Pinterest - Most Recent Pins - Sewing for Boys

I love sewing clothes for my little boy. I love making toys and play accessories for him the most, but comfy shorts and pants for play and childcare days are my favourite clothes to make for him.

Here are five of my most recent pins to my Pinterest board "Sewing for Boys".

1. Jaden T-Shorts

This idea is great - turn a favourite adult T-shirt into a pair of shorts! I love ideas that encourage re-using and upcycling.

2. Baby Yoga Pants

Along the same lines as the T-Shorts. Recycle an old T-shirt to make some comfy pants. So simple!

3. Toddler Tour Pants

Cute pants with a patchwork insert down the sides of the legs and a really easy to follow tutorial.

4. Men's Shirt Baby Romper

Along the themes of upcycling - turn a cotton button-through shirt into a summery romper for a little boy.

5. Free Boy Patterns

A great collection of exactly what it claims to be - free patterns for boys. Heaps of easy to follow and easy to sew clothing for little ones.

Please share any great finds that you have below in the comments - I would love to find more!

Upcycle: Toddler girl's top and skirt from a business shirt

When my husband cleaned out some of his old work shirts, I picked a few that I thought would make cute girls' clothes. This one stood out the most. 

I decided to make a dress for my daughter, so I measured her chest and waist and added in a little to get my width. I also measured from the top of her shoulder down to where I wanted the length and added in enough for hems and seams to get my length. 

This was my first go and I was a bit quick to cut the collar out, making the neck hole too large for my daughter. In the most recent upcycle I just unpicked the collar and removed it, sewing the casing back together.

I also cut out two belt loops and a long strip to make a tie belt from. 

After hemming all openings, I discovered that the neck was too large, so I gathered through the neckline and as well as solving that problem, it pulled the top of the dress into an altogether better shape - win win!

Tuesday Tutorial: toddler girl skirt and top from men's business shirt

This post is about the second upcycle that I've done for Mia from one of her daddy's business shirts. The first upcycle was this dress:

Cute, right?

But today we're focussing on making a skirt and top:

The first thing I did was to remove the pocket and the collar by unpicking the seams around them. Next I cut out all of pieces, trying to keep the original seams as much as possible. This is a different shirt and a very rough picture, but it gives you some idea of how to cut the pieces from the shirt.

You'll need to take lots of measurements.

 For the top:

• Check that the neck width suits the size of the child. Sew along the seam where the collar was removed.
• Measure from the neck to the edge of the shoulder where you want the armhole to begin.
• Measure the length of the armhole you require.
• Allow an extra 1.5cm for armhole hemming.
• Measure the child's chest and waist and allow 4cm on each side.
• Measure the length required from shoulder down and add 2cm for hem.

Hem the armholes, by turning over twice and ironing down. Turn right sides together and sew down the sides. Hem along the bottom.

For the skirt:

• Measure the waist and hips - cut a rectangle that is 1.5 times the largest of these measurements.
• Measure the length required and add hem allowance.
• Cut a strip for the waistband. I wanted 2.5cm wide, so I cut a 10cm strip that was the same length as my daughter's waist measurement. Fold in half and iron, fold the edges to the centre and iron again.

Run two gathering stitches along the top of the rectangle. Pull in to match the length of the waistband. Insert the gathered skirt between the layers of the waistband and sew along. Topstitch around the top and sides of the waistband. Hem the skirt. Sew a button on the waistband and add a buttonhole.

Done!