This makes laying the pattern pieces out a little tricky, but hopefully it will work out. The print on the front was slightly off center meaning that when I cut out the new front, I’m going to cut some of this sword off.

Cutting the front piece out is tricky

The front doesn’t look too bad. I believe the original shirt was a 14/16 and I’m making a 10. Not a huge change, but even so, the design just fits on the front.

Front piece cut out of old sweatshirt.

I’m always worried that the neckline is going to be too big, but I’ve learned to wait until I have the hood or neck band on…it always looks much better!

Sweatshirt turned raglan

With the hood sewn on, the neckline fits so much better and there’s still some growing room (very important!).

A new raglan upcycled from a sweatshirt.

This kid loves making all different faces while I’m trying to take pictures. Plus we’ve got a new cat who thinks he needs to try opening all the doors.

A new raglan upcycled from a sweatshirt plus the cat.

Really Mom, you need another picture??

A new raglan upcycled from a sweatshirt.

So, have you ever upcycled a shirt into something new? If not, you should try it! It’s really not that hard.

A new raglan upcycled from a sweatshirt.

*affiliate link* The pattern I used here is the Rowan Raglan. If you buy it through my link, I earn some money (it doesn’t cost you anything extra! 🙂 ). Read more about affiliate links on my disclosure page.

Upcycling a T-Shirt and Color Blocking a Dolman

Finished Dolman Upcycle Color Block

My daughter got this shirt for her birthday year or two ago and loved it! However, it has recently gotten a little tight and she was sad about the thought of it going to the rummage sale.

Original too small shirt to be upcycled

I told her I might be able to upcycle it into a “new” shirt. She was agreeable and I decided that a dolman was my best option (OK, actually I was going to do a raglan, but I would’ve had to reprint the pattern…foster kittens got to it….the dolman pattern was all printed and ready to go). The first step is to cut the sleeves off (and throw them away!) and cut the side seams and shoulder seams. I cut as close to the seams as possible. You should end up with a front piece and a back piece.

First cut off the sleeves, upcycle

To make the dolman work, I would have to color block. Color blocking is not my strong suit! I have a hard time seeing what the finished thing will look like. I tried laying out the fabric on the pattern so I could get an idea of what it would look like.

Laying Out color blocking

While doing this, I realized that I needed to straighten out the sides to the shirt and the arm cutouts to make it more like a panel, so I trimmed it down some. Once I was happy with they way it looked, I sewed my pieces together. First I sewed a pink rectangle to a blue rectangle. I also hemmed the bottom of the blue since I was keeping the original t-shirt hem. Then I sewed it to the newly straightened out sides of the the old t-shirt. I also decided I was going to need to redo the neckline, so I cut the neckband off.

T-Shirt Color Blocked

Then, I folded my piece of fabric in half and put it on the pattern and trimmed it to fit.

Attach the color blocking

Then, I sewed the side seams. At this point, I was really worried about the neckline. It looked really wide for my very modest teen! I was hopeful that the new neckband would pull it in!

Dolman upcycled t-shirt

I had her try it on and I was still worried. It just seemed overly big!

Dolman neckline too big, upcycled t-shirt, color blocking

I figured at this point, I might as well finish it. All I had left was the neckband and hemming the sleeves. I’m actually pretty happy with the way it turned out!

Finished upcycled color blocked dolman

I probably could’ve made the neckband smaller, but it works as is too.

Side view finished color blocked upcycled dolman

Do you upcycle your kids clothes? Do you color block?

Back finished upcycled color blocking dolman

How to Sew – Making A Polo Shirt Smaller

The private school where I teach (along with DH and our kids also attend) requires us to wear polo shirts. Polos are one thing I’ve never tried making. I buy the $5 ones at Old Navy during our tax free weekend. Occasionally I find them at a thrift store for less than $5. Last year, I managed to get a hole in my navy blue polo. It was still in really good shape otherwise. I hated to throw it away!

Navy blue polo with a hole near the hem

It really is a little hole and lucky for me (and my daughter), it’s below where the hem needs to be for her.

Navy blue polo with a hole near the hem.

So, I just trimmed it off. Ignore my horrible cutting…I just eyeballed it and clearly didn’t do a very good job. Hemming will fix that!

Trim the hem off the polo

I also took the side seams in a bit so it wasn’t quite so baggy on her.

PoloSideSeam

Turn up the hem – I turn under 1/4″ and then another 3/4″ so the hem looks neat and you don’t see any unfinished edges.

PoloHemClipped

Hem the shirt with a double needle for a professional finished look. Make sure to hem with the right side up if you’re using a double needle. Also, this is one of the many reasons I love these clips – it doesn’t matter which way I put them on, I can sew with either side up. With pins, you have to sew with the side you pined facing up.

Hem the polo with a double needle for a professional finished look

The finished product – a pretty good fit for my teenager and there are no holes in it!