Kids Clothes Week - Refashioned Waistcoat and Tweedy Tailored Shorts

Yes, that's a car, not a camera!

Here are my first offerings for Kids Clothes Week - Let's start with the shorts. I love them!

 

I used Figgy’s Banyan pattern (again!) using the shorts pattern as the basis for these. I made a few changes though; I wanted a simplified tailored look so I took out the pockets and zip fly and redrafted the waistband so that it was higher and could feature the mother-of-pearl buttons (I saved those from an old cardigan). Using a bit of mint green thread to sew on the buttons adds a pop of colour.

I fully lined the shorts as tweed can be a little rough and used the Figgy’s adjustable waistband method which helps them stay up on S who has no bottom whatsoever! 

I love this herringbone tweed – I made a dress from it for myself a few years ago and used a small remnant to whip up these shorts. They would work well with tights in the cold too but we went for a summery look today as the sun is out and we want it to stay out!

These also fit in with another blog event happening at the moment - Calling All Kids on the excellent Alida Makes blog which is challenging people to make clothes for kids that challenge gender stereotypes...surely nothing crosses the gender divide more than purple tweed?!

Next, I made the little waistcoat out of one of my old tops that was stained and ready to be thrown out. I love the colour of the jersey though so I decided to refashion it into a cute little waistcoat.

After!

 I popped it on S inside out and went to work with some pins; I took in the sides and reworked the shoulder details, removing the lapel and making it smaller, then I popped some darts in the back and cut a curved high-low hem around the bottom to make the most of the drapey jersey. I have to admit making a curved hem on the slip jersey was tricky, but nothing a funky bit of orange trim doesn’t cover up!