Well I woke up sick yesterday and nearly threw in the towel on Kids Clothes Week, but I’m chugging along slowly just to see what I can get done. I started out with a possible 6ish projects for this week and that list has quickly dwindled to two. If I can finish two things, I’ll be psyched.
Neither of my daughters really need any new clothes. Yuki’s drawers are overflowing and Kaya’s are too, plus she grows out of everything so fast. So naturally I was drawn to the least practical thing ever.
But seriously cute, no?
It’s the Knit Vest from a Japanese sewing book, いちばんよくわかる赤ちゃんと小さな子の服 (Easy to Understand Baby and Little Kids Clothes). You can see more pictures from the book in this post here.
Frankly, I surprised myself when I picked out a project from a Japanese sewing book. I have so many that sit on my shelf, usually passed up for a more user-friendly PDF pattern in English. But it was calling to me, so I just went with it. Since my kids don’t actually NEED anything, I might as well use this as an opportunity to practice new sewing skills.
The fabric is a really loose sweater knit that I’ve had in my stash for a long time. Really soft and comfy, but very tricky to sew with. Definitely helped to use the walking foot for this one. And I couldn’t get my buttonhole foot to work on the thick layers of folded knit, so I had to do some zig zag hackery on that buttonhole. The tricky fabric made this a little difficult to sew up and honestly, it’s not my finest work (don’t look too closely at my stitches!), but really, who is going to notice? Especially when it’s on this little one!
BAM! Bet you don’t even notice the vest at all now, huh? She makes me feel all gooey.
Haha. Anyways, the pattern itself was fairly straight forward and easy enough to figure out with all the great diagrams and tips I learned during the Japanese Sewing Book Series.
I made size 70 which, according to the book, is for 3-10 months and 65-75 cm in height. That’s a little bigger than Kaya is, so I assumed it was going to be too big for her. It fits her, but is still a little big thankfully, so she can wear it for . . . I dunno, two more days maybe!? (they grow so fast!)
It was fun making something for Kaya. She’s wearing practically all hand-me-downs, so it feels good giving her something that was made just for her. But seriously, after I sewed on that tiny detailed lil pocket, I couldn’t help but ask, “what the heck does a 4 month old need with a pocket!?”
Alright, I’m off to the Kids Clothes Week site to figure out how to upload my first project! Then maybe I’ll make a shirt for my other daughter. And then sleep.
Ahh yes, sleeeeep.
How’s your week going!?
you and mie 
My week just got that bit better for having seen this cute baby, I mean project! Yes, Kaya is totally the star, not the vest. But the vest comes a close second, and that totally impractical pocket makes all the difference 😉 Hope you get better soon!
Haha, I do appreciate your honesty 🙂 Everyone needs a little baby in their week.
So cute! I failed on my first try with sweater knit. So fail. Threw it in the trash. It does feel nice to make something for the hand me down kids though. Sounds like your kcw is going the way of mine. I’m nursing a case of mastitis now. Fml
Hoping the mastitis is totally cleared up by now. I feel like moms should be immune to all health issues the first year of baby’s life cuz we got enough sh*t to deal with, but instead it’s like “YOUR BODY IS GOING TO TURN AGAINST YOU NOW SO DEAL WITH IT AND YOUR CRYING BABY.” Freakin’ jerks. JK. Anyways, this knit was pretty flimsy – almost made me think I had made the wrong choice. I just got another sweater knit, hopefully for me. We’ll see how that goes
This is so cute. Great job. Hope you feel all better, soon.
Thank you!
Both the bub and the vest are way too cute! That book is one of the few Japanese books for baby that I have seen (correct me if I’m wrong!), there seem to be lots for 2 years + but not too many for newborn?! I might need to check it out again the next time I’m at Kinokuniya.
As for sleep, the best piece of advice my ob-gyn gave me was to sleep when baby sleeps 🙂
Yeah, I haven’t seen many for baby either so I was excited when I found this one! It’s got a lot of great basic pieces for baby/toddler. Hopefully I’ll get around to trying some of the other patterns in the book. And yeah, I’ve definitely heard that advice, but then I feel like I want to use the time to do something I can’t do when she’s awake – like sew 🙂
This looks great, Cherie! As for the pocket, who cares whether it’s there or not. Lots of kids’ clothing has decorative pockets. Put one of her favorite toys in it. She’ll probably be surprised that it’s there to begin with.
Oh, sorry did you write anything about sewing? I couldn’t stop looking at your sweet little daughter…
Haha! Nope – nothing important anyway 😛
Oh My God, she’s sooooooo adorable!!!
That is darling! And not entirely impractical — it’s great layered over a onesie like that. (Hope she starts sleeping better soon, though. Not sleeping sucks).
Yes, you’re right – it is good to layer. And look cute 😉
Cute! Everything about those photos is cute! I love Japanese patterns too.
Wow, what a fun little layering piece! I’m really tempted to make one for my toddler. It’s a nice take on a traditional vest. Well done! (both the cute baby and the vest). 🙂
Thanks! Now that it’s done, I don’t think it’d be as hard to do again. And maybe next time with elastic casing at the bottom instead. It’d definitely be cute on a toddler!
This is such a cute little layering piece. I’ll bet she gets a lot of wear out of it! Does Kaya have adorable dimples? Could she be any cuter? And so cheerful!
You’re right – I didn’t really think about it as practical because I usually just put her in a onesie and if it’s cold, a jacket. But yes, this can be practical too. And I think she does have dimples! I don’t see them all the time, but once in awhile they just appear! Hope they stay!!
All 4 month olds need super cool pockets on their clothes 😉
Haha, totally!!
Seriously cute. Makes me feel broody! Does she smile like that ALL the time?
Hehe, not aaaall the time. But she’s much more smiley than our other daughter was. And such a sweet and chill baby. I’m very lucky!!
She is just too adorable. I want to snuggle her to bits – great vest too, of course! You make me want to pull out all my Japanese sewing books and get sewing.
Yes, we’ll have to get the babes together once your newest is here. Then we can snuggle each others babies for a bit. Does that seem weird!? Haha. You most definitely should pull out your Japanese sewing books! It is a fun challenge once in awhile.
she is so darling! love that little pocket- even if it is just for show. 🙂
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Oh….she is so so so adorable!! I love her little vest, it’s so cute and the sewing looks fine from here! My youngest has pretty much all hand me downs too, so she gets super excited when I sew something new for her. Poor girl.
awww!!! this is so cute!!! *-*
This is so pretty and she’s so darn sweet!!!
awwwwww she is so cute!! And the vest matches her perfectly 🙂
I think the pocket makes it a bit more girly and therefore even more cute – a perfect combination!
I saw the sewingbook some years ago in Japan, but I didn´t buy it (and afterwards cried because I didn´t buy it..) so my hubby offered to get it for me – and I totally forgot the title, so we couldn´t find it anymore! Thanks to you I finally can!! Thank you sooo much! :3
omg, this is uber cute!! She is very cute and the vest made her even cuter. I never sewn anything in my life and only recently became interested to learn to sew and knit, and this post motivated me even more!