Kids Clothes Week Challenge

So, I've been wanting to make Cate some clothes for, oh, ever since I knew I was going to have a baby.  In my vision, half of the clothes Cate wore were cute little dresses and rompers and overalls that I made for her with handknit sweaters for every outfit.  The reality has been somewhat less than that.  I have managed to make two dresses, a sweater, a bonnet for her baptism, and some booties for her baptism.   Oh, and some newborn hats.

Me:  15 months

Me:  15 months

It turns out that making clothes for your baby is significantly hampered by, well, having a baby.  My mom made half my clothes when I was a baby/toddler and now I'm wondering exactly how the hell she did it.  I know she made a bunch while she was pregnant, but surely she wasn't able to make all of them prior to giving birth.

In any case, it's been on my List to make Cate clothes since she was the size of a grape, but so far I haven't done much in that vein until now.  I have signed up for the Kids Clothes Week Challenge at elsie marley. The challenge is to spend one hour a day from Oct. 8-14 working on making kid's clothes.

Me: at 2 yrs

Here's my queue for Cate:

1. Red, hooded cape:  This year, Cate will be Little Red Riding Hood for Halloween.  This decision is pretty much purely practical.  It's simple, involves no makeup, and she can wear the cape after Halloween, too.  I'm envisioning a red corduroy with a sweet, fairytale lining and maybe cute trim.
2. Purple sweater:  If I haven't finished the purple sweater I've been working on for the last several months by Oct. 8, I'll include it in this challenge.
3. Big Butt Baby Pants:  I cloth diaper.  I'm not fanatical or militant or evangelical about it, but I do feel pretty good about not having all of the diapers Cate's worn for the last 10 months sitting in a landfill for all eternity.  The key is that it isn't much more difficult than disposable diapering because we have a diaper service.  If we didn't have a diaper service, we would be adding to the landfill.  In any case, a cloth diaper + cover is bulkier than a disposable diaper and so there is some difficulty getting pants to fit.  Generally, I manage by going one size up, but then the legs are far, far too long.  Made By Rae has a pattern that is specifically designed for cloth diapered babies called Big Butt Baby Pants.  I need to make several for her for the winter, but I'll settle for one pair made out of denim for now.
4. Coat:  I'm actually not sure about this one.  She does need a heavy coat because we are visiting relatives in Boston mid-Nov.  Seeing as how we live in the Bay area, she's not likely to need it much after that.  I was looking for a coat with a removable lining because I thought that might be more useful, but haven't found one yet.  That might be a little more than what I want to take on, but I'm thinking about making some sort of cute, wool swing coat.  I know that I would like to tackle making myself a wool frock coat one of these years and this would allow me to work with the same sort of materials on a smaller scale without having to worry too much about fit issues (since children are pretty much rectangles with arms).

There's tons more stuff I'd love to make Cate, but I'm going to stick to those four things for now.  I think that's ambitious enough for one week!  I suspect I won't get the coat done (maybe not even started), but I'm really hoping to get the cape, the sweater, and a pair of pants done by the end of the week.