Sewing: vintage gnome shirt.

Sewing: vintage gnome shirt. | Clean.

Sewing: vintage gnome shirt. | Clean.

Last weekend was packed with lots of little one-hour projects.

They are becoming my favorite these days, when my "to do" list is long
and sometimes a project goes on for ages before completion. So to start
and finish in the time it takes me to brew and drink a cup of tea is sometimes ideal.

Small
projects – I find – are also great motivation to walk away from whatever
screen is distracting me (or you, perhaps) from real life and get busy with some
creating.

That's what I did anyway.

Sewing: vintage gnome shirt. | Clean.

Sewing: vintage gnome shirt. | Clean.

I decided to sew as many of Lupine's new summer clothes as I can this year. And I wasn't
feeling up to the fancy-pants-too-complicated-to-be-satisfying boutique
clothing patterns I had chosen for her new dress and pants.

Digging through my small pattern stash for a plan-B I
found a vintage 80's pattern for a simple little girl's shirt. An hour
later Lupine had a new top, ready for summer.

Sewing: vintage girl's shirt. | Clean.


Sewing: vintage gnome shirt. | Clean.

Sewing: vintage gnome shirt. | Clean.

The
yellowed sewing pattern envelope was dated "1981" and had an original sale
price of $0.87. I'm sure I paid more than that at the thrift store where
I found it when Lupine was a baby.

In all
likely hood I was drawn to it because my grandma sewed similar shirts
for me in the 70's and 80's (through I suspect with a bit more polyester
in the mix). But the pattern was so cute that even if it was five sizes
too big at the time I snatched it up, only to forget about it until
this weekend.

Sewing: vintage gnome shirt. | Clean.

As for the fabric, I have a hoarding confession. When Heather Ross's
gnome fabric went out of print years back I found some on-line and
bought all they had (a gluttonous 2 1/2 yards). I've been stingy with it
until now, using just a bit here and a bit there until I realized that my children are rapidly outgrowing gnome prints.

"Sew! Sew like the wind with that gnome print!" I said to no one in particular.

The sleeves
are as vintage as the pattern (probably older), salvaged from a friends'
scrap bag. I think in a past life they were a dress or a skir as it was
already sewn at the edges and hemmed. 

Sewing: vintage gnome shirt. | Clean.

Sweet and quick! My kind of sewing. Full disclosure – the sleeves are about two inches too short. I guess I waited a year to long to rediscover that pattern. But she loves it anyway. When I make the next I'll adjust the pattern for her long little self.

What is your favorite quick-and-easy project?

8 thoughts on “Sewing: vintage gnome shirt.

  1. Karen says:

    I have to say that I have a thing for gnomes too. And toadstools.
    My favorite sewing to do for my littlest (the big ones just don’t want me sewing their clothes anymore – why I ask?) is pants. I have a pattern I based loosely on a pattern from an Emma Hardy’s book called Making Children’s Clothes. It is a pretty much no-fail, quick sew, instant gratification kind of project.

  2. Karen C says:

    What an adorable little top! When the sleeves get even shorter, you can still modify them to short sleeves. My favorite quick project are little zipper pouches. They work double duty as gift wrap, too!

  3. Jill P says:

    Peasant tops and loose fitting pants/capris are my go to for my 5 year old’s wardrobe. I can finish an outfit in just over an hour, lots of cute fabrics and comfy and easy to play in. 🙂

Leave a Reply