Fab Fall Outfit Making for Smalls

With a busy season of running my shop, homeschooling & family appointments for everything under the sun, fall sewing has been minimal this year.  Cue the wah-wah sound effect for me & my fellow sewing fanatics.  The good news is that I was able to eek out the fun two piece outfit above for my littlest lady.  So if you're like me and struggling to fit something in, there's hope!

I'd fallen in love with this vibrant autumn print panel by Katschinka, a European fabric maker.  The rich colors and sweet leaf & little girl design were so darn cute!  Most things in stores this season (and the last few falls for the that matter) were super bland, so this was the perfect antidote to that.

The back is just as charming as the front (and is a slightly different design too):

I used coordinating two Euro knit French terry fabric rapports to make it from Jumping June Textiles (these exact ones aren't available anymore, but there are other cute designs).  I'd bought them a few autumns ago but hadn't had time to do anything with them until now.  As I shared in a previous post here, rapports are fabric panels printed with multiple sections.  It's a single cut that has a repeat design section and usually one or more "panel" sections, all printed as one piece.  

They usually have a 4-way stretch which means you can turn them in different directions to suit your project.  I was able to turn the panel sideways to be able to use the entire scene for both the front & back and have enough to do the sleeves too.

To make the leggings I used the free girl's leggings pattern from Life Sew Savory.  It's a great pattern (covers sizes 18mos-12yrs) and the fit is ideal.  I literally had just enough of the solid side of my rapport fabric to make a pair for my 2T daughter.

For the dress I used my trusty raglan top pattern from the book Kwik Sew for Toddlers.  It's easiest to find used on eBay or Alibris these days, but is well worth grabbing (just ignore the horribly dated photos).  This has been one of my all-time favorite patterns for my smalls - I've used it for the top half of my recent sheep costume:

To easily pair up plush fabrics with applique:

and make comfy everyday wear:

Using a small amount of rib knit for the neckband and cuffs means it's an easy sew, with no real fiddly bits, which is key for me since sewing time is minimal.  I didn't want to waste any of the beautiful design, so I used a yard stick to lengthen my pattern and make it an extended A-line shape to turn it into a full dress:

I sew all my knits on a regular sewing machine using a triple stitch and stretch needle.  For finishing the hems I use paper backed fusible tape.  Just iron on, peel off the paper, fold hem up and press again and the hem is perfectly uniform.

 

I use a twin needle to topstitch so it looks professional, but is still super easy:

And both pieces have some growth room so I'm pretty sure I can add some rib knit to the legging cuffs if needed and then it'll be more of a tunic & bottoms ensemble for next year, so we can get maximum wear of of them.  I'm probably going to make more pairings like this for winter since they can be done in an afternoon.  My daughter couldn't wait to put these on and the fabric can withstand all the running & climbing she can throw at it.  It's a small bit of fall sewing, but it's been worth squeezing in!

 

My DIY'd Little Lamb Easter Baby Dress Set & Teether

What could be sweeter for Easter for a baby girl than a little lamb outfit?  I thought it would be an ideal change from the usual bunnies & flowers and better suited to the meaning of the holiday.

 

I couldn't find a pattern that had all the features I wanted: puff sleeves, full skirt, pullover neckband, so I drafted up my own. 

 

 

Since the weather here usually is chilly at Easter, I also made a coordinating pair of leggings with the Ottobre Design Lola pants pattern:

 

 

I used that pant pattern it just a month ago with this outfit:

 

 

The fabric I used this time was a soft rib knit velour, that is cuddly, but light in weight:

 

I also used it for the neckband on the dress and the color was a perfect match:

 

I also found some decorative lace elastic in my stash so I added that as an extra detail on the sleeves:

 

I even made a matching silicone teether toy (and one to send as a gift for my baby nephew too):

 

 

I'll be honest though, I didn't think this new Easter outfit would be done in time.  I literally just finished it and it was 50/50 until the last stitch that I was going to have to scrap the dress and scramble to do something else.  The fabric was super cute, and I'd bought it months ago eagerly waiting to use it for Easter, but it just didn't seem to want to cooperate.  Literally everything seemed to go wrong. 

