Wednesday, October 10, 2012

KCWC: Sweater Cardigans


Over at Elsie Marley, each fall and spring there's a kids clothing sewing challenge, and this is my little entry I did Monday and Tuesday evenings.  

I made two black and white cardigans for each of my kids.
RJ loves his, mainly because he got to pick the buttons and they weren't what I wanted him to pick.
Funny how the rebellion makes him love it more.
They're both make with sweatshirt fleece, so warmer than regular knit for fall and winter in our freezing climate.

I used a new pattern from Adrianna at Crafterhours.
She's just starting a pattern shop with this Greenpoint Cardigan pattern.
It's nice to have a pattern with such a huge range of sizes, and that you can use for boys or girls.
It's a quick sew and I'd say a beginner pattern anyone could make.
Great way to upcycle adult tee shirts as well!


So first we'll talk about the boy look since I always tend to prefer the boy stuff I make for some reason.
Fabric: Printed sweatshirt fleece I bought 3 years ago from Walmart for only $2.00/yd.  Back when they'd get really awesome stuff for dirt cheap, like wool blends, knits, sweatshirt fleece and corduroy--but now their fabric dept stinks.
Black trim is just regular knit interlock from Joann.

I wanted to try some neon green buttons, but RJ picked blue.
Not a big deal, and it definitely makes him own the garment which is more important than my trying a bit of the current neon trend like I'd planned.
in case you care: shown with corduroy No David! pants

My biggest achievment on these were the pattern matching with the stripes.
Both the side seams and then the center front opposite sides aligning to look like seamless stripes was an exciting thing that happened to work out like I'd hoped.

RJ wore it all day yesterday, and actually prefers it as a shirt, with his bare chest blaring in the V of the neckline.
I explained it's more like a jacket, but he was little Hasslehoff all afternoon.

On to Ellie girls' owl cardi.

Fabric: owl print sweatshirt fleece I bought from fabric.com 2 years ago.
Black contrasting cuffs the same knit interlock.

Ellie was kind of between sizes, so I made the larger size 2 to have some growing room.
So for now it's a little big.
shown with: shirt {H&M}, skirt {pin-tucked toddler skirt} and {dotted leggings}

This one was easier to cut since there weren't patterns to match, I just had to make sure the owls were all right side up.

I couldn't decide on the buttons for Ellie.
I usually avoid pink.  But RJ told me that's what she wanted, and I thought they did stand out and make it more girly, so we went pink.  I'd been thinking aqua or lime.

Despite the clapping below, Ellie hasn't been the biggest fan of long sleeves lately.
It has just begun that she's old enough to have clothing preferences, sad for me.
But hopefully she'll warm up to the layers as it gets colder.


19 comments:

  1. So cute. Love the prints on both cardigans.
    I'm glad I'm not the only one who is disappointed with new Walmart fabric. Just not what it was.

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  2. not sure which i love more, the supercute owls or the perfectly, PERFECTLY matched stripes! i might be making one of these later this week! we shall see. ;)

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  3. I agree about the new quilting cottons at walmart. One of our local store still has a traditional fabric department and the fabric is decent.

    I love the cardigans and matched up stripes. Your blog has me wishing for cooler weather!

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  4. I saw these on the Flickr pool, and I love them! I would totally make these for my kids. Unfortunately, this year I just couldn't manage KCWC, but it is definitely fun to see what everyone else is making!

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  5. your progress is so amazing and has been such a fast learning crve. must be the genes.

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  6. These cardis turned out amazing. I love them both.

    I'd love for you to link this up to WKWW-What Kids Wore Wednesday Link Party this week at ONE little MOMMA.

    http://onelittlemomm.blogspot.com/2012/10/wkww-what-kids-wore-wednesday-link-party.html?utm_source=bp_recent&utm-medium=gadget&utm_campaign=bp_recent

    Kilee
    www.onelittlemomma.com

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  7. can't stop laughing about the Hoff. we want a picture of that!

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  8. Lovely cardigans! Great fabrics choices.

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  9. These look great! LOve the owls! I've been so frustrated the last couple of days becuase I've bene looking for sweatshirt material that isn't a solid color and can't find any!! I'm jealous!

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  10. Lovely cardigans and just wanted to say how much I love reading your blog! A huge inspiration to me :)

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  11. I love these cardigans! They are just too adorable. I really like the owl fabric too.

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  12. ooh, your cardigans turned out really cute! what a nice little pattern. KCWC is turning into an exercise in me not buying a bunch of patterns and fabrics. lol.

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  13. I totally want an owl cardigan! For me!

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  14. Button, Buttons, Who's got the Buttons?
    My Grandmother, used to say. I Love Buttons. They make these sweaters adorable and the kids hopefully will always remember them.
    Debbie Ericson, Granddaughter to a wonderful seamstress.

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  15. I LOVE your versions! These are amazing. I want them in my size!

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  16. I love these! I might need to make some of my own. And that owl print is AMAZING.

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