My second round of making undies!  I first want to say that I made the original undies almost 2 years ago (pattern by That Darn Kat includes both boy and girl versions – Pink Chalk also carries the pattern).  They were amazing.  The fit is hands down the best part of making your own, they don’t sag or stretch out.  They got worn constantly and held up extremely well.  I didn’t have to make anymore until now, and that’s only because they were just getting outgrown!

If you’re looking for a great project to start sewing with knits, this is the one you should try!  It’s small enough, that if you mess up it’s not that big of a deal.  Plus when you finish a pair, and see your kids wearing them, it’s the cutest thing ever, seriously.

Natalie is almost 7 now.  She definitely has her own opinion on things.  She said she didn’t like the center panel on the smaller underwear I had finished for Emily.  So I modified the pattern a bit and made it to just have side seams, ta da!  Big girl underwear.  I’m proud of them!  I jump around and do a little dance every time I finish a pair!

And maybe I just need to make some for myself, have to you seen this tutorial over at Very Purple Person?  I quick made my own pattern from an existing pair and I’m excited to try it out!

I think it’s good to note that both of the size 4 (smaller) underwear I made were the exact same, just chose a different binding fabric.  The pair that I made with the ribbed knit is much looser because that particular knit didn’t have as much stretch recovery.  Good to know in the future!  I definitely recommend using a knit with a little spandex or lycra in it, they are nice and stretchy without being bulky like a ribbed knit would.

Confession time, I haven’t sewn any clothes for either of my girls since August.  As I was packing up summer clothes in the fall, I was folding up lots of things I had made them.  Things I thought they’d love and use, but most got worn once or twice and then promptly forgotten about.  It made me kind of sad in a way. Although Emily might be able to wear some of the things Natalie hardly ever wore, I still felt like I was heading the wrong direction.  So I stopped.  We had plenty of clothes for the winter, so I didn’t feel compelled to make anything.

My kids go for the obvious, comfort.  Who can blame them?  I’m the same way.  When I get home from work, I quickly change into my comfy clothes. The other day I was digging through my fabric, trying to make sure to use things I already have instead of buying something new.  I pulled out the infamous wiener dog interlock knit I had gotten at my local Hancock Fabrics maybe a year or more ago?  I had gotten it to make some pajamas, so I got busy.

I pulled out Rae’s Flashback skinny tee and did some quick little mods to make a bigger size for Natalie (she’s about a 6-7 in girls now).  Although Rae does have the big kid version available now, I only had up to 5T.  I also made it a little more a-line so it wasn’t quite as snug around the tummy and loosened it up in the sleeves.  Pajama shirts!  I had intended to make some pants too, but I ended up having only enough fabric for two shirts and another little project I’ll have to wait and show you next time.

I used my twin needle again, not breaking it this time thankfully!  Some of the threads did snap already though on Emily’s sleeves when she wore it, so I’m not sure how to avoid that in the future, if you have any tips I’d love to hear about them!

Here’s to more knits in the future, more comfy and more having fun!  ps, I’ve gotten on this crazy sewing with knits kick again, it goes in streaks, but I seriously have a lot of fun with it once I get started!

Stars are in.  It’s true.  Well, at least at our house.  I could not stop myself from getting this star knit fabric from fabric.com.  I had pinned this skirt from J. Crew.  Of course by the time I thought it might be on clearance or something it was all sold out.  Sad face.

So I was going to make a Figgy’s circle skirt with it, but the order got messed up and I only got sent a half yard.  We made it work by just doing a two tier gathered skirt with a knit waistband.  So the waistband is a little loose, I forgot that particular fabric stretched and kept on stretching, not great for a waistband.

It’s still cute.