I’m soooo excited week 1 is here and I can finally share what I have made! And I’m also equally nervous, anxious and stressed about it 😉
When I first heard the theme of week 1 being pocketful of sunshine and when I saw the original dates I noticed that it coincided with the first day of school for my little girl. So I thought it would be fun to dedicate this first week challenge for this special occasion.
I chose the colour green as a central colour because to me it represents new beginnings, growth, spring, change, hope… And that seemed perfect for the start of a school career and the start of this competition. For my girl I added pink the her colour scheme because of the playfulness of pink and it’s my favourite colour. And for my boy I added yellow to his colour scheme because I like the brightness and happiness of yellow and that matches his character perfectly 😊
I have four kids but I decided to make outfits for my little girl and my youngest boy, because they’re both in kindergarten at the same school. So I thought it would be fitting if his outfit matched that of his little sister 😊
I wanted their outfits to be simple and stylish so they could play around in them at school without their clothes getting in the way or them having to worry about it. And because of the challenge & theme of this week I obviously wanted to incorporate pockets on every item I made so I made lists (in the middle of the night) of all the types of pockets I could think off: inseam pockets, welt pockets, backpockets, patch pockets, kangaroo pockets, chest pockets, zipper pockets, etc… but I know there are still so much more possibilities!
For my girl I wanted a basic dress with long sleeves. For this one I used Iluka from Little Lizard King as a starting point. I changed the neckline to a true sweetheart neckline because I really love how cute this looks. I changed the sleeves to add elastic at the bottom of them so they would stay nice at her wrist. For the pockets I wanted to create this kind of an origami-like folded effect with different fabrics and I added them to the skirt of the dress as patch pockets.
Next I made a cardigan to match the dress and chose a bright pink French terry so it would have some warmth and softness. I wanted it to be short enough to show off the skirt of the dress and used Aura from Sofilantjes as a starting point. In this cardigan I added inseam pockets and I used the same fabric as I did for the patch pockets on her dress, so it would be match even more 😉 I also made the front wider so both sides would meet in the centre.
I have made all my kids their schoolbags for kindergarten so off course I was going to make her one too. I actually bought fabric and a pattern for this project more than a year ago, but I was hesitant to make it. So when the theme was announced and since a schoolbag basically is a large, external pocket I figured it would be a shame not to include her schoolbag in my design of this week. In my search for the perfect fabric I found this canvas from See You At Six that looked classic and perfect for what I had in mind. The fabric for the inside is from Cotton+Steel and is called Hilltop sunrise which also seemed perfect to match this theme & project 😊.
For her schoolbag I wanted the shape of a classic schoolbag but I couldn’t find a pattern I liked… So I actually started from scratch for this one. She’s still so little so I didn’t want to add a whole lot of small and/or extra pockets because she just can’t use those yet. But I did add two pockets: one in the front of the bag which is divided in the middle and one zipper pocket in the interior of the bag so there’s room for storing important papers or documents if necessary. For the closure I chose two tuck locks because that’s something she knows how to use and I wanted to make sure she’s capable of opening and closing her own schoolbag. And lastly I added some glitter piping to the front of the schoolbag to make it a little more femine and just because I liked how that looked 😉
On to the outfit for my sweet boy. I started with a simple and very basic T-shirt to which I just added two breast pockets in different colours and sizes, both are functional as well. The fabric for his Tee is cotton lycra and has little animals on them which he loves. The pocket is a woven cotton so it was fun to add that little extra detail.
For his pants I started with the Bacca Bootcuts from Designs by Call Ajaire as a basic. I chose this greenish denim fabric that was love at first sight! I have made these pants for him before and I love the fit of them, but I did change quite a few things. For starters I shortened the height of the waistband to make it look a little more boyish. I changed the pattern at the back as well and left out the back yoke to make it look more like regular pants instead of jeans. I then added welt pockets with a twist. I really like the shape of that yellow line going from one corner to the other but I don’t really want to admit how long it took me to figure out how to make it and have them be functional as well EMOJI. For pants I also really love patch pockets so I changed the front of the pattern to so I could add those. I also wanted to play with the lines of the yellow contrast colour here as well.
