Great books on sewing for children

Not long ago I started collecting sewing books, some reference but mostly books with specific projects that include full size patterns. I LOVE them and when you factor the price of one pattern(up to about $15) a book with 8-10 patterns for $25 is a GREAT deal!

I wanted to share some of my faves. The first is called Making Children's Clothes and right now it's on sale on Amazon for only $13.57. The title is an active link straight to the listing on Amazon.

 

I LOVE this book, it is probably my favorite book for all around sewing for kids as it includes basics for both boys and girls. It includes the full sized patterns for everything in the book, the downside is that the patterns have to be traced or copied onto pattern or tracing paper because all the patterns are overlaped onto one another. I have made a couple things from this book and plan on making many more, I honestly like and would make EVERY garment in this book. It contains 25 projects for children 0-5. The baby patterns are adorable, unfortunately by the time I bought the book my baby was too big :( It includes all the basics for a complete wardrobe from pants to tops, dresses to pajamas. There is even a great little dressing gown(robe). I  love the accessories as well. There is a simple appliqued scarf and fabric headband with a couple variations. I have made probably 10 of the headbands to match outfits for my girls. I tried long and hard to find images from the book but to no avail so I'll just say a bit about the projects I like the most and have made. The first thing I made was a simple little cord skirt with a banded hem of printed fabric trimmed with velvet ribbon. It took less than an hour and is adorable.I'd show a pic but it is buried in the laundry somewhere. I also made the simple lined a- line pinafore dress that is embellished with yo-yo flowers with grosgrain ribbon stems. Again, it was very simple and the instructions were clear and easy to understand with photos. I highly recommend this book, it is great for all skill levels and has something for everyone.

Little Girls, Big Style by Mary Abreu is another of my current favorites. If you click on the linked title it will take you to the listing on Amazon where you can see pages from the book. The basic premise of the book is several  basic designs that have several variations. The book includes the full sized patterns for the basic pieces and step by step instructions with photos for making the variations. There is the "Barely Basic Bodice" that makes 8 different variations. I used this pattern for my first project from the book, the Pocket Pinafore. Here is my finished product

This little piece took only a little over an hour. Other basics from the book are the peasant top/dress which has 5 cute variations. There are also pants in 6 variations and 6 skirt styles. I especially like the "On the Border Skirt" which is an adorable drop waist skirt made of two fabrics and with a ruffle trim between the two, it's my next project from this book. Over all this is a good book with lots of great ideas for spicing up the basics. I will be honest though, I am not a fan of  the big ruffle look so some of the styles I'm not interested in but other than that, great book. Here are a few photos from Little Girls, Big Style

Everyone knows that little girls LOVE American Girl dolls so what could be better than a book filled with patterns for matching girl and doll outfits! There are lots of great doll pattern sources out there but I especially like All Dolled Up by Joan Hinds again the link goes to Amazon. I just recently bought this book so I haven't made any of the projects yet but I do have a few faves here are a few

t shirt dress

cupcake apronjumper

 The book includes the full sized patterns and a bonus DVD with tips and techniques from the author herself. I have read through the book and the instructions are clear and easy to follow. I'm excited to make the matching aprons they are so sweet. I also want to make the tshirt dresses because I love to reuse and upcyle old clothes, especially Ts.

While gathering the info and links I happened upon a few other books I just have to have! One of them is an upcoming release titled Oliver +S Little Things To Sew, made by the pattern company Oliver +S. Very excited for this one, off to preorder :)