School Outfits

Miss E's First/Last Day of Kindergarten Outfit

Miss D's First/Last Day of Preschool Outfit

Miss E's First/Last Day of Kindergarten Socks and Hair Bows

Miss D's First/Last Day of Preschool Socks and Hair Bows

                                                                             Last fall instead of going to the store and buying expensive new school clothes, I used my gift card from the second hand store in our area to buy the girls new school clothes. All year round as the kids outgrow things, I turn them in there and instead of getting cash back for them I almost always opt for 10% more back in store credit. At twenty dollars a visit, it doesn't seem like much, but after a while it starts to add up. I was able to get pretty much everything that the girls needed to be "dressed in style" for the 2012-2013 school year.
     For their first day of school outfits however, I wanted to do something a little more special. Since I have been getting a bit more adventurous with sewing over the past few years, I felt confident that I could handle making a simple jumper for each of them without having to use a pattern. I simply traced a jumper that fit each of them, added seam allowances, and a yolk, and whipped them up in no time. The tops snap closed under the bows. I also added a custom applique to fit the "theme" of each jumper. Miss E's is a cat since it is her favorite animal and Miss D's is a Blue Butterfly because that was the name of her preschool class this year.
     As sort of a challenge to myself, I decided to use only items that I had on hand. Luckily, I had plenty of cute fabrics stocked up from previous 50% and 60% off sales at the fabric store and I was able to choose something for each girl that I felt truly captured their personalities. I also embellished coordinating ruffle sleeved polo shirts and socks (from the Children's Place,) as well as a pair of hair elastics. It only took me a couple hours total to sew both jumpers and in just a few evenings while watching T.V. I was able to hand sew the polo shirt, sock and hair bows to complete the outfits.

A close up of Miss D's socks just because they're cute!

Miss D's patched up leggings for her last day of Kindergarten

     For the last day of school I decided that it would be neat to have them wear the same outfit so we could compare how much they have grown. When I had them try on their outfits a few weeks ago, I realized that they had gotten so much taller (especially Miss D) that their once "jumpers" hand turned into "jumper shirts." We solved the problem pretty easily by adding leggings to their outfits. The only problem was that last night (the day before Miss E's last day of school) when we were setting out her clothes for the next day, we realized there was a small hole in the left knee of her only pair of matching leggings.
     After the kids went to bed, I dipped into my scrap bin, used some wonder under (or whatever it's called,) and made a quick little patch. I did not bother to reinforce it with any stitching since it was just for one day and I plan to turn the leggings into ruffle bottom shorts for the summer anyway, but I still think they're pretty cute for a five minute fix and Miss E just loves them. In fact, she requested a close up picture of her "cute new pants" I made her. I love how easy my children are to please at this age. I also love that they're still young enough that I can play dress up with them and make cute, little, ruffly clothes and accessories that they love and will wear.

Miss E on her first day of Kindergarten 9-4-12

Miss E on her last day of Kindergarten 6-13-13

Miss E on her first day of Kindergarten 9-4-12

Miss E on her last day of Kindergarten 6-13-13

Miss D on her first day of Preschool 9-10-12

Miss D on her last day of Preschool 5-22-13

Miss D on her first day of Preschool 9-10-12

Miss D on her last day of Preschool 5-22-13

     I plan to continue the first day of school/last day of school outfit tradition as long as my children will allow me to make them clothes. It is a fun way to create a keepsake for the school year and I love seeing how they grow and change in just one school year! I also figure that by the time the gradate, I will have gained the necessary sewing skills and confidence to make a fun keepsake quilt with each school year outfit.
     In the meantime I will continue to enjoy these cute, little people as they grow and I plan to take full advantage of the fact that they will still allow me to play dress up with them and make them coordinating outfits. This is the reason why I chose to stay at home with my kids. I know these years go by quickly and I want to treasure every moment and memory that I can as this parenting adventure unfolds.

Happy Summer Break!!!

Love, Mrs. J :)