Shorts and more shorts

So school has started and my plan to make my kids totally cute individual Oliver + S bucket hats has yet to come to fruition. 

Instead I have investing my sewing time in making up shorts, LOTS of shorts. 

My water-loving, totally-tactile-smears food/yogurt/mud/paint-all-over-everything daughter goes through an inordinate amount of clothing each day. 

DD also pretty much hates skirts and dresses (I'm hoping she'll grow out of this).

 The few odd occasions I've been able to "coax" her (think of trying to dress a really peeved off cat) into anything dress-like she has insisted on wearing "pants" (her word for shorts) underneath. 

The shorts she currently had were getting a bit worn out looking and frankly I find some of the girls toddler shorts for sale these day ridiculously short/high cut in the leg! Honestly I think some of the big chain store clothing designers have been looking to Daisy Duke for inspiration in the kids clothes department, because that's the only reason I can come up with for the brief-ness. 

The fact that the smaller they make each pattern piece for a garment the more fabric- and therefore money- they save also has nothing to do with either right? (cynical much?).

Righty then back to MY shorts, the ones I made. Well for a very easy shorts design (elasticated waist, simple or no pockets) this project ended up being a bit more convoluted than originally planned.

Being super lazy time poor I opted to use this thrifted pattern from my stash that was miraculously already cut to the size I needed:

 

 The copyright for this pattern is 1998, which makes it at least 14 years old. Still I was surprised at how baggy the shorts turned out to be:

Maybe this is just a side effect of fashion being so "skinny legged" in shorts and jeans these past few years, I've started to see a narrower cut as "normal". 

Still they DO give my daughter lots of room to move and climb (as she is prone to) about so I'm thinking maybe baggy is not such a bad thing. 

Also she has had a growth spurt in the week or so since the photos were taken, so that room has come in quite handy- nothing worse than making something only to have the kids grow out of it overnight ;)

One thing I LOVE about sewing for kids is getting to use fun prints and craft fabrics, like this Lisette icecream print: 

Honestly if I could get away with it I would TOTALLY be wearing this fabric. 
As it is it appears I will just have to live voraciously through my toddler daughter's wardrobe ;)

There are a few more versions of these shorts that I've made and have yet to photograph. 
Nearly 4 year olds make quite rambuncious clothing models and getting a usable shot has been harder than I thought.
May be time to resort to bribery..or at least lollies.

Til next time....

Happy Sewing ! 

Kate :)

The good, the bad .....and the nineties.

After flicking through my "new" bundle of circa 1990's sewing magazine I realised that most of the projects therein could be divided up into the above categories.

So without further ado I give you:

The Good

Some examples of the reason why I like to keep an eye out

for older sewing patterns/ magazines when op-shopping.

Some of these patterns would still look quite fashionable today.

A rather nautical styled 1 piece bathing suit pattern from Burda June 1993. Made all in black it could fit right in with the recent trends of Grecian styled dresses (the ties around the waist) and deep V/ slashed necklines. As to whether it would suit me without alteration is another thing...

Below you can see a nice simple jersey dress.
Unfortunately the English instruction booklet was missing from this June 1992 edition of Neue Mode, however as the pattern is quite basic it shouldn't be too hard to "wing it" without.


Two bustier patterns. Bustier on blonde- Burda June 1992. Bustier on Brunette from Neue Mode May 1992- it appears each pattern was only available in select sizes in the Neue Mode. This bustier was for a size 36 only.


















Another 1 piece bathing suit, this time with asymmetrical top, from the same June 92 edition of Burda as the bustier above.
















Next up we have:

The Bad

Now I don't really care much for cherry sprigged seat covers even with matching red piping!I think if you can afford a sport car you would not be making these babies yourself. .

Next to continue the horror we have a lovely matching floral set that looks more like it would be at home in a bedroom (covering pillows maybe?) than on this model. Still it was the nineties and Diana magazine seems to be catered towards the more frillier aspect of that decade.


Luckily this pattern by Burda Spring/Summer 1993 didn't catch on as a fashion must have. Who would have thought that terry towelling shorts- with front pleats- would look baggy and unattractive in reality?

Finally did anyone actually look at this photo before deciding to run it in the Jun 1992 edition of Burda? This child is obviously unhappy people! Was this truly the best shot they could get- or was the budget limited to one shot per shoot only?








And lastly we have...

The Nineties

Yep in all its pastelled, puffed and padded glory.

You can betcha I wont be using any of these stylings in the near future!

Wow how bouffy is that hair, teamed with a ruffled and square padded shirt it somehow reminds me of "Dallas".


Despite the overall hideous-ness of this ensemble from Diana (complete with matching handpainted scarf!), the white camisole underneath actually doesn't look too bad.

Is it just me or does those shoulder pads make this girl look like a quarterback? And the peter pan collar.....










Finally


It's interesting to note that Burda used to also publish a "Miss B" magazine, obviously aimed at the younger (teen?) sewer. I would love to look through one of these if I ever get the chance.


Also look at how much information you got in this 1992 Burda magazine- step by step instructions for tricky areas on all patterns! It appears they stopped doing this around 1993, a pity as some of the modern Burda magazine instructions still really need it.