 

 

There were several times when the thread randomly bunched up during basic stitching.  Total bird nests.  The fabric curled quite a bit when cut and shifted around a lot when sewing too, even when well pinned and using a walking foot.  Even with fresh bobbin, re-threading & fresh needle it was fiddly, which was odd since euro knits usually sew like a dream.  My seam ripper got a work out!

 

My gathering technique with cord for the skirt portion normally works well too - where you baste a wide zig-zag around some thin cord to easily pull the ends & gather.  This time the cord kept jumping as I stitched so it threaded through the cord in a number of spots.  That meant I couldn't pull it without snipping those stitches.  It should look like this, captured between them:

 

And I'm not going to totally blame the fabric, because I may have made the sleeves a little tight with the elastic as well. 

 

 

When I first stretched the elastic to gather the sleeves it didn't seem to cinch up enough and looked too loose despite it being several inches shorter than the sleeve width.  I tried steaming it to shrink up a little, but it did nothing.  So I unpicked an entire sleeve and stretched the elastic a bit more as I sewed, which looks better, but may now be a bit too snug on her chubby arms.  

 

I'm going to try it on her today & if it is I may do a chop shop on the sleeves to remove that section and re-hem them (thank God I made them a little longer than I usually do so there's a little extra length there!).  I also ran out of my favorite fusible tape, which makes hemming on knits that curl MUCH easier, so there was more messing around to finish that too.

 

I was really pleased with how quick the teether toys came together though.  I'd bought the beads from different places, but I feel like they paired together really well:

 

I'd originally planned to make them circular but didn't like how they looked as I threaded them, so I did clip versions instead and these cute angel wing heart teethers I had in my bead stash were perfect for the tail ends:

 

When all is said & done, the outfit did turn out as I'd imagined despite the hurdles.  I'm going to try my pattern on another fabric and if it works out there, I'll make it into a free PDF & tutorial.

 

 

Happy Easter!

Sewing with Fabric Rapports + No-Iron Applique Technique

 

 

I've finally gotten some sewing projects started this year!!  This one was a long time coming too, but it was worth it - a cuddly little outfit full of bears!

 

 

I made a soft & stretchy raglan pullover top:

 

 

 

And a camouflage-style pair of matching pants with plush cuffs:

 

There's even a big bear peeking out the back of the shirt too:

 

I used the same patterns from the book Kwik Sew for Toddlers that I shared almost exactly a year ago when I made this outfit for my little guy:

 

This time I did the next size up and paired a fantastic Euro lycra knit with some green stretch velour to make this fun grumpy bear shirt and matching pants:

 

 

Using a fabric rapport is what makes this little set special.  It makes a total boutique outfit look with minimal fabric yardage.  When it comes to sewing clothes for kids, rapports are probably my favorite option because they are super versatile and usually pretty economical.  

 

So what is a fabric rapport?  Basically, it's a fabric panel printed with multiple sections.  It's a single cut that has a repeat design section and usually one or more "panel" sections, all printed as one piece.  Because knits are typically 58-60 inches wide, it gives a lot of usable space and less fabric wastage.

Rapports are usually Euro Knits - it just seems to be a more common design option from European fabric makers, so you have to look in shops that carry those (mainly online if you live in the US).  Some US based custom fabric groups design them too, but usually have a limited-time only, pre-order availability so that's another potential source (more on those here). 

 

I recently bought this cute 25in French terry one called Rainy Day by Katschinka 

 

This means you have "different" fabrics to work with from just one cut rather than having to buy extra coordinating yardage. Like this Mia & Max squirrel design from Mamaliebchen:

 

 

  

This is especially handy when you're sewing for little ones and you don't need a lot of material.  A piece like this one gives you loads of project options since the star section can be used as part of the navy panel or cut away and used for making cuffs, neckbands or another type of trim.  It takes away the challenge of trying to find the right colors for coordinating fabrics or prints (which can be really tricky when shopping online).

