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...