Finally sewing for MY kids .

My kids have been long neglected with mummy made clothes while I was running my Kooka's Clothing business . It was my first day back from holidays today and I thought It was the perfect time to start the never ending list of things I have waiting to make for them .

 First up , a sleep shirt for Kaitlin . I was going to make a night dress but didn't have a pattern traced and was feeling inpatient today  . I had an Imke shirt traced ( from the "sewing Clothes Kids Love" book ) in her size so went with that . I used the size 86 and added 3 cm to the hem as I remember the pattern being a bit short last time I made it .

 I wanted to use a soft rib knit I bought from another Crafty Mama a while back but have never sewn with a rib knit before . I could tell I was going to have to be careful about it stretching through my machine . The first thing you do with a T-shirt is sew up one shoulder , I knew from a few shirts I own that the shoulder seams can be strengthened with a woven tape . Of course I don't have any of that so used a selvage strip from some woven fabric instead .  This was an essential step with this knit fabric , it would stretch out of shape after a few wears if you dont do it . I have never bothered with it using a cotton/spandex or lycra blend knit as the tend to bounce back in shape no worries . You can see the selvage overlocked in to the seam ,  I will trim this back to the stitching later .

 This Imke was done using the girls body pattern pieces and the short puffed sleeves . The sleeves are made by gathering the curved edge before sewing them to the armholes and sewing a small casing along the straight edges and threading elastic through .

 As you can see its not yet hemmed , I think I will do a overlocked lettuce hem on this one . I will also make a quick pair of PJ shorts to match .... just need another nap time to get it done .

 I do find this pattern a tad wide for my liking , still on the look out for a slimmer fit T-Shirt pattern . If you can recommend one please let me know . But it is such a versatile pattern with three sleeve options and options for two different hoods if you want them AND two body shapes , one for boys and girls . I suppose I really should just modify the width of the pattern pieces and same myself from buying yet another pattern .