Draft your Own Raglan Tee Pattern

April 20, 2013 by onceuponasewingmachine 7 Comments

Better late then never right? Our Thursday Sew You Had a Boy post is going up today. We feel confident you’ll forgive us, we hope. This week we are going to run through how to draft a raglan tee from a standard t-shirt.

Grab a favorite T-shirt that fits well to use as base.

Fold your shirt in half. Trace around the body of the shirt. Remember to add seam allowance to your shoulder and side seams. I added an inch to the bottom of this shirt even though I didn’t plan to hem it (thank you knit) because I wanted it to be a bit bigger than my existing shirt. When you’re done your pattern should look this-

Kicking up the Excitement on Elastic Waist Pants

March 21, 2013 by onceuponasewingmachine 6 Comments

Sewing for the kids without having regular access to them can be challenging for a Grandma! When I find a pattern that I know fits them I rely on it. I have an elastic waistband pant pattern that I know is a good fit for Mr. O. But a drawer full of elastic band pants isn’t that exciting- so I’ve been on a mission to redesign my pants into more interesting versions. Today I’m going to go through how to add a fake fly and pockets to an existing elastic waist pant pattern.

Adjusting the Fake Fly

The fly was easy to add. You’ll do these next steps on both of your pant legs. Start at the pattern’s waistline and add 2″ inches. Draw a line straight down toward where the crotch curves out. Stop about 2″ away from your crotch seam and draw a curve till you are back at the original cutting line. It should look like this —–>

Sew the crotch seam as you would if you hadn’t added the fly piece. Now press your fly piece to the left. Top stitch along the seam line. Top stitch the mock fly you created and pressed to the back left. This will give you the look of a fly, but no real opening. Bartack at the base of the fly, again giving the look of a “real” fly opening. find instructions for bartack here.

Easter Outfits

March 20, 2013 by onceuponasewingmachine 7 Comments

I finished sewing Easter outfits ! I can hardly believe they are done EARLY. I usually am winding bobbins and sewing up hems the night before.

I bought all this fabric on my Warehouse trip a while back. I decided since I likely have a small window of time when I can dress my kids in coordinating outfits before they start to protest I should take advantage of it now!

I decided to sew up the new Roller Skate dress from Oliver + S for M. I made view B, the dress with neckline detail, in size 18-24 months. She’s moving into 2T, but I wanted it to fit now and didn’t want to risk it. I’m glad I went with the smaller size. M is so small that the neck of the bigger dress would have been huge! The length was just right as is, perfect for moving around in, but not so short I have to put bloomers under it.

“A photo shoot? Let me Check my calendar…It doesn’t look good.”

I used O’s pant fabric on her neck line. This dress is fully lined and she loves wearing it. I will admit it took me longer to sew than I anticipated. I really wanted it to look good, so I spent a lot of time on the neck.

Filling the Pajama Drawer: Knit Pajama Pattern

March 10, 2013 by onceuponasewingmachine 19 Comments

Lately it has been essential sewing at our house. I’ve been really spoiled and the kids have been holding pretty even in their sizes for awhile now. Not anymore! My little guy had a crazy growth spurt and every time I pull pants out of the drawer I find another pair that is now hitting him midcalf. It happened over night and now I’m sewing in a flurry to try to keep the kid dressed! You can imagine what this growth spurt has done to the drawer full of footie pajamas…So that had to be a priority.

Now I tend to have a hard time buying patterns for what I consider basics. But during Southern Institute’s big pattern sale I picked up a copy of Peek-a-Boo’s Alex and Anna’s Winter PJ’s.

If you follow us on Facebook you may have seen me joke these “winter” pjs translated perfectly into “Midwest Spring”. It’s totally true this knit style of PJ are a great transition weight and style for us.

I dug through my cabinet and looked for some knit that would do the job. I’ve been making it my goal to not buy any new fabric until I do some serious stash busting around here. I was motivated by Suzanne over at W3. Did you see she made it to the finals of Project Run and Play spending like 20.00 dollars? No? Check it out here.

I happened to have a big chunk of this monster knit that would be just perfect for the job! I was gifted this fabric by being in the right place at the right time. I was in my local Joanns (shock) and ran into a woman who had unexpectedly taken a transfer to Alaska. She was returning what she had unused in her stash so she could move as little as possible. She had 2 yards of fabric that she had washed and couldn’t return, she wanted to know if I could give it a good home.

Tutorial: Adding Shoulder Buttons or Snaps

February 21, 2013 by onceuponasewingmachine 11 Comments

Hi, Sewers! This post marks our first month of Sew You Had a Boy. We hope you’ve found a nugget or two to use in your own sewing. Today we are sharing a tutorial to dress up your boy t-shirts. In reality this would work for girls- or grownups too!

The inspiration for this project came from a number of pictures we saw floating around the web and Pinterest.

The top I made today has snaps at the shoulder. I have a button shoulder in process, too, and I’ll tell you where to make the change if you would like to make that version.

