Hello again, friends! I’m back after a week of the plague (ie. gastro ran through our house) and ready to tell you all about my #momwins of the last weeks.

We’ve been really lucky to not have to buy my daughter many clothes as she gets pretty much everything as a hand-me-down from her cousin. Unfortunately, that cousin is quite petite, while my kiddo has gotten her dad’s tall genes and has pretty much caught up to her four year-old cousin. So the hand-me-down train has stopped and my dear child has no shorts. Because I am cheap, and have tons of half-metre chunks of really nice fabric kicking around, I figured I would force myself to sew for someone else and whip her up a little summer wardrobe. Because these are all leftovers from my very coordinated maternity wardrobe, this translated into basically a little capsule for this kiddo.

I did some shopping around, but settled on some basics from Peekaboo Patterns.  If you know me IRL, you’ll know that I don’t love overly girly stuff on my kiddo, and basically won’t dress her in anything I wouldn’t wear, so peekaboo fit my criteria pretty well. I also SUPER appreciate that the patterns I bought all go from three months to 12 years so I basically never need to buy kids summer patterns again.

The first pattern I made was the Yoga Girl Shorts because they looked quick and my kid desperately need shorts. I made two pairs in grey and navy with fabric leftover from the waistbands on my maternity jeggings.  As expected, I made the shorts in next to no fabric and it took me maybe an hour total. I cut the size 2T even though C is ready for 3T in ready-to-wear. This was a great decision as the shorts are still a bit big and I am pretty sure she will wear them again next summer.

Next, I made the Rio Racerback in more scraps from my Nikko Dress and most recent Blackwood Cardigan. This is also a pattern you can make out of the tiniest knit scraps and sew up super quickly. I cut a 2T but my daughter will DEFINITELY wear this tank again next summer. It’s quite long, which is saying something as she’s very, very long in the torso and still quite roomy around her tummy and hips. Both fabrics were from Fabrications – the grey stripe is still available, but the pink stripe was stashed from last year.

Next, I made was a stack of jean shorts using the Beachcomber Shorts pattern. I used some glorious raw blue and black denim from blackbird that was also leftover from my maternity jeggings as well as some cute quilting cotton I picked up from Fabrications on a super sale. Of the three, this was the “hardest” pattern to sew, but it is still very doable for a beginner. If you chose to make this pattern out of a thicker denim, be warned that you may have a good deal of trouble sewing down the waistband near the pockets. At this point you’ll be sewing through nine layers of denim and will need to go very slow to avoid breaking your needle. Also, I had to sew in short bursts, starting and stopping where the fabric changed thickness quickly because even a hump jumper wasn’t going to help. I cut the “shorties” version as I figured bermudas would be too hot with the thick, dark denim fabrics. I also decided that I would actually flip up the cuffs to make the a little bit shorter and look a little bit cooler. With this, these shorts still pretty much reach my kid’s knees. If you intend to flip up the cuffs, make sure to finish the inside edge nicely, and don’t get lazy (like I did) and just serge with light grey.

The last item I made was another Oliver + s Bucket hat (which is FREE!!) as she grew out of the one I made her last summer. For this one, I used leftover linen from my Charlie Caftan  on the one side and some cute floral cotton I’ve used in pockets and things forever.  I didn’t make any adjustments, but I did cut the 3T size as I remembered the age-appropriate size being tight last time around.

It’s been relatively cold and rainy this June in Ottawa, so I haven’t had many opportunities to test out these clothes. So far, everything has worked pretty well, and my daughter is pretty psyched about having a wardrobe that coordinates with her baby doll (more on that next week!) even if she hasn’t noticed at all that she matches with me. I’m pretty pleased that I basically made her a new summer wardrobe (five shorts, two tanks and a bucket hat) for free and I’m pretty sure this might become a seasonal thing, now I actually have to buy clothes for my kid.