Swingset Skirt Review

I had the lovely opportunity to be a part of the Sew-a-long over at Oliver & s for the Swingset Skirt and what a lot of fun it was!  As a panelist I was asked to sew up the skirt and not only give it a go, but add whatever I wanted.  My plan was to sew up the skirt as part of my girl's holiday outfits...but then my youngest, Clara, got asked to help lead the Pledge of Allegiance for the Veteran's Day Program at the high school. I looked through her closet and realized that she really didn't have any 'nice' red, white and blue clothes (except for the Moto Jacket by Jennuine Designs, which I blogged about here). What to do? Why, give the Swingset Skirt a test run before hitting the fancy fabric, of course!

This is my finished 'patriotic' Swingset Skirt. I pretty much made it as is, except I added a couple of inches to the underskirt, because I wanted the red and white stripes to peak through and I used twill tape for the draw string instead of making my own.  The thing I learned by doing a run through was that I needed to disregard the instruction of putting right sides together to sew the over skirt to the underskirt...by doing this your seams will end up on the outside (the side that will be seen when sticking out) of the skirt, which is not what I wanted. But all in all, I love it, she loves it so it's a win/win!

Up next were there fancy skirts {insert disclaimer that these pictures are not my best...the only day I had to take pictures outside this week was the day it was raining cats and dogs. I put it off and was only able to get quick early morning before the mad rush to school shots} 

They do love how they turned out though and I can't wait to finish the shirts to go with them!

 As for the pattern: Swingset Skirt by Oliver & s  which now goes up to size 14!!!

It is a very straight forward pattern and is quite simple...but the possibilities are endless. People have added pockets, played with the under/over skirt combination, used interesting fabrics and much more. It worked well with the light weight wool I used in the patriotic skirt as well as the fancy fabrics for these 2 skirts.

Materials: Besides the 2 fabrics, you also need elastic...that's it! 

 I deviated a little from the pattern/instructions in that I played with the length of the skirts a little and I used ribbon instead of making my own drawstring tie.  I also added a little ribbon in between the two skirts to gather it up on one side...it turns out the my youngest daughter loves it and the other with the snow flake overlay does not, so it might be taken off that one. I also realized that shear fabrics would not work well with a casing...duh, the elastic would show through...so I had to deviate a little more by creating a pseudo waistband. I just cut the top 3 inches of the over skirt from my solid fabric, attached it to the over skirt and then proceeded as per the instructions...pretty simple fix, really. 

 The Good: Easy versatile pattern that you can buy in paper or pdf form from the Oliver & S website.

It does not require any super sewing skills...just a great beginners pattern. It is easy to make and doesn't take a ton of fabric. But with a little imagination you could make this skirt countless ways! 

 No bad or ugly to report, so I give this one 5 bolts for a great beginner pattern that is VERY versatile!

Swingset Sew-A-Long with Oliver & S

Guess what I have going on...go check out the Swingset Skirt Sew-Along happening this month over at Oliver & s.

There is a fun sew-a-long going on for this very versatile skirt (just check out what the other panelist are doing) and it's perfect for the tweens because it goes up to size 14! There will also be some great prizes for some lucky sew-a-long participants...so what are you waiting for? Go check it out!

More Support for Tween Sewing

Recently Sally and I were contacted by Stacy of the blog Land of KA.  She has been a guest here on Sew Cool a couple of times (lace overlay tutorial and breeze top) in the past and has sewn many amazing outfits for her boy and girl.  She invited us to be a part of a new FaceBook group that is focused on tween sewing.  Hmmm, tween sewing, do we like to do that?  Yes!

The group is simply a place to share about the ups and downs of sewing for tweens and give feedback on patterns.  It is a closed group, so you simply need to ask to join and we will let you in.  The only reason we are closed is to try to keep spam and off topic posts to a minimum.  There are rules, but most of them revolve around keeping the topics tween sewing related and being respectful.

Are you interested?  Well here is the link:  Sewing for Tweens.

And we have even more news!

We have invited Stacy to join the Sew Cool team and she said yes.  We thought it would be good to have more variety in our reviews and she has a great style that would provide more ideas for our readers.

Did you know that we pay for most of our patterns we review?  Since we pay for them, we usually pick ones that our particular kids will like and we can use multiple times.  But that does limit the range of patterns we can share.  Having another person on the team should help out.  (This is also why we started being an affiliate for Peek-A-Boo patterns and BurdaStyle; and more soon.)

In the last two years we have noticed that the community of people who sew for tweens have been growing and we look forward to Sew Cool growing and adapting to assisting that community.

