sewing, not quilting question

Perhaps you are referring to a smock. A simple solution would be to measure from over the shoulder to over the shoulder, then length to cover what you want to cover, perhaps about where a pair of shorts would come. Then, cut out two panels of perhaps duck or denim and hem all the way around. You can attach the shoulders with two tabs of material...sew one side and button or velcro the front. Attach ribbon to the sides to close, or you can sew together....hemming the sides wouldn't be necessary. However, children like to move about, and the smock would be more comfortable with ties on the sides.

A lot depends on Miss Sofi's choice of medium to express her creativity. If she is charmed with a dainty bit of school glue and washable crayons, that is one thing but if she goes for fun stuff like red clay or quick-setting concrete that's quite another. For an extreme mess, a hand towel draped across her front and pinned at the back of her neck plus a ribbon around the waist is effective and fast. Our children and grandchildren always were inspired by the grubby kind of art. For refined and gentle creativity, you could review what's available over at

Probably that gingham apron you had was what we would call a 'pinafore'. You could do a search to see if you could find any free patterns. When I was a little girl I had a painter's smock made from one of my grandpa's old white shirts. Cut the sleeves off to match her arm's length and then hem so you can put elastic around the wrists, take the collar off and hem or finish, then Sofi can wear it backwards (buttoned up the back). Makes a great kiddy smock, roomy enough for comfort over whatever she is wearing and movement and long enough to protect clothing, including her sleeves, from artistic endeavors.

Oh! my gosh Val, I had the same thing! But it was my father's shirt [all my grandparents passed before any of the grandkids were born]. I remember trying to figure out how to button it myself up my back, and taking it to school to work on the easels during art class. Pretty colorful result, on the shirt.

Thanks for the pleasant Sunday morning memory ;)

G> Probably that gingham apron you had was what we would call a 'pinafore'. You

I just had the same issue with my youngest (almost 2). I just got a t- shirt in about a size 4-6, cut it straight up the back, hemmed the raw edges and put ribbon ties at two different places down the back. I did it that way so she wouldn't get paint in her hair if she pulled it over her head. She just puts her tiny arms through the armholes and one of her "teachers" ties her shut.

I'm guessing you're looking for something a little fancier though, but that's an idea anyway.

Tamra

com

Yep! That is the way to go! Only the way I do it is to cut and hem the sleeve so they are 3/4 length. You don't need the elastic then. Though with the one I made for DD3 I hadn't finished making it when she needed it for kindergarten so everything was done but the sleeves. My scissors seemed to have gone walkabout, so I took a fold in each sleeve to get the required length and left the cuffs on. Then I used a kitchen knife to get the cuff buttons off and sewed them back on so that the cuffs fit snug on her forearm. It is amazing what you can pull off under school morning pressure! She liked it a lot and didn't want me to change the sleeves though I had had reservations about the buttons.

DD2 liked wearing hers button side front because it had pockets. That worked just fine too.

All I would add to this is make sure it is a good stout shirt.

NightMist

I used my dad's old oxford style shirt, with the sleeves rolled up. Debra in VA See my quilts at

My son's preschool does this for their art table. They have several shirts for the kids to put on to keep their clothes clean while the creative juices are flowing. Some still have the buttons, and a couple have the top button replaced by velcro which is much easier for the kids because they can put them on themselves and also remove it them themselves.

That's awesome! Thanks for the link - bookmarked it immediately! (I've got grandkids/gt.grandkids/grand nephews who'll sure get use out of one of those!)

Thank you, Marissa. Our 3.5 year-old will be coming for a visit in October. That should give me time to locate the glitter and glue in my stash of fun stuff. (Just in case, you know.) For Miss Sofi's sleeves, a quick/easy fix would be to simply take some plain old white 'tubey' socks', cut off the heel-to-toe part and slip the stretchy ribbed remains over her wrists to elbow. It would be a good use for socks that have seen their best days. If they are too big for little arms, you could stitch a seam to make them smaller. I keep a pair of them in the kitchen to keep my 'serious cleaning' gloves from slipping and gaping open at my wrists. Works great, free and quite disposable. Polly

did it guys! with an old Stefanel shirt of mine I used to bits - bought it when I lived in Rome back in 1993!

I did exactly what you suggested: trimmed the sleeves and added elasticized the cuffs (had to do one 3 times to avoid cutting the blood flow to her hands! :o), removed the collar, trimmed the bottom so she would not trip and hemmed it.... she loves it!

On Tue, 9 Oct 2007 15:45:34 -0500, DrQuilter wrote (in article ):

I bet she looks too cute in it, too!

Maureen

yup. and we got her an easel in ikea yesterday.. perfect combo! I'll take a pic when she is absorbed in her artistic endeavours and will post it in webshots for you guys to see...