New Year’s Resolution: 12 months of children’s handmade clothes.

At the beginning of 2012, I made a new year’s resolution to sew myself one item of clothing every month, and having successfully completed 12 handmade items, I want to continue to build on my sewing skills this year. Though each of last year’s projects were different, I gained many transferable skills that have made me a better seamstress, and with each pattern I completed, I gained confidence in my ability and in my machine! I enjoyed picking fabrics, selecting styles and discovering some great sewing tricks and tips that were previously unknown to me. As a self-taught seamstress, these are the things I have had to acquire progressively over the last year and I’m determined not to let the hard work go to waste.

Now that I currently have plenty of handmade items proudly hanging in my closet, I have decided to concentrate on sewing children’s clothing during 2013. Conveniently, I have 2 children age 8 and 6, but I shall also be trying out other patterns for friends’ children of different ages. So, my new year’s resolution for 2013 is to sew one item of children’s clothing each month.

I begin my series with an embellished hoodie for my friend’s daughter as my January project, size 12 months.

I chose the Urban Hoodie pattern by Heidi & Finn, which I have sewn several times before and love.

Sewing such small items of clothing is a GREAT way to use up some larger fabric scraps you have lying around. I’m using some sweatshirt knit I have left over from a hoodie I made for myself back in May last year.

The Urban Hoodie is lined, which makes it so warm and snuggly. I am using tee shirt knit as my lining. When cutting/sewing with knits, it is important to take note of the direction of the stretch of the fabric. The stretch must run ACROSS the body/sleeves, as marked on the pattern pieces.

Before sewing the hoodie together, I decided I wanted to liven up the gray sweatshirt fabric, and also to personalize the hoodie, so I printed out the baby’s initial using a font I downloaded for free. I experimented with the sizing to make sure it fit onto the back of the hoodie pattern piece, then traced the letter onto freezer paper.

Next, using my Fiskars^® Swivel Detail Knife, I cut out the letter to make a stencil.

I then ironed the freezer paper to the back pattern piece and made certain it adhered correctly. The font I chose has small pieces inside the letter, so I stuck each small piece in the correct position before ironing.

Using a fabric paint and sponge brush, I then carefully painted over my design. It’s important to make sure the design is centrally positioned on the back pattern piece. The easiest way to do that is to fold the pattern piece in half and mark the center point with a pin and match that to the center point of the stencil.

Once the paint has thoroughly dried you can peel off the freezer paper and your design will reveal itself. Treat your fabric paints as instructed on the container.

Following the pattern directions, finish sewing up the hoodie as instructed.

The hoodie requires a few buttons at the neck opening. I’ve long since given up with matching buttons and always enjoy mixing and matching a few for an individual, unique look.