Major Moma and Sally

Polkadot Circle Dress

 
 Bonjour! I am Natalie, a Canadian gal who blogs over at La gang à Nat. In my little corner of the web, I chat about the sewing that I do for my three girls, ages 2, 4 and 11. I am quite excited to have been invited here by Kelli and Sally to show you a garment that I created for my tween Maïan! Ahhhh... the 9 to 13 age group!!! Is anyone else struggling with dressing up a capricious tween! Admittedly, this is a tough age group to sew for... they're not little kids anymore and they certainly don't want to dress child-like. But they're not grown ups either and as parents, we don't want to see them dressed up as women (or even worse, TEENS! GULP!). There will be plenty of time for that, no? Few stores cater exclusively to this age group and compounding the problem is the fact that many sewing patterns only go up to size 8.
What I'll show you today is how to create a circle dress based on a garment that you already have at home, or a basic bodice pattern. So if you'd like, follow me home for a quick tutorial!

Thank you so much Kelli and Sally for having me over today!    

Sewing for the tween - tips and sewing a high-low hem shirt by Stacy from Land of KA

Today we have Stacy from The Land of KA is with us to not only share some tips for sewing for a tween, but a great tutorial!  Stacy makes amazing clothes not only for her daughter but for her son as well. Go check out some of her creations!

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 So when exactly do the tween years start? For my girl, I think it started around 3 with the attitude. When you are a little curly-haired blonde cherub as a youngster everyone thinks you are adorable and you can get away with so much. That translates to a bit of an attitude when you start to grow a bit. She can still be a sweetheart, but there is no doubt she has her own opinions about things! It has been about a year or so since she stopped wanting to wear dresses that I have made for her. This proves frustrating, as I LOVE TO MAKE DRESSES! Now, I need to make more tween appropriate clothing for her. Last fall I did a s.w.a.p. (sewing with a plan) for her back to school clothing. She wore most of those clothes all year until they didn't fit her anymore. Now I am in the midst of another year of back to school sewing, and need to determine what to make for her this year. 

 These are my tips for pleasing a tween:

  Request Input They are no longer at the age where you can make whatever YOU want to make and expect them to wear it. My kids were pretty good for a long time about wearing whatever I made, as long as I picked it out and put it on them. They were lazy that way. Fun times! If I expect my girl to wear something now, I need to solicit her input on what she likes. I let her pick fabric and show me what styles she likes.  

Look at popular stores for current trends I think one of the number one things you hear from adults whose mothers sewed for them was, "It looked homemade, out of style, I hated what she made!" We have so many options for buying fabric and embellishments nowadays, that it should not be a problem to make something they would like. I get catalogs from a few stores, so I look at them and also online. Justice is a pretty popular tween store, but Chasing Fireflies has a few things that would work for them, too. I get out the catalogs, give her a pen and have her circle her favorites. It gives me an idea of what direction I should go when I set out to make her clothes. Current trends: High-low tops, patterned leggings/jeggings/skinny jeans, animal print, layered lace tops

  Add some bling Rhinestones are all the rage right now. I don't have a heat set tool, so I buy mylar carrier sheets from Dharma Trading. You can either make your own designs for the rhinestones, or use a printout when you place them on the sheets. You can also add pre-made iron-ons, rivets or use fabric paint. I get most of those types of things at Michaels craft store. Anything you add is going to make it look more trendy, and not homemade, with the *BLING*.

  Make it comfortable and un-fussy There are some super cute things out there that just don't seem user friendly for a little girl. I have seen little girl trenches with belted waists. Tell you what...that belt would be lost in no time with my kid. That is just wayyyyy too much work to get dressed with that. Another thing...she is all about knits or stretch twills/denim. If it doesn't allow her to move, then it gets put into the "I won't wear it" pile. I made her these jeans last spring. She wore them about 3 times before she tried to do the splits in them. They were corduroy without a lick of lycra in them, so guess what happened?? Split is right! Big tear right up the backside NOT on a seam. So...she needs things that will stretch! 

 Alrighty... Today I am going to show you how to do a high-low hem shirt with a lace overlay.

First off, you need a regular knit top pattern. One thing you always need is a basic top block. From there you can go in many different directions. Here are the front and back patterns in process. I moved them out a bit at the hem to give more room to the shirt. I am using french terry here and it doesn't have a lot of give to it. I wanted it to be easier to get on and off for her.

I used my French curves (bought a package of them off of Amazon) to draw the curve on the front and the back. The front has a bit of a swoop in it, but you can just draw a plain curve, too.

Then...time to cut! I cut the lace on the front along with the front piece to make sure they ended up the same.

Sewing Steps:

• Pin and attach the seams at the shoulders. I used my serger, but you can use a zigzag on a regular sewing machine. I serged stay tape on at the shoulder to give it some extra stability. Next I serged the ends of the neck binding and then serged it on. I ironed it down flat, and then top-stitched with a zig-zag stitch on the sewing machine.

