Back-to-school sew along, anyone?

On a MUCH lighter note ... let's do a sew along! A back-to-school sew along, to be more precise. Who's with me?

With Bo heading off to kindergarten this fall, I'm itching to make her a few pieces of clothing for school. I also need to sew up some more reusable sandwich bags and other paraphernalia.

I love watching sew alongs progress on other blogs, like Elsie Marley's Kids' Clothes Week in June and Amy Karol's ongoing Tie One On sessions. So why not do one here? 

Let me hammer out a few more details (like a deadline and possibly a prize for one random entrant) before I post the official "rules." Basically, though, you'll sew something school-related (clothes, book bag, hat, etc.) for your kids (or nieces/nephews/friends/grandkids/etc.), whether they're heading off to preschool, regular school, college, whatever. It can be your own design or something you make following a pattern or tutorial.

I'm open to any suggestions y'all might have on how to organize this. Let me know if you any ideas.

Until it all gets finalized, here's some inspiration:

Angry Chicken's little red jacket

Angry Chicken's take on Simplicity 8488 (she's so good at making conventional patterns look good--and I realize those are pajamas, but I think, if you use the right fabric, it would work for school, too)

Meli Melon's tree skirt.  

Baby Bean's Billie drop-waist dress:

Striped outerwear from Gauchito:

Cape from Orfeo:

 

Striped dress, hoodie with ears and boys' monkey jersey from Finn's Finds:
 

  

A couple of Sept. 2009 outfits from Milk magazine's Look de Rue feature:

And from last December's Look de Rue:

Sweatshirt dress from Umberleaf:

These beautiful looks from Marilyn Tov:

 
 

Adding more ...

From Mini Boden:

 

 

 

I really just want these roller skates for myself (and I'm pretty sure I had them in 1983):

   
From Tea Collection:

    

OK ... Creative juices flowing? Who's in?

 
     
    

Comments

[Tandy]

I'd be on board for creating something similar to the sweatshirt dress! Looks so cozy! I can imagine it paired with silly patterned tights or leggings. I'll bet it'd be easy enough to re-purpose an xl adult thrift-store sweatshirt for this. Do you have a pattern source for something similar or are we flyin' without a net?

[charith]

I'm SO in!! I was going to make a few school things for the (almost) five year-old. This will be perfect to inspire/encourage me to actually get it done before her first day. I am in love with the jackets from that milk mag. And the marilyn tov stuff. Can I just sew this weekend instead of live my actual life?

[sarah]

i am totally not someone who is able to figure things out on my own. i would be constantly ripping out stitches if i tried without a pattern or tutorial or maybe a little more practice. anyone want to work on a t-shirt dress tutorial with me??? or know of one?

also, would you ever be interested in being featured on my blog? www.littlecitizensoftheworld.blogspot.com stop by fashionably bowtique is offering a giveaway!!

[Megan]

Charith, I feel that way most days. ;)

Sarah, you can absolutely featured my blog on your site. Anytime. :)

As for patterns ... my next post will give some specific suggestions for patterns you could use to create certain looks. Let me do some research and find some suggestions over the next couple of days. Sound good?

In the meantime, the Tea Collection and Mini Boden catalogs just came in the mail, so I'm going to add some more "inspiration" pictures to this post later today.

[michaela]

Weird, I thought I'd commented on this yesterday... I am sorely tempted to join, but am hard-pressed to imagine what my 4-going-on-14-year-old would actually deign to wear. Will ponder, especially once you post some pattern ideas. ;)

[nis]

I need and want to do some sandwich bags... :)

[Garilyn]

I'm already planning to make some clothes for my kids, so I'm in.

[Megan]

Great, guys! More details coming soon.