The Sew Your Stash Challenge was just the motivation I needed to finally get started on school clothes for my kids and with the help of my projector I was able to work fast! I picked out some of our favorite patterns, brought the kids in to pick out their fabrics and got to work. I use a projector to project my patterns directly onto my fabric and cut them out, simply switching between sizes after each item cut. I stacked them on my spare ironing board by size until I had enough to create a mini capsule for each of my kids. Of course, I'll keep going as the challenge continues, but it felt to good to get these done and now I have space for more fabric! I'll show you the tops first, and then the bottoms.
As an added bonus all of the patterns we selected for these capsule wardrobes are also available in adult sizing! I will include the links at the end if you are interested.
The Little Dreamer
First up was one of our favorite ALD patterns: The Little Dreamer. The only change I made to the pattern was to band the sleeves instead of hemming them to speed things up a little.
My oldest picked out Glenn Hatchi for his. I love the earth tones and unique stripe that I don't need to worry about matching up! He loves how cozy it is and that it will keep him warm in the cool classroom. Next up is a waffle knit. This particular print is sold out, but there are several prints and a bunch of solids in stock! Waffle knit is a great all season base because the looser knit is really breathable. They're also tried-blends which make them really soft.
My kindergartner choose Navy Pin Dot DBP for hers and my youngest picked Ice Blue DBP for his. All of my kids love DBP because it is so soft and super stretchy: perfect for tucking knees into when sitting for reading a book.
Reagan Raglan
Each of the kids got two Reagan Raglans from Bella Sunshine Designs. As an added bonus, this pattern is free to newsletter subscribers! I made the scoop neck, short sleeve version for all of their tops, and added a band instead of hemming. Hopefully the extra length will give me a little more time to when their next growth spurt happens!
Unfortunately these fun Orcas are sold out and I received the solids in a DBP mystery bundle but there are some other great DBP prints and solids in stock to mix and match! I have my eyes on Milan and Mustard for myself: I better get enough to make the kids something too!
My oldest picked Quincy, which is a tri-blend Jersey, for his second Reagan Raglan. Next up was one in Ivory RS (yes, I'm definitely hoping it remains stain free for a little while).
My kindergartner picked Green Stripes Jersey for hers. And I rounded out the collection with Navy Rayon Spandex for the youngest. Yes, he is definitely loving the blue right now. I had to do a little convincing to add some color.
Be Creative
I couldn't start the school year off without a little fun color blocking and the Be Creative from Ellie and Mac is one of our favorites for that! This pattern has a hoodie and cowl neck option, as well as instructions to add knit "piping" for an added pop of color at the color blocking! I did make a couple of adjustments: I cut the long sleeves shorter (instead of using the puff short sleeve) and measured the sleeve opening for a band. I also skipped the drawstring and did a single layer hood for my oldest because I was short one fabric.
First up I used Sage Stripes and Blakely Pointelle. I just love how Blakely looks paired with green! I have used this combination for a dress and cardigan for my daughter before and also paired it with Leaf Pointelle for a stuffed animal.
This has been dubbed the "flower power" hoodie and is the one sew that my 1st grader is most excited about. He sat and watched me sew every step and couldn't wait to try it on. Both the print and solid for this Be Creative are Liverpool. Unfortunately these are sold out, but there are gorgeous Liverpool prints in stock. We love them for hoodies and jackets!
My daughter's Be Creative are also from now sold out fabrics. The floral is an "alpaca" knit, find the cozy in stock sweater knits here. The solid is a rib knit: there are rib knit prints and solids available in the Brushed Collection that would be lovely additions to any wardrobe.
I wrapped up this round with Montrose Rib knit and more of the liverpool from my stash. As you can see I got 2 thumbs up for this one, that's high praise from him.
Northlake Tank
It is still quite hot here well into fall so I added a tank top to their wardrobe. The Northlake Tank from Rain City Patterns is a family favorite here. We even used it for family photos! This unisex tank pattern has some great options, but I went with a simple tank for ease and speed this time around.
My oldest picked a black and grey striped knit from the cozy bundles that were available. If you like bundles keep an eye out on that collection, they're always adding limited bundles! Next up was one in Terra Cotta DBP.
The last two are also DBP: one in another solid from my mystery bundle and the final one is in the sold out Wine DBP that was left from sewing Halloween costumes last year.
Couch Potato Joggers
The Couch Potato Joggers from Rad Patterns is always a big hit for the kids and our favorite base for them is pointelle so it was no surprise that's what they all chose. I did skip the pockets on these, but I didn't have to make any pattern adjustments to do so. The pattern is designed with inseam pockets, so I just skipped them.
My oldest picked Denim Two-Tone for his. Autumn Spice was up next. And it pairs so well with the florals in his Little Dreamer! My daughter wanted to match my fancy pants joggers from the spring, so I made her a cropped pair in Red Two-Tone. I didn't have enough left for the waistband so I paired it with Terra Cotta RS. My youngest picked the Navy Stripes for his. Believe it or not he was the only one that yelled at me for skipping the pockets, haha!
Shorts
I used two separate patterns for the shorts. My daughter requested leggings shorts for hers and the others wanted theirs more relaxed fit. I made all of theirs in Mocha Honeycomb. This color is sold out, but there are Black and Sage in stock. This is such a fun and versatile fabric, if you haven't tried it you should!
For the leggings shorts I used the Tamarack Tights from Sofiona cut to shorts length.
I used the MyFit Jogger from Apostrophe Patterns for the relaxed fit pairs. If you've never tried Apostrophe Patterns before, they are really neat. You don't buy a pattern specifically, you buy access to a generator. You input your measurements, select your options and fabric information, save in the format you want (Letter, A4, A0, or Projector) and a pattern is generated for you to download. You can generate as many patterns as you want, in as many styles and sizes as you want (which is great for growing kids that are always change their minds). I used a relaxed fit, straight leg, without pockets and a fabric encased elastic for my oldest and lounge fit, straight leg, without pockets and a fabric encased elastic for the other two pair.
Wow, that was a lot of clothes! I wouldn't have been able to accomplish so much without the motivation of this challenge, the use of my projector for cutting, and the help of my kids. Their enthusiasm for new clothes and being part of the process kept me sewing.
The adult versions of the patterns used are below.
The Dream Tee is the adult version of The Little Dreamer.
The adult version of the Reagan Raglan is also free for newsletter subscribers.
The Be Creative is fun for adults too, I need make myself one after making these.
The adult version of the Northlake Tank is a unisex pattern and has the same options!
The adult Couch Potato Joggers are available in Hourglass and Straight Proportions.
The adult Tamarack Tights do have a smaller size range than other adult patterns with a maximum hip measurement of only 46". I do hope that they will expand their size ranges to be more inclusive.
The MyFit Joggers uses the same generator. If you can take measurements, a pattern can be generated.