• Pin and attach the arms in the flat.
• Sew the cuffs on the arms and topstitch.
• Sew up the side seam from the arm all the way down.

• Measure the binding out on the finished seam and cut to the proper length. Close the edges and then pin to the bottom. I also ironed it down flat before attaching to the shirt. Now, attach the binding on the bottom seam and topstitch. Alternatively, you can just fold the hem up and sew it down with a zigzag if you don't want to put a binding on the bottom.

All done! Next, I sewed up a simple pair of leggings from matching fabric, so she has a full outfit. Leggings are super quick and easy to make. I made a pattern that has the front and the back in one piece, so you just need to cut two pieces, sew up the crotch, sew up the inseam and attach the elastic. Takes about 30 minutes to make a pair.

Thanks for having me Sally and Major Mama!

Words of Advice from Michelle of Falafel and the Bee

Today we have some words of advice from Michelle, of Falafel and the Bee, who has weathered the storm and is now into the teen years.  Go check out her blog to see the beautiful things she makes for her beautiful daughters. She is great about incorporating their personality into the things she makes for them.

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My tween just graduated into "teen" last year, and let me tell you, that sewing for her has gotten a little easier. The Tween years were downright difficult. Not only to sew for her, but to even find anything in the stores.

What saw us through was finding a garment (usually from trying on every size between child size 16, Junior sizes and adult xs/s) regardless of the size, and using that to make a pattern off of. Go with what fits, not the size.

She varied so much (I called her my mutating daughter- *ahem* not to her face), I never could just buy something for her (and honestly, I love to sew for my family and wasn't ready to give that up). Not quite a child anymore, but she didn't have the bust to fill out an adult garment. She absolutely had to be present to try it on.

Luckily, she has classic taste that can be done without too much fuss, or even a pattern.

Blogged about here.

This one: here.

The wonderful thing about sewing, is that you can customize garments for your picky fickle particular tween.

Knits are fabulously forgiving. If you are looking to start to sew for your ever changing tween/teen, I highly recommend using knits! Very fashionable and they stretch while she grows.

Now she actually fits into adult XS patterns which makes life a little easier.

I hope this helps everyone to keep on sewing for their young ladies, no matter how challenging it becomes. It can be done!

Thanks for having me here today!

Words of Advice from Shannon of Little Kids Grow

Today we have Shannon, an amazing mom of 6, with not 1 but 2 daughters that are preteen!  She had some great advice on how to deal with not only developing personalities/opinions but developing bodies as well.  Check out what she has to offer over at her blog.

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Hi Lovlies! It's me Shannon from Little Kids Grow. We have twin girls age 11. As they began to mature and develop their own sense of style, I thought my only challenge would be finding a compromise between what they want to wear and what I think is acceptable for their age. Surprisingly, that hasn't been the case. So far, they have a sense of style similar to mine, so we haven't clashed on many things, however, over the last 6 months I've had a crash course in adjusting patterns for their developing figures which I was TOTALLY unprepared for.

Fit is very important to me as well as comfort. Now that my growing girls are starting to develop curves on top (and bottom), I'm learning that while a pattern might be cute on the package and even go up to a size 14, if it doesn't take into account the developing shape of a growing girl, then it may not work.

Earlier this year, I decided to start drafting patterns for them myself. The bodice and pant block that I use both include small darts that have made a HUGE difference in proportion and how everything drapes. I could get around this by just going with loose fitting tops and elastic waisted pants, but I want them to have more style options. They're turning into little fashionistas, and I love seeing them express themselves through fashion.

Since I buy very few items retail (because I don't care for the "less is more" direction that many tween clothing lines are going in),  I'm pretty determined to find ways to give them options that work without drawing unnecessary attention to their new curves (They're just getting used to them themselves.) This is all a new experience for me as a mom that also sews.  It's just been over the last year that I've had to learn to do things a little differently. I haven't found many patterns, yet, that work, but I know they'll come because there is a need. The good thing is that this has caused me to step outside of my comfort zone and create things myself that I know the girls will like.

If you're interested in drafting patterns from scratch, I highly recommend a great book called, Metric Pattern Cutting for Children's Wear and Babywear, by Winifred Aldrich. In it she gives a wonderful description of girl's development and how to make the appropriate adjustment to a bodice block using darts. It's a great, indispensable resource that I always keep close by.

Outside of fit issues, I've also found that when it comes to dressing my tweens, less is more, and that it's usually the tiny details (fabric, trim, and shape) that are the most important. A well fitting garment with a few carefully chosen accents can be the difference between a self-conscious tween and self-confident  growing girl.

I'll definitely be checking in on Sew Cool for the Tween Scene to keep up with the best sewing patterns for our girls. 

Thanks for allowing me to share my current journey with you. Ask me anything, I'm just a blog away.