KCWC - Project #3

Wait! What happened to Project #2???

No you haven't missed anything, but a second Pintuck Sweatshirt in a lovely shade of orchid just didn't seem worthy of its own post, no matter how sweet the fabric color. So, we've moved on...

Remember those stacks of colorful squares that opened KCWC for me??? Well, here they are!

This was a total experiment! There are so many things here that I've never tried before.

1. Quilt as you go: I joined up with other quilters over here alamodefabric.blogspot.com for the second round of Quilt As You Go Challenge. Never have I ever, but it looked like fun. And since we have absolutely NO need for yet another quilt in this house I really wanted to do something that would be more practical.

2. Quilted Clothing: When I started quilting in the 80's, quilted clothing was not so lovely:) And for the last 20+ years it has left a bad taste in my mouth. But since Belle prefers to wear skirts every single day, I figured I had better start figuring out some warmer versions.

3. Machine Quilting: I'm a purist! Quilts are pieced by hand, quilted by hand, and bound by hand. Now don't get me wrong, I have occassionally pieced on the machine when I was working on a time-sensitive project....but QUILT on the machine...NEVER! But since this isn't actually a quilt, I don't feel as much guilt about breaking with tradition here.

So how'd I do it???

1. Quilt as you go blocks: I created a stack of blocks using the method described here http://sewtakeahike.typepad.com/sewtakeahike/my-patterns-and-tutorials.html

2. Then I stitched them all together to form the main panel of the skirt.

3. Quilt it - The skirt was already round, so this was a bit trickier, but still not too bad.

4. Bind the bottom edge - just like you bind a quilt.

5. Create a waistband - I made the wasitband separately then stitched it on...afterwards, I wished that I had done the extra seam allowance math to put in a French seam...then the skirt would have been totally reversible, but alas, I didn't, so I couldn't, so it isn't.

DONE!

Definitely NOT a project I would ever undertake again, but fun and interesting and worth the effort ONCE:) Will I ever "quilt as I go" again??? Probably! It's a great technique for small projects or a speedy method for large projects, as long as I can get past the machine-made aspect of the whole thing:)

Two days of KCWC still to come...lots of ideas, lots of new fabric choices, not enough hours in the day:) Wish me luck!

KCWC - Project #1

I started the Kids' Clothing Week Challenge with a doosy of a project. After my first night's hour of work, I had...well...a stack of colorful squares:( More on that later...

So for day 2 I decided to tackle something that could actually be finished in an hour.

A while back I purchased several patterns from heidiandfinn.etsy.com including this pintuck sweater pattern http://www.etsy.com/listing/56948458/pintuck-sweater-tunic-pattern-and. I have been collecting fleece sweatshirt material ever since, but had yet to manage to even get one cut out. So for KCWC Day 2 I pulled it all out and decided to make a winter top for Belle (we're headed to Niagra in November, so warm clothes are much more crucial to us than normal at this time of year).

Let me say that I LOVE Heidi and Finn patterns. They are typically fairly simple for someone with basic sewing knowledge, but the results have that little something extra that makes them stand out in your child's wardrobe. And this pattern definitely lived up to my expectations and then some:)

In just under and hour I was able to put this cutey together...and plan for about a gazillion more!!!

Oh, and hopefully I'll actually get that first project finished this week too:)