Real talk: I wasn’t sure if I should write this blog post.

I have to confess that sometimes when I see a blog post that’s outside the ‘adult garment’ category – a kids’ item or a bag or embroidery, personally, sometimes I kind of switch off…

I mean there is already enough in the ‘adult garment’ category that I desperately want to sew but will never find time to do so, do I really need to be expanding my focus?

But, in the end, I decided to post anyway. Partly, cuz one of the upsides of having a blog is that you can be entirely selfish about what you put on it! And also because the main rationale behind this blog is wanting to share some tips which might help others one day (desperately googling a problem). There’s no reason kids sewing doesn’t also warrant that kind of assistance!!

So, here goes!

I went on a bit of a kids sewing extravaganza at the end of last year, sewing three lovely patterns from Misusu Patterns for some of the little ones in my life: the Dia sweater, the Origami sweater and the Jonas Cardigan. If there are kids in your life, spend some time ogling all the amazing options on the Misusu website. It is direly tempting!

Oh, and just in case your interests also lie in purely adult garment related, the Dia Sweater has just been released in a version for adults.

Sewing for Kids: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

The Good: The scrap busting potential is amazing! Of all the garments featured on this page, the whale printed fleece is the only fabric specifically purchased. Everything else is made out of scraps. And, even with the whales, I had 1 metre, which I put towards making THREE origami sweaters.

Not bad, right?

The Bad: A major downer of kids’ sewing is that, well, kids grow like weeds. Which means that, even though I’m likely to sew these patterns again for the same kids, they are unlikely to be the same size by the time I do so. And I find it a bit depressing that my painstakingly pieced together PDF patterns will only EVER be used just once…

Boo hoo

The Ugly: I frickin’ hate installing snaps. They never work out completely. My snap installation consistently ruins my projects at the final step. There are many tears and much swearing involved whenever I have to install snaps in a project. I would say that I’m lucky if about half the snaps I try to install actually close as they are supposed to.

Snaps are my enemy.

Alright, rant over, let’s get to the patterns!

Dia Sweater

So, just a few little notes to share about the Dia Sweater, in case you are attempting one of your own.

First of all, just a word of admiration. Isn’t this design totally awesome?

It was definitely the right choice for Misusu patterns to launch into grown-up sewing patterns. The entire time I was sewing it, I was secretly wishing for one of my own!

Second, disclaimer. My baby nieces are not going to give a damn that the points on that diamond do not line up correctly. Nor will my sister, their mother. Nor do I. Sorry perfectionists, but I am a firm believer in ‘near enough is good enough’ – ESPECIALLY if sewing for babies!! Those diamonds are going to be covered in body fluid in no time at all anyway.

So, I sewed these two coordinating, but not identical, Dia sweaters for my twin nieces. Cuz what could be cuter than almost twinning twins!

The instructions for the Dia Sweater are outstanding. They are extremely clear and detailed. Even though this pattern has A LOT of pieces, I would say that the high quality instructions makes the Dia Sweater accessible to even beginner sewists.

I had some fun with these Dia Sweaters testing out the capacities of my new Pfaff sewing machin by writing the girls’  names in the sweaters.

I also added their initials to the back.

My only practical tip relates to the cuffs (and this goes equally for the other patterns below).

When you’re sewing for 6 month olds, the sleeve cuffs are teeny tiny. Do yourself a favour and just attach the cuffs in the flat, before you sew up the side seam and sleeve seam. Because I know there is no way the free arm of my sewing machine could have handled this in the round!

Origami Sweater

OK, moving on from little girls to little boys. I also made 3 boys’  origami sweaters, in sizes 1-2 years, 2-3 years and 3-4 years. Before going into the detail, one thing I totally love about (many) Misusu patterns is that they are basically unisex, it’s all about the fabrics you use.

I definitely want to sew my son a Dia sweater one day too!

So, the origami sweater.

