ANOTHER Blog?!?! Really? Why???

Blogs, blogs everywhere and why do we need a new one? What a welcome, right? But, hey, I know you might be skeptical. Why another blog? Well, because I feel like this blog is going to represent an area of sewing that you don't see a lot of - sewing for tweens/teens. They are a scary group, right? They are starting to develop both physically and in their own tastes. When you sew for your babies, toddlers and preschoolers, really you are sewing what YOU want your child to wear. Now, when I sew, SHE tells me what she likes to wear. Also, another reason I am doing this is because patterns for girls bigger than a size 8 have been few and far between, so I want to be able to highlight patternmakers who draft for the bigger girls as well as hopefully feature some of my own designs as things go on.

So what can you expect to see here? Well, after a lot of soul searching, I thought a great way to kick off my blog was with a challenge to myself.

I am going to sew my daughter a new outfit a day for this entire school year. What, what?? you ask. That's right. Why am I doing this?
1.) To highlight tween clothing and patterns
2.) To show others that you don't have to stop sewing for your kids when they get older
3.) To do something special and memorable between my daughter and me. This is her last year of elementary school and next year we will be crossing over to middle school. She is excited about this. Also, blogging about this will chronicle this year in her life.

So what are the rules for my Handmade School Year?
1.) She will not wear the same outfit twice.
2.) She will not have an outift for Fridays as those are spirit day at school and they wear a tshirt and jeans.
3.) I can use pre-existing things to make outfits (ie upcycling, adding embroidery or embellishments to pre-existing garments)
4.) There may be some days like field trips or special school theme days wear she has to cooperate with the school requirements.
5.) If she's sick...well, I'm probably not going to make a new nightgown for that day :)
6.) I can remake the same pattern, it just has to be in different fabric.

What can you expect to see here?
Tween patterns and reviews
Tutorials
and on the weekends, you never know what I might throw in there to mix it up.

Here are some examples of things we have worked on this summer doing pattern testing for some pattern lines:

This is the SIG Poppy maxi dress. You will be seeing more of these as she LOVES them The SIG patterns are great for the tweens and you can see this one and others on her Etsy site at SIG Patterns on Etsy.

This is one of the newest patterns from The Cottage Mama (who also happens to have an AMAZING blog at http://www.thecottagehome.blogspot.com/). This is the tunic version of the Miss Matlida. You can see it at https://www.etsy.com/listing/156180562/printed-top-pattern-miss-matilda-dress?ref=shop_home_active and she has some other super cute classic patterns as well.

This was a beautiful pettiskirt we pattern tested for designer Tulips and Edelweiss. She LOVES this skirt and if I can get my ruffler working right she will have more of these. You can get the pattern for this here https://www.etsy.com/listing/150549348/lulu-ruffled-pettiskirt-skirt-for-girls?ref=shop_home_active

This sweet, comfortable racer back knit maxi was a tested pattern from Heidi and Finn. We have been very happy with their patterns. They have a lot of comfy knits. You can see this pattern here at https://www.etsy.com/listing/130957460/new-sporty-maxi-dress-pattern-and?ref=shop_home_active

This cute ensemble is from LilyGiggle. She has tons of fun knitwear that my girl has LOVED LOVED wearing. This is the Secret Garden 2.0 dress and the Petunia Petal Bottom leggings. You can see them here: http://lilygiggle.com/shop/the-secret-garden-dress-two/ and http://lilygiggle.com/shop/the-petunia-petal-pants/

So as you can see - there ARE lots of ways for you to keep sewing for your princess even AFTER she hits a size 8. I am so excited to share tween sewing with you and I hope you will keep checking back to see how you can sew for your tween, too!

The Handmade School Year challenge starts for me next Tuesday. I invite you to particpate - maybe not every day, but pick a day a week or a month to sew something special for your tween. Take her to the fabric store and let her pick fabrics and notions, maybe even invite her to sew with you. These years go by too fast. Take the time with your little princess while you can!

Till next time!
Christie