Kids Clothing Camp

 

Darby and her skirt

     I had scheduled a Clothing Camp for the summer based on a program I bought from Hipstitch Academy.  The three things they were to make were a Flower Petal Skirt, a Shorts Romper and a Halter Wrap Dress.

Ava and her skirt

     The pattern for the skirt stated it would fit up to a 36" waist.  I thought 'Great'.  That should fit everyone.  I had the moms send me the girls' measurements so I could draft the patterns ahead of time.

Evie and her skirt

     I started by making up a sample of the petal skirt.  Oh My Gosh it was so tiny, I did't think it would even fit my 6 year old granddaughter.  When I contacted the person I bought the program from to ask advice, she just said to add a petal or two.  Well that wasn't going to fix the length problem. I figured since the skirt was so tiny that the other two projects also were not going to fit my students.

Darby and her t-shirt

     I figured we could draft our own pattern for the skirt based on their measurements but I needed to do something different for the other two projects.  I chose a t-shirt and then a pair of shorts.  I contacted the moms to let them know the change of plans in case any of the girls wanted to change their mind.  They were all good with the change of plans.

Ava and her t-shirt

     

     We drafted a triangle based on their hip measurement as I knew it had to go over the hips to go on.  The length of the triangle was based on how long they wanted their skirt to be.  They turned out okay but a bit bulky in the waist with all the layers and elastic.  On the last day of camp, we took out the casing and added a waistband instead.  That helped a little.  If I do this again I would do the waistband in two steps to reduce the bulk more but we didn't have enough time this camp.

Evie and her t-shirt

     I drafted the patterns for their t-shirts from other patterns in my stash.  The sewing was straight forward but a challenge for the girls due to the knit fabric. They learned how to quarter the neck band and the neck opening so that the ribbing went on smoothly.  They all did a great job and they turned out great.

Darby and her shorts

     Then it was on to the shorts.  The girls were so happy to be working with a woven fabric again.  We did tweak some of the length and the crotch length as they were sewing.

Ava and her shorts

     There was just one other wretch thrown into all of this, Ainsley on the Friday before camp broke her foot.  She made it to camp on Monday on crutches and part of Tuesday before having to leave early for a doctor's appointment.  She was not able to make it to the last two days though.  

Evie and her shorts

     All in all camp went well and the girls had fun.  This is the second time I have used a program from Hipstitch Academy for a summer camp and things did not go well.  Last time, the yardage requirements were off and I did not check before sending out the supply list.  I did learn my lesson to always sew up samples before the start of camp to check for that and to be sure the directions are clear.