So you might be wondering what on earth the title of this post is all about. Well, I didn't realize quite how long it must have been until I was searching for the original idea for this post, but a while ago, I stumbled across the Kids Inspiration and Design Series (K.I.D.S) in the land of sewing bloggers.
It was something brought to life by a sewing mum who wanted to create one of her daughters drawings, and you can read about that initial excitement here. The idea was that you had your children design something and you would make it into reality for them. Cool for everyone because it was a challenge for the mums and delighting for the kids.
That initial idea grew and the blogger subsequently challenged other sewing bloggers to join her, and ran a series for three years. Somewhere along the line I saw it and also loved it. My girls were too young at the time to even think of participating (Rachel wasn't even born actually!) but I tucked the idea away in my mind for later.
This Easter holidays, I decided to give it a whirl. I actually managed to get photos of their drawings before they were recycled. To be honest, their drawings are not really very detailed, but they do give you an idea. The girls both talked more about what they wanted than they drew. Maybe next time I'll give a bit more design coaching.
Anyway! Rachel was the first to take up the challenge, and immediately started drawing dresses (of course) that were covered in lady bugs (of course) and had pockets (of course) for collecting things in. She also wanted a shirt with a lady bug (and pockets) and a skirt with lady bugs (and pockets) and shorts underneath. Sophie jumped on this bandwagon with a similar request of a shirt with pockets and a bunny on it (because it's Easter and she was in bunny heaven).
I quizzed them on what kind of shirts (fitted or loose) and we did a hunt through my material stash for fabric. Sophie loved this pale blue fabric with the white floral detail, which I've used before in her unicorn shorts here and here. It was free from Aunty Sue in Sydney and is so beautiful. She also loved this other floral print which I picked up from a fabric swap at the local sewing studio, Sewing Adventures, early in the year. There was not enough for anything else but this bodice lining, but it's still beautiful.
There was no ladybug fabric in my stash (sorry Rachel), but we did find a white with blue floral butterflies that was nearly as good. Also a pick up from the fabric swap, with the intention of making something for Rachel with it, so I felt like it was a win. I ask again: free fabric, is there anything better? I wanted to make the girls something for Easter, so given the time constraints, I told them I would just be making them a shirt each (to start with), but that it would have their desired pockets.
The pattern I used was the Izzy Top which I've used before (here), but can't seem to find the original pattern anywhere on the internet now. Thankfully it's still safe on my desktop, but sad for all the internet who probably can't find it. Anyway, before I made the tops, I stitched on some felt applique which also doubled as the pockets.
Sophie's is a bunny, as requested, and Rachel's is a lady bug, to try to bring some of her lady bug dreams come true. Rachel's is also lined with the same fabric that Sophie's is made out of (the blue and white floral).
Rachel was so delighted with hers that she wore it before I could get photos of it and what you see here is post-wash. Sophie's turned out a little big, and even though I offered to pin it in, she was content to grow into it and wear it next year.
So that's my first attempt at Kids Inspiration and Design Series. I do hope to do it again (or make a ladybug dress for Rachel to climb trees and catch bugs in at least). Aside from the design aspect, I think I did a good job of taking something that the kids inspired and made it into a reality.
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