BERNINA Corporate Blog -Good morning, everyone! I’m not sure if you also have little artists at home like I do? Sometimes, it’s not just the paper that gets painted, but also the clothes, the table, and more… Since they really enjoy using colors and brushes, I at least want to protect their clothes. With watercolors, I’m pretty relaxed, but with acrylics, not so much! 🙂 And that’s how the idea for this over-the-head painting smock came about, which covers the most important areas of their clothes.
Sewing a Painting Smock for Kids – Instructions
You just need the front piece of a pattern in the size your child currently wears or will soon grow into. It can be any shirt or pullover, as long as it doesn’t have raglan sleeves. In my first picture below, you can see the adjustments I made to the front piece. Don’t worry about being precise to the centimeter with the curves, you can freehand them. I’m using oilcloth again, as I did for the art pouch. For beginners, I recommend using coated cotton.
Materials Overview
You will need:
- Oilcloth or coated cotton, depending on your child’s size. For children up to about 8 years old, 0.5m should be enough.
- Fold-over elastic, 3-5m should be sufficient.
- A label, if desired.
- Highly recommended: Three-Sole Walking Foot with Seam Guide #50
Cut the front piece as described above and, as shown here, cut it twice on the fold.
Sewing the Painting Smock
Cut two 10cm pieces of fold-over elastic and attach them as shown to the back of ONE of the pattern pieces, about 8cm from the bottom edge. Then, place both pieces right sides together and sew ONE shoulder seam.
Open the painting smock again, and carefully press open the seam allowances of the shoulder seam. Then, fold the elastic over the neckline and sew it in place with a slight stretch.
I chose to use an elastic zigzag stitch, but a long straight stitch works just as well.
Next, start at one edge of the still-open shoulder seam and sew the elastic around the entire smock, ending at the other side of the open shoulder seam. How much you need to pull the elastic while sewing can easily be seen by how it naturally wraps around the edge. If it stands out, just apply a little more tension.
Once you’ve sewn the elastic all around the oilcloth smock, place the two pieces right sides together again and close the remaining shoulder seam.
To ensure the elastic edges lie flat, I recommend topstitching the opened seam allowances close to the edge. This results in a very neat finish.
Finally, sew the ends of the elastic pieces at the bottom of the smock to the opposite inner side with a few stitches. Fold the elastic about 1 cm inward for a clean finish on this side too.
If you like, you can add a small label or tag on the front, so the child knows which side is the correct one.
Congratulations, your painting smock is finished!
Maybe now you’re inspired to sew a painting smock too? Be sure to show me the result in the comments or in the community section of the blog. This painting smock for kids is a quick and enjoyable project!
With this in mind, I wish your children lots of creative fun with their brushes,
Warm regards,
Sara
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