Art & Craft, DIY ideas and Tutorials – Craftbuds
  • About Us
  • Needlecraft
    • Crochet
    • Knitting
    • Quilting
    • Sewing
    • Embroidery
  • Cricut
  • Jewelry Making
  • Paper Craft
    • Origami
    • Drawing
  • Engraving
  • Collectibles
    • Numismatics
43K Followers
25K Followers
1K Subscribers
Subscribe
Art & Craft, DIY ideas and Tutorials – Craftbuds
Art & Craft, DIY ideas and Tutorials – Craftbuds
  • About Us
  • Needlecraft
    • Crochet
    • Knitting
    • Quilting
    • Sewing
    • Embroidery
  • Cricut
  • Jewelry Making
  • Paper Craft
    • Origami
    • Drawing
  • Engraving
  • Collectibles
    • Numismatics
  • Craft Book Month
  • Product Reviews

Book Review: Growing Up Sew Liberated

  • Mary
  • Posted: September 10, 2011 - Updated at: May 28, 2020
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0

Growing Up Sew Liberated (Interweave) by Meg McElwee is full of fun and functional items you can make for any boy or girl in your life. It’s a great mix of clothing staples for infants and toddlers, playthings for all ages, and useful everyday pieces.

The book is nicely divided up into five chapters that each focus on a different part of the day: Greeting the Morning, Bread Sharing + Homemaking, Inside Play, Outside Play, and Good Night, Sleep Tight. The back of the book includes a helpful section on sewing tools, techniques, terms and stitches. In all, the book includes patterns for 9 clothing items, 13 play items/clothes and includes an envelope with full size pattern pieces.

Chapters one (daytime) and five (nighttime) include clothing items for newborns to size 5. The actual sizes included for each individual clothing item varies depending on the type of clothing and what stage in life your child would wear it (ie. the baby sleep sack is only available in 0-6 month size). The clothing patterns are all gender neutral with classic shapes. Chapter two is about items used around the house including a ring sling, bib, and embroidered placemat. Chapters three and four focus on inside and outside play with patterns for a variety of creative play items. A few of the items include a cat blankie for babies, a doll for younger kids, and a messenger bag for older kids.

Overall this book has a nice variety of gender neutral clothes and projects. It’s just slightly more biased towards girls with three of the patterns being for a doll, doll clothes and doll backpack and most of the models are girls. That certainly didn’t keep me from enjoying the book though. The instructions are well written and easy to follow and the diagrams are simple and easy to understand. The overall layout is well organized with a nice balance of color and white space with beautiful photographs throughout.

My Project

I initially thought about making the hooded play cape or art satchel, but then I realized my son had suddenly outgrown all the new pajamas we had just bought! So I decided to make a long sleeved envelope tee and sleeping johns. There are patterns printed on both sides of the pattern paper in the back of the book so you have to trace out the patterns you want to use. The envelope tee pattern only goes up to 18-24 months and I needed a 2T. The pattern was simple enough to make larger for my son and it was easy to trace out the patterns on sheets of computer paper I taped together.

After cutting out all my pieces I got started sewing everything together. I was a bit intimidated to sew this small pair pajamas out of knit fabrics but the instructions were very clear and easy to follow. There’s even tips for sewing knit fabric in the back of the book! I appreciated that you don’t have to use a serger and the instructions tell you what stitch to use where. In not too much time, I had a cute pair of pjs that fit my son perfectly! 

Craft Book Month at Craft Buds

Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Related Topics
  • children's clothes book
  • children's clothes patterns
  • craft book review
  • growing up sew liberated review
  • kid's clothing book review
  • kid's pajamas pattern
  • kids clothes
  • sew liberated
  • sewing book review
  • sewing for boys
  • sewing for girls
Mary

Previous Article
  • Craft
  • Craft Book Month
  • Free Pattern Feature

Free Patterns from Books: Bags + Winner

  • Mary
  • Posted: September 9, 2011 - Updated at: January 9, 2022
View Post
Next Article
  • Business
  • Craft Book Month
  • Giveaways

Author Q&A: Sewing for Boys + Giveaway

  • Lindsay
  • Posted: September 12, 2011 - Updated at: January 9, 2022
View Post
You May Also Like
DTG Printer for small business
View Post
  • DIY projects
  • Printable
  • Product Reviews

Best DTG Printer for Small Business

  • Lindsay
  • Posted: April 14, 2023 - Updated at: June 7, 2023
Polyester Shirt for Sublimation
View Post
  • DIY projects
  • Printable
  • Product Reviews

