Sew easy

I love all those blog names that use 'sew' as a pun in their title, it makes me wish I'd thought of something witty to name this blog rather than the clunky and too long name I went with. Some of my favourites include Sew Darn Tired (hello! that is sew me LOL), Going Sew Crazy and Sew Take a Hike.

Anyway my point here is that in the aftermath of The Dress, I cleaned up my sewing room and then was at a bit of a loss as to what to sew next. I have a loooong list of things I want to sew, but I was feeling a bit wiped out after the effort it took to make that black dress so I needed something easy to get my mojo back. A palate cleanser of sorts. So I whipped up a quick skirt and a pair of pants for Anna, since she has grown so much in the last few weeks that she actually needs some clothes, and plus kids clothes are quick and easy (and cute).

For the skirt I didn't use a pattern - I happened to have a rectangular piece of brushed cotton in the stash that was leftover from another project and was the right length for Anna. All I needed to do was sew a side seam to create a tube, sew a hem, turn down the top and sew a casement for elastic and add some ric-rac and a measure for good measure. And about 30 minutes later I had this:

In fact it took longer to take a photo of Anna wearing this skirt than it did to sew it - she wouldn't stand still or pose at all, which is why you can see her dad's hand holding her still!

As for the pants, I actually used a baby pattern and just added extra length because I knew these pants were super baggy and Anna is a skinny beanpole anyway. I used an OOP Simplicity which I've made previously when she was just a little baby with no hair, and the pants were so baggy on her that they were absolutely hilarious! Look at how little she used to be (she's about 6 months old here):

These pants are super simple. Two pattern pieces, a folded over top for the elastic waistband and I added elastic to the hems and a decorative ribbon at the waist just to look cute.

Again, this took me about 30 minutes to cut out and sew, and since the fabric and elastic from the stash this is a great cheapy project for a little girl that is growing out of clothes faster than I care to shop for them! And again she wouldn't stand still for a photo, so you can see me holding her still this time!

So now I think I'm ready for my next project: a 3 dot Burda shawl collar jacket. And to make it more challenging I want to finish it in the next four days so I can wear it on Saturday night. Hmmm, we shall see.............

What would help with sewing those pesky Burda patterns is a fantastic sewing book like this:

which Denise over at the Blue Gardenia just happens to be giving away at her blog at the moment. Head over to this post and leave a comment on the series she's been doing on peoples sewing spaces by 12.01am PDT Thursday to be in the running to win it!