And for his sweater I actually got inspired by the Posie dress from Peony patterns and wanted to create a similar view but obviously not on a dress, but on a sweater. So I chose the Fortuna sweater from sofilantjes as a starting point just because he was wearing his Fortuna the day I started sewing for PR+P and I noticed how good the fit was. The fabric base I used is French Terry. For this one I started with drawing a kangaroo pocket in which both his hands could fit. When I had the measurements of the pockets I changed the front of the sweater so there would be cutlines that meet up with the sides of the kangaroo pockets and that went up to the shoulder seam.
To finish off their going to school outfits they both needed spring jackets and for both I used the Pacifica Jacket from Little Lizard King as a starting point.
For Marilou I used the same denim fabric as Jakobs pants and the lining of her jacket is the same as her dress. For her jacket I didn’t change a lot to the original design but I added pockets between the front panels. They’re higher at the front than at the back and I added an elastic to them so they would be a little puffy. For the casing of the elastic I used the same fabric as the lining.
For Jakob I used canvas from See You at Six that has a large grid. It’s a slightly different colour than the fabric I used for Marilou her schoolbag, but it’s from the same brand and I think both match good together so I used the smaller grid for his pockets. So for his jackets I did change the original design. For starters I changed the curve of the side seam to make the waist and hips more aligned and more boyish. Next I changed the cutlines on the front and back to make them look more like a classic denim jacket. This jacket has two different kinds of pockets: welt pockets that are functional and he can use (and for which I used the smaller grid fabric) and also fake breast pockets (because I hadn’t made fake pockets yet 😉). I originally had different fabric for the lining but when I saw the cotton lycra with balloons it was a true fabric crush and I’m so happy I got to use that fabric. His birth announcement also had hot air balloons so they’re extra special to us 😊
And lastly I also made the doll a new outfit so the doll could practice going to school like she would be doing 😉
The doll dress exactly matches that one of my little girl and I used the Iluka doll dress as well and made the same changes to the neckline and sleeves. I also added the same origami-like functional patch pockets. And then I also made the doll a teeny tiny schoolbag with one tuck lock and the exact same fabric combination. My daughter is always so excited to see her matching her doll and this time was no exception. I scored some serious mom-points 😉
If you have read this far: thank you so much!
And I hope you will hop on over to the Project Run & Play blog and cast your vote for your favourite designs of this week.
Ans lastly I sincerely hope I can show you my project of next week in this competition 😉 But please feel free to contact me with any thoughts, questions or remarks you might have or leave a respons!
Love
Nele
For who’s interested in the fabrics I used, here’s a list of the fabrics and the places I bought them (they’re all situated in Belgium).
Marilou:
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Dress: poplin cotton from Poppy Fabrics, bought at Stoffen van Leuven
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Cardigan: French terry, bought at De Stoffenknop
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Schoolbag: outer fabric is canvas from See You at Six, bought at De Stoffenkamer, lining fabric is cotton from Cotton+Steel, bought at Pieke wieke
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Jacket: Outside is denims fabric, bought at Stoffen van Leuven, lining is the same poplin cotton from Poppy Fabrics as her dress
Jakob:
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Pants: Denim frabric bought at Stoffen van Leuven, the same fabric as Marilou her jacket
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T-shirt: Cotton Lycra from Qjutie, bought at Stoffen van Leuven
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Sweater: French Terry with leaves bought at Stoffen van Leuven & uni yellow brushed sweater, bought at De Stoffenknop
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Jacket: Outside is a combination of canvas thin grids from See You at Six, bought at Het Motief, the lining is cotton lycra bought at De stoffenknop
Doll:
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Dress: poplin cotton from Poppy Fabrics, bought at Stoffen van Leuven
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Little schoolbag: outer fabric is canvas from See You at Six, bought at De Stoffenkamer, lining fabric is cotton from Cotton+Steel, bought at Pieke wieke
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Wow! Such amazing work this week. The pockets on the pants are my favorite. The contrasting colors and the creative piecing is just fantastic. You have outdone yourself with all the pieces in this week's entry. Great job!
Thank you SO much! I really had a lot of fun sewing for this first week! :-)