Tuesday 12 September 2017

Free Sewing Patterns Update and a Plan




Since I published My Favourite Free Children's Sewing Patterns post back in February, I've spent even more time trying to unearth the nicest and most useful sewing patterns and tutorials for children's clothing that designers have generously made available for free. I feel like I've followed every link on every blog post or Pinterest image to leave no stone unturned. Thanks also to the commenters on that post who gave me a heads up of some great ones I hadn't seen before.

I've updated the original post by adding lots more great-looking patterns that I'd like to try, and removing a couple of others where I've found better (like a multi-sized version) or more appealing (to me) alternatives. Please remember, this list is based on my own personal tastes, and is not meant to be an exhaustive list of every free pattern available out there.

I've also become mildly obsessed with seeing if it's possible to make a child's whole entire wardrobe using just free patterns and tutorials, so I've tried to include something for almost every type of garment a child would need. Aside from coats/jackets (understandably), knitwear (surely there are free children's knitting patterns out there though?!) socks and tights (although leggings can be a great alternative to tights), for certain sizes, I reckon you could!

I also want to mention that lots of kind pattern designers have released heaps of potentially wonderful free patterns out there that are available in just one or a couple of sizes, like this dressing gown/bath robe and this toddler jacket for example, which may be just what you need for the child you're sewing for. I haven't included any of those (Made by Rae's baby tights being the exception) because I want this list to be a useful resource for as many sewers/sewists as possible, so I have only included patterns that are available in a decent range of sizes.

So here's my plan. I'm going to start a new monthly feature on this blog where I road test a free sewing pattern or tutorial: sometimes a children's one, sometimes a women's one. I'll publish those posts every first Friday of the month, timed to hopefully provide inspiration for some who plan to get their sew-on over the weekend. I firmly believe that, if you pick your projects carefully, sewing doesn't have to be a crazy-expensive pass time. Plus, I don't think that home-sewn clothes need to always work out more expensive than the shop-bought equivalent. I'm pretty skint since my maternity allowance ran out, so this is a theory I'm keen to test! Therefore, for these projects I'm going to use my stash of unwanted garments and fabric scraps left over from previous projects wherever possible. Let the PDF downloading commence...

6 comments:

wendy said...

Such a useful series to do Zoe. For knitting patterns, I just checked Ravelry (www.ravelry.com) and they have over one thousand free knitting sweater/cardigan patterns for toddlers. For any knitters out there or who have friends/family who would knit for them.

Anonymous said...

This sounds like a great series! As always, I look forward to seeing what you find/sew.
Thanks for always being an inspiration :)

Mother of Reinvention said...

Sounds like a really good plan. I think that if you were buying every new pattern out there and loads of new fabric then you might burn through a whole ton of money. There is far too many shiny things to buy when you sew. Do you follow "Rhonda's Creative Life" blog? She has a fab selection of free patterns on there. Xx

Gillian said...

Hey June has a few free patterns for kids, and just released a free tank for women that I can attest is quite nice!

Jessica said...

Love this idea! Look forward to seeing what you come up with :-).

Unknown said...

I know there will be many difficulties and challenges but I am determined to do it. If it does not succeed then it will be a lesson for me as well

<a href="http://catmario4.com/super-mario-land.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...