Surfer Slacks

As promised, I’m sharing with you another one of the patterns I had the privilege of testing for the Pattern Anthology collection. [If you missed yesterday's post, read it here to see the Submarine Pullover!]See Kate Sew is another pattern designer that you’ve got to know if you have littles to sew for. She has such a great style. Her little girl patterns kill me with cuteness. And as a mama of two, she knows a thing or two about what kids like to wear. This pattern was, of course, no exception!
The Surfer Slacks are a super easy sew. I don’t think you need a lot of sewing experience at all to sew these, especially with Kate’s great photo instructions that are very clear and easy to follow. There is one pattern piece for all the leg pieces and the pants have an elastic waistband, so they sew up really quickly.

The cuff detail at the bottom of the pants is my favorite part, and a fun way to highlight a fabric. Plus, you can pull the cuff down as they grow and extend the life of the pants. Win! The main fabric I used is a lightweight corduroy, which will carry really nicely from winter to spring. If winter ever ends…

I tend to make my oldest pants that are much slimmer, since he is ridiculously skinny, so at first I wasn’t sure if I would like the fit. But after watching him in them, I realized that the looser, relaxed look works for him too. Perfect for my boy who is running, jumping, and moving all.the.time.

Speaking of fun details – how great are these back pockets?

Don’t forget, the Pattern Anthology has patterns for boys AND girls and is a limited time package that you do not want to miss.

AND just to repeat what i said yesterday, I WAS GIVEN THIS PATTERN IN RETURN FOR TESTING IT AND GIVING MY HONEST FEEDBACK, BUT I DON’T GET ANYTHING FOR TELLING YOU HOW AWESOME IT IS – OR FOR TELLING YOU ABOUT THE PATTERN SALE. I JUST KNOW THAT YOU WILL DEFINITELY WANT THESE PATTERNS. :)

The Grandpa Inspired Look – sewing along with PR&P’s boy week

Well I’m sewing along with another week of Project Run and Play! Really, how could I not sew along with boy week?

I decided to sew for my three-year-old, because honestly, I don’t do that often. Poor middle child. Plus, he’s my most reluctant model.

As I lay awake the other night [seriously, pregnancy insomnia? I'd like to sleep while I can, thankyouverymuch], I knew exactly what I needed to make for my middle man. Inspired, once again, by this photo:

My grandpa seriously knew how to rock the plaid pants. Instead of going plaid this time, though, I went argyle. Argyle! I seriously love this fabric.

The pants are made from this yummy Kaufman 21 Wale Cool Cords Argyle Brown that I got from fabric.com. It’s a self-drafted pattern based on another pair of his pants, and they fit him exactly the way I wanted.

The shirt is upcycled from a men’s tee and self-drafted as well, though I wish I had made the neckline a little bit higher. This dude of mine has a large head and since I don’t sew for him terribly often, I always overcompensate.

Then to take the grandpa inspiration to the next level, I sized down a thrifted sweater. I used the existing neckline, which meant I had to move a button up. It ended up a little bit big, but he should be able to wear it for awhile.

The pants also have a little flare at the bottom [which I could not capture for the life of me, since he was being oh-so-cooperative].

Flat front, elastic back. Best style for a three-year-old.

He really was a fan of the clothes. Maybe just not a fan of me….

And then he realized just how crazy his mom is for making him stand in front of the open door in twenty degree weather.

 

Linking up with Make it Wear it on The Train to Crazy.

Flowery Tunic and Polka Dot Bows

Yes, I’m still continuing with my posts of my handmade Christmas gifts! I never want to ruin the surprise by blogging them ahead of time.

My sweet niece Hazel [how cute is she?!] is just two months older than my youngest. This works out well for outfit sewing, since I had a pretty good idea of her size.

I made her a tunic out of this super lovely crushed floral knit from Fabric.com [which they don't seem to have currently, which is a bummer, because it is SO lovely]

I added a little placket in the front with some ivory knit and some sweet lace that has a vintage-y feel.

The bias tape and the adorable little flower button are both vintage. Which makes the top much more special in my eyes. Plus, I know her mama loves vintage, so I thought that would be fun for her. :)

The pants are simple flat-front cords, made specially for that cloth diaper booty.

I added simple polka dot bows to the bottom of the pants, to give them a girly flair. But they are just tacked on, since Hazel will have a baby brother in March, and I wanted her to be able to hand these pants down to him.

