You're very welcome for the shirt placket tutorial! I'm happy with how my sleeves turned out - I hope this method will work for you, too. Thank you all for the compliments on the sweater. Maybe there will be a picture of me acutally wearing it tomorrow. That depends on the photographers.
Every year I make my niece clothes for her birthday. Usually it is a coordinated ensemble of some sort, with a dress, shirt and shorts. This year's ensemble has four pieces, two tops, shorts and a skirt. The children and I chose the ladybug fabric and coordinating solid red and red squares to go with it.
Keeping all my old BWOFs came in handy, because I was able to find just the right inspiration and patterns. For patterns, we chose BWOF 3/08, #131, 133, 134 and Simplicity 2907, which was close enough to the BWOF shirt #130 from the same group. I've already sewn the Simplicy twice, plus I didn't have to trace it!
Most of these pieces were very, very easy. The skirt could be made without a pattern - it is just rectangles and an elastic waist with the addition of buttons on the hem band.
The tie top is easy and cute - no zippers or buttons, either! The bonus is that it is adjustable because the ties are functional.
The shirt really wasn't that hard, especially since the collar and stand are in one piece rather than two.
The shorts are your typical full-of-details BWOF - gathered pockets, zipper, and tie bands at the hem. These took me the longest time to finish, even with omitting the zipper. I figured the zipper would end up being about two inches long anyway, and since there was back elastic, there really wasn't any point in putting the zipper in. I just doubled checked the pattern finished measurements with the waist and hip measurement I had and decided it would be just fine. 
I don't think it took too long to make this set - I work on it for two Sunday afternoons, and finished the shorts this week as part of the 30 minutes per day for Monday and Tuesday. Overall, I think it is a cute set, not very difficult to make and worth keeping the old BWOF for. I will see my niece in a few weeks, so I'll be able to deliver the set to her personally this year!
Parting Shot: Removal. Our roof is being fixed and reshingled, so the contractor spent most of today removing all the old shingles. The weather has been so rainy that he is behind in a lot of projects. We're hoping the weather is good for the rest of the week so he can finish before we leave for vacation.
10 comments:
Very cute outfits for your niece! I made those shorts last summer for my DGD--they were definitely fiddley!
Lucky niece!
Lynda
Great set, my oldest would love that fabric. I always wanted to make those shorts, but haven't gotten around to it. I may take my oldest's TNT shorts and add the tie detail to the hem rather than tracing another pattern.
Totally adorable outfits. I loved sewing for my girls when they were little. The shapes were so simple and the fabrics great to play with.
What an adorable outfit!
Darling ensemble. Brings back wonderful memories of when I would for my girls when they were little!
I love the shorts. The fabric is adorable for a little girl.
Super cute set, glad my nieces are too young to have read this - I am a bad auntie and really must make them something soon.
Your niece's outfit is really cute. I love the co-ordinating fabrics.
Good luck with the roof. We're still waiting to have the remaining 2/3 of ours done.
What a lovely set! My personal favorite is the red shorts! I really love it and I might steal your styling idea and make a pair of shorts for my goddaughter!
Very cute ensemble for your niece. Love how the fabrics go together.
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