what I wore – week 14 (and winter wardrobe planning)
I have been making things. My flickr stream contains photographic evidence, but I am falling further behind with blogging. I want to blog, and write many a blog post in my head, but can’t always find the uninterrupted time to sit down and actually write. Ah well, too bad! Busy doing other things, like taking the girls to swimming lessons, meeting gorgeous friends for lunch, and cooking meals/paying bills/folding laundry. And tonight Clare is having a friend for a sleepover – they are both very excited! So, to what I wore for week 14. The school holidays started off beautifully weather wise. But then it rapidly turned to winter. The central heating is now turned on, and I’ve even used the dryer rather than hanging the clothes on the line. Then I check out some of my favourite blogs and see the northern hemisphere bloggers planning their spring and summer wardrobes. So different!
I’ve been pulling out patterns for winter clothes and trying to actually plan what I need. To figure out the gaps in my wardrobe and what sorts of clothes will fill them best. I did make it to the Spotty sale and pick up some ponte knits for winter dresses. And while I’m thinking about my winter wardrobe I’m also thinking about what my girls need. They’ve both been growing – as they should! – and although Clare is still quite small she has finally outgrown much of her winter wardrobe. So far we’re thinking of stretch fabric dresses, some pinafores and some frilly skirts, all to be augmented with shop-bought long-sleeved t-shirts and leggings. I tend to buy the more utilitarian items and spend my precious sewing time on the fun stuff. Do others do that? Anyway, I started off with a sketch for a winter dress.
After sketching, thinking, googling and wondering, I remembered to pull out some back issues of Ottobre. And found this:
and this:
and this:
They’re all from the Winter 6/2011 issue of Ottobre. Clare is only 123 cm tall, so a bit between their toddler/child sizes and girl’s sizes. This has its own challenges, but hopefully I’ll be able to make some of these designs work without much hassle. I wonder which of them you’ll actually see come to fruition? I don’t sew as much for Stella, because she gets Clare’s hand-me-downs so has plenty of dresses/pinafores/skirts. Both girls rarely wear jeans, and they both dislike skivvies and other high necklines. I did well shopping at Target for Stella to re-stock on long sleeved t-shirts and leggings, but what happens once you want affordable/mid-range-priced clothing in a size larger than size 6? The styles change completely! I dragged both girls all over our local shopping centre, checking out the options at around seven different children’s wear suppliers, and only found clothing in size 7 and 8 that Clare liked at Pumpkin Patch. Whereas there was an abundance of cute clothing in Target in size 4 for Stella. Poor Clare was quite despondent at the end of our excursion. Anyway, to get back to the winter wardrobe planning – I’m going to make this shirt for Clare too. A bit of a change from the usual thing she chooses, but she’s had input into style and fabric, so fingers crossed she’ll like and wear the finished garment.
And there are some Oliver + S options up for consideration as well. The planning never ceases! What are you planning to sew for your winter wardrobes?
I’m definitely planning my winter wardrobe. I specifically went to the spotty sale just to get some winter fabric to make an a-line skirt (in Melbourne charcoal grey of course)!
Thanks for the reminder about that edition of Ottobre. I must revisit it myself. The top of my list for winter sewing for my girls is this knit dress… http://www.etsy.com/listing/66689243/new-cowl-neck-jumper-dress-pattern-and
I`m sewing a semi-formal type dress for my daughter but when I get to me sewing I am planning a cream twinset , orange cardigan with jumper knit type fabric , animal print knit top ( from remnants ) , some style arc peta pants ( charcoal grey herringbone ) and perhaps and pink and blue plaid shirt if it is still winter !
I’m definitely planning my winter wardrobe. I’m doing Me-Made-May so it’s put me in the mood!
I made some “in between” pjs for my kid (long cotton pants) on the weekend and bought flannelette for a winter version from the Spotlight sale.
I remember well that feeling when my daughter grew out of the nice little girl stuff, and we wandered for ages trying to find things that she (and I !) liked. I also found Pumpkin Patch a good option..less likely to have those awful prints/slogans! 🙂
Have you tried Gymboree? My tall eight year old is still finding clothes there that let her be a little girl. (I realize Sydney isn’t exactly in your back yard, but it’s closer than I was expecting for this US brand!)
I’m planning a knit-fabric-fest for Sewjourn! I’m also planning to knit up lots of wraps and shrugs and garments based on rectangles on the knitting machine….
I love those Ottobre kids dresses. Can you please bring those mags to Sewjourn for me to look through?
I’m doing some sewing for my work wardrobe at the moment. I love that girls shirt pattern too – I’ll have to track that down. Dreading Maya going into size 7 at target too. I looked at coats in the larger size range and there was nothing I would buy.
Hi Lara, love your winter sewing – my girls will be lucky to get the hems let down on their winter school uniforms let alone a cute dress! Have you tried Cotton On Kids? They have some ok stuff and it doesn’t matter much about the pictures on the front if they are wearing a dress or pinny over the top of it