Sewing for girls is pretty fun. :)

Handmade from Head to Toe [a new outfit]

Even though we’re in the midst of the Boys Will Be Boys… gift series [which I'm totally loving, by the way - I hope you are too!], I decided to break from the tutorial posts.

If you are a sewing mama, you might be with me when I say that sometimes, you just have to sew for your littles.

Even if that means letting your toddler rip apart your scrap bin so that you can do it.

But when you come out on the other side, and you have an outfit that is pretty much exactly what you had in mind, it’s worth every second of clean up.

With some tweaking of my overall pattern, I made these pants with soft, comfortable grey corduroy [that I've used before on these pants].

The pants are fully lined with this fabulous fabric.

He’s wearing the shoes I made from the pattern I shared this morning. Once again, he thought they were not worthy of photographing. I disagreed, but you know how it is arguing with a 16 month old.

At least the shoes are nice to look at, even when they’re not on baby feet.

The shirt is upcycled from a men’s XXL T-shirt snagged on clearance at Target. I modified the Lil’ Long Johns pattern to make the tee, since I really liked the fit. [ironically, the shirt I upcycled for those PJs was also found at Target on clearance... I scored the mother load of XXL T-shirts that day]

Hooray for new outfits!

KCWC: Corduroy Pants

KCWC is slow-going these days. Apparently children think that napping is optional during this week. Mama does not agree. But nonetheless, we have pants!

These pants are a modified version of the Nowhere Man pants pattern. You can see a previous pair that I’ve sewn here.

I used a dark green, thinner corduroy from JoAnn’s. I also used the same plaid fabric for the front and back pockets.

I made the pant legs skinnier than the pattern indicates – my little dude is ridiculously skinny. Plus I extended the length well past the size 5 where the pattern ends. [They're a bit long for now, but not bad with shoes on - and room to grow!]

I also left off the button flaps from the front of the pants. A little cleaner and simpler this time. It’s a great pattern, though, and a pretty easy sew.

I’m working on some more pieces for this week. But I’m not pushing myself to complete something each day. Baby number four takes a bit more energy to grow than the first three did, apparently. ;)

Leave a link if you’re sewing something for KCWC – I’d love to see!

Linking up with Make it Wear it.

Plaid Nowhere Man Pants

If you follow me on Facebook [and if you don't, you totally should], you might have seen me lamenting about how my four-year-old was refusing to wear the pants I made for him.

I may have taken it completely personally and had to eat some chocolate to make myself feel better.

But, as it is with four-year-olds, today he had absolutely no problem putting on said pants. In fact, he was so excited that he got dressed before I had to ask a second time.  Not that I ever have to ask him a second time… ;)

Well, my silly little boy decided he did, in fact, love these pants. And so do I.

I had the honor of testing the Nowhere Man Pants pattern from Shwin & Shwin. It’s pretty much fantastic.

The button flaps are my favorite part, I think. I found these wooden buttons in my stash – I must have purchased them with a project in mind, but I never used them. They were the perfect touch for these pants, though.

These pants have front and back pockets. That’s pretty important for boys who like to carry around notes and cars and money found underneath couch cushions [or from Daddy's nightstand...]

The pattern flows really nicely and comes together really quickly. Which is good, since now my four-year-old has informed me that he needs “lots more of these pants in his drawer” — go figure.

The pants are made of a lightweight plaid corduroy and were totally inspired by my grandfather’s rockin’ pants — I don’t have a lot of memories of him (unfortunately), but I definitely remember his amazing plaid pants.

What’s that… a smiling boy? Wearing the pants I made for him? Yep, mama for the win.

Linking up to some par-tays!

the pants that took over KCWC

Every Kids’ Clothing Week Challenge I am overly ambitious.  My to-sew list is always much longer than I could realistically accomplish.  And this year was no exception.

These pants were a labor of love.  I usually crank pants out pretty quickly [once you get the hang of them, they really don't take that long to make], but I took my time on these.

They’re made from some soft corduroy from Joann’s, and I used the same pattern that I drafted for these pants.

This year I added some pockets, based on Dana’s tutorial here.

Eli is pretty much obsessed with pockets right now, so adding these made the pants super fun for him.

The pockets added a little more time, as did the red topstitching I did on the seams.  It’s just there for fun, to add a  little bit more color to the pants.  If I had a double needle [which leaves me asking, why don't I?!], I would have used that along the seams.

Hello, red stitching!  I think I love you.

I spent a little extra time on some details with these pants, but I think it was worth it.  The pass the toddler comfort test, and now I want to make them in my size.  Mother-son matching pants?  Maybe not. ;)