Butterick 3475 shorts

It's feast or famine around here for Duncan! After months of no newly sewn clothes for him, I made not one, but two items in June.

He's shocked! Or maybe he stepped on something yucky. Hard to tell with Dunc.

You can probably tell from the U-haul in the background that these were a pre-Tennessee make. In fact, these were the very last thing I sewed before I packed up my machines.

As we were getting things together to make the 4 day drive across country, I realized that Duncan was a bit short on well, shorts. He had just destroyed a pair I made for Logan, (this pair, in fact) so I decided to remake them using the same pattern, slightly modified.

And so, here is Butterick 3475, Duncan style. The brown shorts were a good fit on Duncan, so I used the already traced size 2 for my 3 and 1/2 year old child. The pockets come in one size for all of the sizes in the envelope, and they are huge on the 2, so I slimmed and shortened them to bring them more into proportion to the shorts.

Years of sewing Ottobre patterns has made me finicky with details, so I also shaped the pocket corners in a more pleasing way and offset them on the side seam so that the bulk of the pocket was toward the front. It's easier for Duncan to reach that way.

The shorts have a loose, easy fit through the body, which is perfect for running, jumping, climbing and overall havoc-wreaking.

The fabric is a nice, sturdy twill left over from these overalls. I topstitched in a darker shade of green so that the stitching would pop, but not restrict the shorts to wearing with certain colors. I think the green is a nice neutral that will go with all of his "boy" tees. Doesn't it look awesome with this Kitschy Coo tee that was handed down from Logan?

Duncan likes them.

Butterick 3475: A sewing milestone

We've reached a sort of sewing milestone around here.

My smallest boy has finally grown in to some of the clothes I sewed for my biggest boy. Although I've known how to sew pretty much my entire life (Thank you, Mom!), I didn't really sew consistently until about five years ago, when I was pregnant with Myra. I started by sewing slings for babywearing, and before I knew it, making clothing for the kids, Mitch and eventually, for me. My first big clothing project was matching shirts for Logan and Mitch. I blogged about it here - before I even had a separate sewing blog.

I used this pattern at least a half dozen times in several different sizes. It was my go-to boys pattern up until I found Ottobre. The pattern is Butterick 3475, and amazingly, it is still in print! The brown shorts Duncan is wearing above are also from this pattern. Logan's wearing them in the top picture.

When I pulled this shirt out of the box it had been living in for nearly 5 years, I flipped it open to see how it was constructed, and I thought some of you might like to see my humble beginning. If I recall correctly, the fabric is a poly/rayon blend with a linen like appearance. It frays like mad, but as you can see, I didn't finish any seams. In fact, while the bottom hem is nicely double folded, the sleeve and pocket hems are a single fold. I can't believe this is still holding together, but it is! At least I zigzagged the facing edge. I'm pretty sure the pattern told me to do that.

OK, I'm kind of proud of that smooth, rounded pocket. Nice work, Past Katie! But what is up with the buttonhole placement? They're like an inch away from the edge of the shirt. And the buttonholes themselves are no work of art either. Janome makes a pretty skimpy buttonhole if you only go over it once. I clearly only went over it once.

More shameful unfinished seams, here. This is inside the collar at the shoulder seam. This collar is constructed with a cut on front facing that wraps around to the shoulder, covering the collar seams there. The back neck seams are clipped and tucked inside the collar, which you are supposed to hand sew down. Ahem. You can see that my aversion to hand sewing is not a new thing.

So, even though my sewing was far from perfect, both my busy toddler boys have comfortably worn these shirts, and I suspect they'll survive another couple of kids as well. I wanted to share this with you, so that you can see that wherever you are on your personal sewing journey, what you make and do has value, and the more you create, the more you'll learn. Happy sewing!!

Butterick 3475

I have made this pattern a few times...  It has been my TNT both for short sleeve button down shirts as well as cargo shorts.  I think this is the 6th shirt I've made and I've made the shorts twice.  Logan loves everything I've made from this pattern, so I just keep using it, although now that I have discovered Ottobre, it may be time to retire this one.  It is a little boring.

I actually cut out this shirt in May when I made a Cars themed baby gift for a friend.  I am so embarrassed!!  I generally can't stand having unfinished projects around, but somehow this one kept sneaking by me.  I'm glad I got it finished while it still fits him!

Next up in the queue is another set of scrubs for Mitch, but before that I committed to sew a few things for the Christmas party at my church.  The theme is "A Night in Old Bethlehem", and I will be making a few robes to set the stage.  Should be fun!

Kitty Shorts

Logan has a deep and abiding love for all things kitty. So when I saw this Robert Kaufmann print in the remnant bin I couldn't pass it up! I don't know how I missed it on the bolt, as I'm always on the lookout for good boy fabrics! Anyway, it wasn't a big piece, but big enough for some cargo shorts! So, I hit up my go to boy pattern, Butterick 3475 and went to town. The pockets are a sturdy twill that I had in stash.

Aren't those crazy kitties cute? I love Posh Kitty!
Logan is at best a reluctant model, even with a pudding pop.

But Godiva seems to approve (or maybe she just wants some chocolate.).

So, I snuck a quick pic while he was licking banana bread batter.

Pardon the complete lack of matching. Logan picks out his own clothes... Anyway, they fit and he loves them! And so do I.

Cars!!

A good friend of mine, who also has a son Logan's age, is expecting their second child, another boy! Yay! I decided on a Disney Cars theme for the little guy, partly as an excuse to include something for his big brother. Kyle LOVES Cars, but then, what 3 year old boy doesn't?

Here is the entire ensemble. I know - that's a lot of Lightning McQueen there!

In parts - an appliqued onesie with pants,

The pant is Simplicity 3765 with the band added.

a bib,

The bib pattern is from Nested.

and blanket for the baby.

The blanket pattern comes from the baby blanket e-book at YCMT.

Myra really wanted this blanket!And a button down shirt for Kyle from my usual shirt pattern. I cut out a matching one for Logan, but haven't sewn it up yet. I'll get around to it...

Butterick 3475

This is my favorite little man shirt pattern. I've made four different ones for Logan, and they have all turned out great! It goes together quickly and easily. Don't let all the complicated-looking bits fool you - that collar really is simple. The pattern directions are excellent and the fit is great on Logan. He loves them all and wears them constantly, so they must be comfortable. The pattern instructs you to double stitch all of the stress-bearing seams, which I think is a great detail in kids clothing. Matching Daddy in linen. Daddy is wearing a Vogue pattern. More on that later.Crazy green animal print. Logan picked out this fabric and it remains his absolute favorite shirt.Blue plaid to match Myra. This was also my first attempt at plaid matching, so I wanted a really simple pattern. This did the trick! There are pockets on both fronts, but you can't even see them, they match so well.

Cars!!! Logan picked this fabric, too. I just made this one, so we'll see if it becomes a new fave. I suspect it will.

The linen one was one of my first projects when I started sewing again after a years long hiatus (Medical School and residency don't leave you with much time for hobbies.), and I think it was a great pattern to get back into the swing of things.

I have also made the shorts (view E). They went together easily, but then, they are just shorts. The pockets turned out really cute as well. Logan is just now getting tall enough that they look like shorts, so we'll see how they wear this summer.