kids clothes – Page 5

How To Sew: Adding Pockets to a Pattern

I’m working on a series of posts about adjusting clothing to fit. To see all of them click here – How to Sew.

One of my new favorite patterns is Jasper Joggers. They are a quick and easy sew. The only thing “missing” is the back pockets. There are two front pockets, but the back pockets are fakes. That’s fine by me, but my boys wanted back pockets.

I’m adding two back pockets and a little front pocket. I just eyeballed the size, but you could measure pockets on an existing pair of pants (or the little hands that will be using the pockets) if you’re unsure.

Cut Pockets the Size You Want

Hem the top edge of the pockets by turning down 1/4″ and then another 1/4″.

Hem the top of the pocket by doing a narrow hem.

Press 1/4″ and then another 1/4″ under on the remaining edges. For the smaller pocket, I only turned under 1/4″ otherwise it was too hard to work with.

Press the edges of the pockets under

Three pockets ready to sew on to the pants.

Pockets all pressed and ready to sew on to pants

Place the little pocket where you want it positioned on the front pocket. Don’t forget about your seam allowance (so it doesn’t end up too close to the side seam).

Place the little pocket where you want it.

Place one back pocket where you want it – I centered mine between the top & sides. Don’t forget about the waistband – in this pattern, you add a waistband so it will make the pockets lower.

Place one back pocket where you want it

To make sure the other side matches, lay the other pocket upside down (right sides together) over the pinned pocket.

Lay the other pocked over the pinned one

Then lay the other back piece over the pocket making sure the edges line up.

Lay the other back piece over the pocket

Carefully lift up one side and pin the pocket into place. Then lift up the other side and pin it there too. You should end up with two perfectly matched pockets.

Left up edge and pin pocket in place

Sew the pockets in place.

Sew the pockets into place

Finish sewing the pants/shorts according to the directions. Then find your little model and admire the pockets.

Little pocket sewn into place

Back pockets sewn into place

How To Sew: Taking In A Smocked Shirt

I’m working on a series of posts about adjusting clothing to fit. To see all of them click here – How to Sew.

My daughter was given this shirt. She loved it and wanted to wear it to school right away. I didn’t pay much attention to the size and apparently didn’t really look at it when she tried it on. The back was so gap-py and the front kept creeping down lower than she likes. I put a rubber band around the back to take it in for the day (it was covered by her long hair).

too big shirt neck

The easy part of this was taking in the shoulder seam. I took in about 1/4″ – 1/2″ and narrowed it down to match the existing seam. This helped a little bit.

ShoulderSeam

When the shirt is on, you can’t even tell there’s a little extra seam there.
Take In Shoulder Seam

Fixing the smocking took some thought. My first thought was to add a piece of elastic over the top piece of elastic on the smocking. However, that didn’t work so well and I ended up taking it off. Plan B was to just take tucks on either side. That turned out to be much easier. I only sewed them at the top smocking seam line.

Make a small fold on either side of the smocking

The tucks are barely noticeable.

Now, she can wear the shirt without constantly pulling it up in front and pulling the shoulders back up.

Finished Smocked Shirt

How To Sew: Making A Poinsettia Shirt

I’m working on a series of posts about adjusting clothing to fit. To see all of them click here – How to Sew.

Adding to a store bought t-shirt is a simple way to dress it up for a holiday. For instance, I made these Christmas tie shirts for my boys a couple years ago. Several years ago, I came across this tutorial. I couldn’t wait to try it out, except it was winter and short sleeve shirts and flowers weren’t really on my mind. So, I modified it a bit and made it into a poinsettia. Perfect for a Christmas shirt! You can use a store bought shirt, or if you’re inclined, make your own. For the flower, all you need are a few scraps of Christmas material and a button.

I looked at several poinsettia pictures online and drew a petal pattern. The size of your pattern will depend on how big you want the poinsettia and how big the shirt is. For reference, my model wears a size 10.

I used two different materials. I cut 8 petals from one material and 7 slightly smaller ones from another. You could use the same material or all different materials. It’s totally up to you – customize it to your daughter’s (or your) taste.

Lay them out to make sure you like the look. Depending on the material and size of your flower, you may want more or fewer petals. Once you’re satisfied, pin the first layer down (actually, I sew four down and then lay the next four down). Sew around the edges using your favorite decorative stitch. I used a feather stitch and matching thread. If you’re using plain material you can use a contrasting thread for a little extra touch. If you don’t have a machine that can do different stitches, a straight stitch will work just fine. If you’re really ambitious, you can hand sew them on using a blanket stitch (there are lots of tutorials and videos on google).

Once the first layer is sewn down, lay out the second layer and pin them down. Sew them down the same way.

Tack a button down to the middle.

Make your daughter try it on and admire your handiwork.

How To Sew: Color Blocking a Shirt

I’m working on a series of posts about adjusting clothing to fit. To see all of them click here – How to Sew.

Did you ever find the perfect shirt, only it wasn’t the right size? Maybe you bought matching shirts for kids and then they weren’t the right size. Maybe you found the perfect shirt at your local thrift store and but it was a little too small. Maybe it’s a favorite shirt that’s shrunk a bit. No matter, you can use color blocking to make it fit again.

All you need is a coordinating material scrap that’s about the same weight as the shirt you’re fixing. For this shirt, I choose a plain color because there were already some prints going on. If it’s a solid color shirt, you could add a fun print.

First, take apart the side seams. If you don’t want to rip the seams out, you can cut very close to either side of the seams and remove the seam. Do it all the way up the side and down the arm.

Cut two strips of your material to the length of the side & arm. Don’t forget to add a little bit for the hems on either end and make them wide enough to allow for the seam allowance. I added 1.5 inches to the length and about an inch to the width. Hem the short ends – I made sure the hems matched up to the hems on the shirt so the sleeve hem was a narrow hem and the shirt hem was a little wider.

Pin the hemmed pieces to the sides making sure your hems are at the right end. Sew the seams.

Turn it right side out and admire your work. It’s really an easy project – less than an hour…probably less than 30 minutes if you choose to just cut the seams out.

Have your model try on the shirt.

How To Sew: Adding A Skirt to a Shirt

I’m working on a series of posts about adjusting clothing to fit. To see all of them click here – How to Sew.

My daughter has this long shirt/short skirt that she really likes. She normally wears it with leggings, but recently we’ve noticed that the skirt doesn’t quite cover enough and the tulle is pulling away from the seam. Since she really likes it, I’m going to lengthen the skirt a bit.

The first step is to remove the skirt from the shirt. You can either cut them apart by cutting very close to the seam or use a seam ripper to rip out the seam.

Then, because the tulle was ripping out of the seam, I serged it back to the underskirt.

My daughter picked out this chevron print to be the skirt. I cut a piece the same width as the current skirt and twice as long.

Then I sewed the ends together and hemmed the bottom (I used a rolled hem on my serger, but you can also fold the edge under 1/4″ and then turn it under 1/4″ again and stitch close to the fold).

Then, line up the top edges of the existing skirt and the new skirt and baste them together. Don’t backstitch – you’ll be gathering this to make the skirt fit the shirt.

Pull the stitches up so that it fits the bottom of the t-shirt.

Pin the skirt to the shirt making sure you catch all the layers and make sure all the layers are flat…nothing is more frustrating than having part of the skirt sewn into the seam! Then sew the seam. If needed, pull out the basting stitches. I only pull them out if they show. 😉

Then convince your daughter to try it on and admire your work.

Now it’s long enough that she could wear it without leggings!