I’d been ogling this pattern for months and months. That neckline and the design lines are just so eye-catching and spectacular, right?

It was spotting this design on instagram that first introduced me to Misusu patterns.

My one word of practical advice for the Origami sweater is to absolutely label all the cut pieces for the collar. There are so many that appear similar but not exactly the same. At first I tried not labelling my cut pieces. I’m lazy, I usually don’t do this.

Suffice it to say that I cut and sewed myself into a muddle and needed to start again. So label your pieces.

I actually found the Origami slightly more difficult to sew than the Dia Sweater, that neckline felt like it took a while to put together. But, in the end, all was well.

Another thing to note, most of these sweaters were sewn as gifts, so they couldn’t be tried on. I did make an Origami sweater for my son, however, and the sleeve was very looooong on him. I had to cut two inches of the length for it to fit. So I would say that the sleeve length it is definitely designed with the potential unpredictable proportions of growing kids in mind!

Jonas Cardigan

This Jonas Cardigan was born because I had some of this wool jersey from my Ulysses trench leftover and I thought my son would look really cute in it.

I chose the non-colour blocked version and left off the pockets because this was supposed to be a very quick scrap busting sew.

Instead, I messed this up so bad, I almost chucked it!!!

I’m sure you can sense my frustration in the poor details above. Buttonhole and snap disasters (more on that below), hideous top stitching, thrown in the wash to pill like crazy.

Gotta be honest, this is a garment that won’t survive long and I kind of want to growl at it every time I see it (No, I’m sure this won’t cause my son to have any issues…)

Still, I thought I would include details of the disaster (self-induced) here, just in case it may one day serve as a ‘what-not-to-do’.

Snap horror

The problem was the button/neck band. I was making mine in a ponte, rather than a ribbing. This meant that the pattern pieces were much too small and I had to lengthen them considerably.

Then, I went off-piste, abandoning the instructions.

And things got ugly.

The rationale was that, as already mentioned multiple times (befitting of the irrational level of my hatred), I HATE snaps. Instead, I’d wanted to install buttons. I thought that to do that, I should probably interface the band in the button area. Which I did.

Then the instructions called for just sewing the band directly to the cardigan, leaving the seam exposed. Myself, I have a cardigan like this and the seam likes to flop open, becoming visible.

So I decided to finish the band cleanly, everything tucked nicely inside.

While, nice in theory.

But, between the interfacing and the clean finish, the button band ended up being so thick that my sewing machine would not sew buttonholes through it. No matter what I did.

See, check out those half finished button holes.

Great look, right?

So, I had to revert to snaps. I tried kiddy-type plastic snaps. They were NOT going to work.

I then used large metal snaps designed for anoraks. ANORAKS people. This is a damn toddler’s cardigan.

Should be a snap, right?

Well, the button band was so thick that I still couldn’t get them through.

I had 10 snaps in my packet. After many attempts, I managed to get 2 installed. All those other snaps ended up mis-shapen and ruined. Or perhaps thrown off my balcony in rage.

Seriously, this was supposed to be a quick sew.

No snaps, ever again. I promise!

I’m done.

But, hey, you should probably just follow the instructions for the neckband in the Jonas Cardigan and not make yourself a super thick monster like mine!!

Do you sew for kids?

Apart from the occasional scrap busting, I really don’t sew for kids often. But I have to say, I found it surprising fun.

Well, except for the Jonas cardigan. And the snaps.

Sewing generally feels soothing, the way we can control a process and an outcome. Sewing for kids is the same, but somehow feels just a bit more magical…

Do you know what my son has requested now?

His own version of my navy sequined bomber Eagle jacket. I have just about enough fabric leftover that I may be able to use the Jonas cardigan to come up with something.

If I can bring myself to look at the pattern again…

Oh and, finally, a little P.S! If you like to get your blog hits through Bloglovin’, feel free to follow me over there: you can find me here. And you can find me on Instagram here.