Best Polyester Shirt for Sublimation – Top Brands

  • Lindsay
  • Posted: March 28, 2023 - Updated at: April 14, 2023
Best Epson Eco Tank Printer for Sublimation
View Post
  • DIY projects
  • Paper Craft
  • Printable
  • Product Reviews

5 Best Epson EcoTank Printers for Sublimation

  • Lindsay
  • Posted: March 1, 2023
Best Small, Portable and Mini Sewing Machine
View Post
  • Needlecraft
  • Product Reviews
  • Quilting
  • Sewing

Best Small, Portable and Mini Sewing Machine in 2023

  • Lindsay
  • Posted: February 10, 2023 - Updated at: October 24, 2023
Best Sewing Machines for Beginners
View Post
  • Product Reviews
  • Sewing

Best Sewing Machines for Beginners – 7 Top Models in 2023

  • Lindsay
  • Posted: November 24, 2022 - Updated at: March 15, 2023
Brother Sewing Machines
View Post
  • Embroidery
  • Needlecraft
  • Product Reviews
  • Quilting
  • Sewing

Brother Sewing Machines Guide & 12 Top-Selling Models

  • Lindsay
  • Posted: May 19, 2022 - Updated at: March 15, 2023
Best heavy duty sewing machine
View Post
  • Embroidery
  • Needlecraft
  • Product Reviews
  • Quilting
  • Sewing

Best Heavy Duty Sewing Machine – Top 11 Picks 2023

  • Lindsay
  • Posted: May 14, 2022 - Updated at: October 24, 2023
Best sewing scissors
View Post
  • Needlecraft
  • Product Reviews
  • Sewing

8 Best Sewing Scissors – Durable And Reliable

  • Lindsay
  • Posted: May 10, 2022 - Updated at: May 18, 2022
11 comments
  1. Erica says:
    September 10, 2011 at 2:44 pm

    Looks like a great book! I love the fabric you used for the pjs- what is it? Both my boys need new pjs too!

  2. Erica @ Acire Adventures says:
    September 10, 2011 at 7:06 pm

    Sweet! I LOVE this book and Meg McElwee in general, I have her other book and follow her blow. But being a mom, her most recent book is definitely my favourite!

  3. Mary says:
    September 10, 2011 at 9:52 pm

    Thanks Erica! It’s this knit fabric I picked up at my local Joann Fabrics. It’s kind of hard to see in the photo but there’s little firetrucks and puppies on it. The red is a red rib knit (also from Joanns). I learned my lesson on this project…make sure to pre-wash and dry knit fabrics!

  4. Felicity says:
    September 10, 2011 at 11:21 pm

    Great review – I love your project, too!

  5. karen says:
    September 12, 2011 at 6:22 am

    I have this book and looooooove it! In one day I whipped up three pair of jammies for my daughter and two nieces. The next day I made the nature walk bag as a purse for my favorite 9-year old. I see myself making almost every pattern in this book. I’m even considering making that gorgeous doll!

  6. Megan says:
    September 12, 2011 at 6:52 pm

    So adorable! 🙂 Thanks for linking up to {Sew} Modern Monday and have a great week!

  7. Carla V. says:
    September 14, 2011 at 8:37 am

    Wow you did an awesome job! Thanks for the review too. This book would of been great to have 5 years go.

  8. Just Jaime says:
    September 14, 2011 at 7:20 pm

    How CUTE! I love little boy pjs!

  9. Max says:
    September 15, 2011 at 7:55 am

    So cute! I love it. I love those style necks on pjs 🙂

  10. Michelle says:
    September 16, 2011 at 9:35 pm

    Love the fire truck fabric. Those envelope shirts are great for kiddos. Makes getting them on and off so easy! Thanks for linking up with DIY under $15!

  11. Jaime from Crafty Scrappy Happy says:
    September 18, 2011 at 10:33 pm

    oh my goodness these turned out so darn cute! I adore them! I am so SO thrilled that you shared them over at my little linky party at crafty scrappy happy!
    Jaime

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe

Subscribe now to our newsletter

Art & Craft, DIY ideas and Tutorials – Craftbuds
  • About Us
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Our Experts
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
Find fun and creative craft ideas and tutorials across various categories such as Knitting, Quilting, Sewing, PaperCraft, Jewelry Making and much more

Input your search keywords and press Enter.