Make Your Own Childrens Clothes... For Free

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Now make a cut along the chalk line (through both garment AND facing) to within 3/8" of the seam. This slit is the shirt's "slash" or opening. All that remains is to clip the seam where the neck opening curves in front, fold the facing to the inside of the shirt, and press. If you want, you can also sew on buttons, snaps, or hooks and eyes.

To make a front (rather than a back) opening, turn your facing so that most of it goes below the neck curve (as shown in Fig. 10) . . . and proceed as described above.

OR TRY A TURTLENECK

Of course, if you really want to get fancy you can make a turtleneck for your basic top. Here's how it's done:

First, cut a semicircular neck opening in your garment as shown in Fig. 7. (Remember, the curved part always goes in front.) From scraps, cut a 3" X 8" rectangle of material to use as the facing. Spread the shirt out flat and lay the facing on it, right side to right side, as depicted in Fig. 11.

Next, draw a chalk line down the middle of the facing . . . then [1] pin it down as shown in Fig. 11, [2] sew over the pins, [3] take the fasteners out, and [4] cut along the chalk line to within 3/8" of the turn in the seam. Turn the facing to the inside of the garment and press.

Now measure the distance around the neck opening. From matching or contrasting scraps of material, cut a strip to this length plus 3" . . . this will be the turtleneck itself. Make the piece twice the width you want the finished neck to be, plus one inch.

Pin the neck strip to the shirt's neck openingright side to right side, with the shirt right side out-leaving 1-1/2" of the turtleneck material extending beyond each edge of the back slit. Sew over the pins and remove them. Then turn the lip of the turtleneck under 1/2", fold the turtleneck itself under, and pin the 1/2" fold to the neck seam on the inside of the shirt (Fig. 12). Hem the turtleneck's edge on the seam and remove the pins.

Finally, turn the 1-1/2" turtleneck extensions in and hem them in place. Finish off the neck with hooks and eyes, buttons and loops, or snaps. (See Fig. 13. )

HOW ABOUT SOME PANTS?

It's easy to make elastic-top pants for children of either sex. Over the years,

I've cut down dozens of "unwearable" adults' slacks (given to me by neighbors) into serviceable and highly attractive pants for my young'uns. There's no reason why you can't do the same.

First of all, round up a good, roomy pair of children's pants that you can use to make a permanent fabric pattern (so that you won't have to use real pants as a guide every time). For the pattern itself, find some ugly material that you can't use for anything else. Fold the pants as shown in Fig. 14 and lay them on the ugly

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