Pattern Review: Cowlneck Pullover Jacket

February 14, 2013 by onceuponasewingmachine 26 Comments

Before the snow really started flying I tossed around the idea of sewing up a transitional jacket for O. Something that would work through the Fall and Spring. Now we live in the Northern end of the Midwest- Fall and Spring are no joke, I would need something he could wear a couple layers under. I started my pattern search.

My search went something like this: fun girl’s jacket, cute girl’s jacket, boy’s pea coat, unique girl’s jacket, still different style girl’s jacket, boy’s pea coat, repeat….

I don’t have anything against pea coats it just wasn’t what I was looking for. So I complained on Twitter, what else is a girl to do. I was directed to the Cowlneck Pullover Jacket.

Unisex cowlneck pullover jacket (12 months upto age 6)PDF patterns - Reversible, 6 ways to wear, cowl neck, pullover jacket, side buttons

Anyone who has sewn clothes for boys has felt their choices were kind of boring. So you can imagine this pattern caught my eye. It’s reversible, can be worn a number of different ways, and I admit I like it when I can use a pattern for his little sister too.

The Prep

I bought the pattern on Etsy, so no instant download, but it was emailed very quickly. The file opened, printed, and pieced together very nicely. Read over the PDF before you print, there are a number of pages with a lot of ink you likely won’t want/need to print.

I pulled the sizing chart and got worried, really worried. This pattern is advertised 12m-6T. My measurements put him in a 6T. He is still hit or miss on whether 4T is too big for most patterns.

That seemed like a big leap so I made up a quick muslin. I didn’t do the whole jacket, I just put together a jacket shell real quick. I decided on the 5T. I have a nice plaid and flannel combo waiting for this project- but still really nervous about the sizing I sewed up a fun version first. Just in case it was small…or huge.

I used a cotton superhero print. (He’s into Spiderman) and a light red flannel. I picked these up on super sale at my Joann’s.

Fabric Selection

Based on my experience I think a fabric with more body than cotton will give you a nicer result. I think just a little bit of give/stretch in your fabric would be nice in a couple places.

Pattern Review: Sewing Instructions

Get really clear from the start what is the lining and what is the exterior. I started out thinking one thing and changing my mind as I sewed. This left me really confused as I sewed. The biggest difference in the end is how your buttons will be seen.

Yes I did fussy cut Spiderman into the collar.

While at first the diagrams seem really clear there are a couple tricky spots that can be confusing. Specifically I think the image is a bit misleading when you are attaching the cowl portion. Pin and turn before you sew when in doubt.

Sew You Had a Boy: Siestas and Sewing

February 7, 2013 by onceuponasewingmachine 10 Comments

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.

Today, I’m sharing a look I put together using Oliver + S patterns.

Little Bear Hood a DIY Toddler Hat

January 11, 2013 by onceuponasewingmachine 18 Comments

Those of you following along in with PR&P know this week’s challenge was a remix of Cottage Mama’s Party Dress. While we had set a goal to participate in each weeks sew along, let’s just say this dress is still a WIP (work in progress). The bodice came out just as envisioned, but the skirt is currently a hot mess. And for some reason my toddler really, really, REALLY hates it. Does anyone else have a child randomly revolt against clothing? I’m not sure what is so offensive about a cotton dress, but you would think I had lit it on fire- she was not having it.

I needed a pick me up. For some reason my son has no hats that fit him. His sister has a dozen. I upcycled a sweater into this hat for him, but this works pattern would work great for a little girl too.

Throwback Football Tee

January 7, 2013 by onceuponasewingmachine 24 Comments

In celebration of a Packer playoff win, I sewed up a football tee for my little guy. You can use this tutorial to add a fun stripe detail to any of your little guy’s (or girl’s) shirts. Depending on the application, you can use it to make something more sporty or preppy, whatever your preference.

I FINALLY ordered a copy of Sewing for Boys. It was a little like Christmas morning when it got here. I sewed up this shirt using the Raw Edge Raglan pattern size 4/5.

A common boy sewing complaint (and I’ve made it too) is that boy sewing is just so much more involved then girl sewing. You can whip up a cute girl’s dress in no time, but boy sewing involves more waistbands and other techniques without as much wow factor at the end. May I suggest to you the raglan tee? The sewing technique is very similar to a girl’s peasant dress. It sews up just as fast and is really easy to add fun details to.

Draft your Own Raglan Tee Pattern

Kicking up the Excitement on Elastic Waist Pants

Adjusting the Fake Fly

Easter Outfits

Filling the Pajama Drawer: Knit Pajama Pattern

Tutorial: Adding Shoulder Buttons or Snaps

Pattern Review: Cowlneck Pullover Jacket

The Prep

Fabric Selection

Pattern Review: Sewing Instructions

Sew You Had a Boy: Siestas and Sewing

Little Bear Hood a DIY Toddler Hat

Throwback Football Tee

Adding Stripes to Sleeves

A Little Bit About the Two of Us

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Draft your Own Raglan Tee Pattern

Pattern Review: Cowlneck Pullover Jacket

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