Sew You Had a Boy: Siestas and Sewing

Today we’re introducing our first featured blogger who braves the world of sewing for boys! Siestas and Sewing is a favorite blog stop of ours for great sewing inspiration so we’re very excited to have Cindy launching our Sew You Had a Boy Series! She’s sharing some great resources today and an outfit suitable for an older boy- talk about a tough crowd to find great sewing projects for. Check out all the awesome details, and then make sure to stop by her blog and say hi!

Hello, Once Upon A Sewing Machine readers!  My name is Cindy from Siestas and Sewing where I blog about sewing for my 4 kids and myself.  I only have one son to sew for and I’ll admit, I sew a lot more for my 3 girls.  But I do make a point of sewing for him and he appreciates my efforts!  Here are a few looks that I sewed for my son in the last year:

I find that there are 2 main stumbling blocks when it comes to sewing for older boys:  Patterns and Fabrics.  In general, there aren’t a lot of boy sewing patterns but when you start looking for patterns above a size 8, the pickings are really slim!  Oliver + S has several that go up to a size 12:  the Nature Walk Pullover + Knit Pants, Sketchbook Shirt and Shorts, and the Field Trip Cargo Pants and Raglan T-shirt.  There’s an Australian independent pattern company, Make It Perfect who has a few boy patterns that go up to a size 10:  Long Boards (shorts), Basic Tees,  High Flyers(pants), and Downtown Boy (jacket).  Made by Rae’s Flashback Skinny Tee pattern goes all the way up to a 14.  Jalie has a few patterns for boys/men (each pattern has sizes from 2T to a men’s XXL).  I have my eye on their Board Shorts pattern.  And there’s Ottobre Design that has several patterns in each issue that go up to a size 170 (approx. mid to late teens).

The fabric selection in most fabric stores is definitely skewed to the feminine side too.  I had a bear of a time this fall finding flannel prints for pjs.  Out of at least a hundred bolts of flannel, I found 3 boy friendly designs that weren’t geared to the 5 and under crowd.  Most apparel fabric that’s offered locally at Jo-ann Fabric’s and Hancock’s is not very appealing to my son either.  There are bottomweight twills that are okay and a slim selection of knit interlock in red, gray, blue, and green.  Occasionally, we might find some decent weight denim and some cotton shirting but most of my “boy” fabric shopping is done online.  Chez Ami, The Fabric Fairy, Girl Charlee, and Fabric Mart are several places I’ve bought from in the past.

 

Meet my son P.  He’s easy going, loves math and football, and is currently obsessed with Minecraft.  P is almost 12 years old and more concerned with comfort vs. style when it comes to his clothes.  Luckily, one of my favorite pattern companies has patterns that are both comfortable AND stylish!

P is wearing a size 12 Oliver + S Sketchbook Shirt sewn up in a Cotton Mini-Diamond Weave Plaid shirting that I purchased from Fabric Mart last October.  The pants are the Sandbox pattern from Oliver + S that I sized up from the largest size (8) to an approximate 12/14.  I made the pants in the fall but they haven’t been worn much as P’s other dress shirts are gray and black so he wears them with his Gray Sketchbook Pants.

Thank you, Rachel and Donna for having me!  I’m looking forward to the inspiration that’s sure to come from the Sew You Had a Boy series.