 

 The lengths of rapports can vary - usually varying somewhere between 1/2 - 1 yard (except noted in cm), so it's always good to check on that before buying.  Most are printed on knit with 4 way stretch which gives more cutting options to maximize every bit of the fabric.  

 

This Christmas rapport's nativity design was printed lengthwise instead of parallel to the selvage, but it didn't matter because the fabric was 4-way stretch and the generous fabric width meant I was able to cut the bodice and sleeves from the same piece, laying them all in different directions to get everything to fit.

 

 

For today's project I used a rapport that had loads of applique shapes as the "bonus" section.  The manufacturer is Hamburger Liebe & it's from their "Be Wild" collection.  The length per rapport was 18 inches, so I bought two in order to have them cut as a continuous yard for maximum project options.  I forgot to photograph it before I cut it up, but I bought the wolf version from the same collection too, which is laid out the same:

 

 

The variety of appliques included gives plenty of options - shirts, bags, knees of pants or even little soft toys.  Much more useful than random scraps I'm usually left with after cutting this kind of project out and there's still a lot left to embellish other things later.    

 

 

I decided to use the repeat portion to make the pants and do the raglan shirt sleeves.  I used some leftover green plush knit velour for the front & back and the trim sections to pop against the warm brown bears and pick up the color in grumpy bear's striped top. 

 

 

 

 I also wanted a nice solid background to add the big appliques for a complete outfit look.

 

 

I did the applique part after I had the sleeves and neckband attached to the raglan front & back, but before sewing the side seams, so it would be easy to center them just right on the shirt and to be able to turn the fabric around as I sewed them in place.

 

 

To do the appliques for the body of the shirt I cut out two large bears from the rapport and laid them on some paper-backed fusible (right side up, fusible side up).   

Why use fusible if I'm not ironing?  I wanted to give the appliques a bit more body so the edges wouldn't curl up over time.  It also better stabilizes it for stitching, but not so much that it would be stiff on the shirt itself.  I'm not a fan of appliques that don't bend with the fabric when it moves & neither are most little kids. 

 

 

 

Since they were already cut out, it was easier to just lay a piece of parchment paper on top and iron rather than trace the shapes onto the paper and cut them out first.  When they were cool, I easily peeled the parchment off and cut around the bear shapes.

 

 

Then I peeled the paper backing off.

 

 

Normally this is the part where you iron it onto the fabric, but because this was a plush polyester, ironing it would crush the fabric and potentially melt it.  Neither is a desired result, so I sprayed the backs with quilt basting instead to provide a good anchor to sew it onto the shirt.

 

It worked like a dream to hold the appliques in place without needing pins - with this many curves and the thickness of the fabric, pins, would risk shifting the fabrics and I wanted these large central designs to be nice & straight.

 

I'd made sure to leave a 1/4 inch white border around my bears so I wouldn't have to stitch into the design.  I like to use a triple stitch, which is a straight stitch that does 3 overlapping rows (rather than the side-by-side the symbol looks like). 

 

It gives a nice thick outline like factory-made appliques and also has some stretch to it.

 

I've washed this a number of times and the applique edges have stayed nice & flat - no curling, so this technique definitely works.

My guy LOVES his bear outfit.  He's worn it at least 4 times in the past month and despite being rough on clothes 9being a normal 2 yr old), it's very durable and still looks freshly made.  Euro knits tend to be high quality, so they're worth splurging on because they look great longer...not to mention the designs are beyond cute. 

 

I bought the cozy velour in several colors when I was fabric shopping spree in Canada a few years ago and it may be my favorite solid plush fabric.  Easy to sew, great stretch, no piling or crushing with wear and looks new wash after wash.  I've used it to make pants, leggings, shirts & more, so it's a great wintertime fabric and doesn't get static-y either.  When these stupid restrictions everywhere are over I cannot wait to head back and snap up some more. 

 

 

In the meantime, I'll be sewing up some more sweet ensembles with my rapport stash.  Some fun tops & pajamas for my bigger kids...maybe a few two piece outfits, rompers, dresses and accessories for my smaller two.  After all, this grumpy guy needs some company in the closet;)