Download Tools: Kids Sewing Strategies Revised

Sunday, June 25, 2017

Kids Sewing Strategies Revised

Over the last couple of weeks Ive been giving a lot of thought to kids clothes sewing plans. I mean, even more than usual. So, we found out that the baby Im currently brewing is a boy. It was a bit of a surprise at first, in a kind of But we make girls, dont we? kind of way. Pat got over the shock within an hour, it took me about two days. Now Im totally down with it and excited to make a mini-dude wardrobe, its going to be ace!

(image source: Brindille and Twig)

This news also seems to be helping me accept Doloress increasing desire to wear only dresses (preferably pink sparkly ones). I cant get behind the pink-sparkly part, but instead of trying to distract her in the morning whilst I attempt to sneak her into a pair of jeans and a cute sweatshirt or T-shirt, Ive been indulging her requests to wear dresses (or flow-y tunic tops which she also describes as dresses) as far as the weather, the days activities and the laundry cycle will permit. Simply put: now that Im having a boy, I not lamenting the lack of fun sweatshirts, joggers and anchor print stuff making an appearance on Dolores!

(image source: Sloppop Yeah)

I was surprised that she has developed such a strong sense of how she wants to dress at only two and a half. I most certainly dont want to squash her developing sense of self, but I thought I might have a bit more sartorial freedom for a little while longer! Equally, Ive been slightly alarmed by how naturally she has started gravitating towards the colour pink, princesses, fairies, ballet dancing and other intensely stereotypical girly imagery and activities. I met a lady at a sewing class I was teaching a couple of weeks ago whose four year old would literally only wear dresses. (Currently at least) I can convince Dolores to wear leggings and T-shirts underneath her beloved dresses, but I think Im going to have to make her a slightly larger selection than she currently owns.

(image source: Toby Tiger)

But back to the boys stuff. Boys clothing had always been a pretty abstract concept to me, not something Ive given much thought. Ive dabbled by making my friends little boys the odd pair of trousers or shorts, but Id never thought beyond the occasional stand-alone item. Boys clothes in the shops usually seem sooooo boring. So much navy blue with perhaps a dinosaur, car or (in the summer) sea creature printed somewhere. Little bird clothing seems to be one of the few exceptions, on the UK high street at least. And as I found when researching independent childrens sewing pattern companies, despite there being some fantastic ranges for making boys clothes out there, in terms of quantity, there are far fewer sewing patterns out there for boys than for girls. This is, of course no surprise. The range of types, styles, colours, fabrics and detailing of clothing that is acceptable for boys is far smaller than for girls. However, within the boundaries required to prevent getting asked How old is she? too many times each day, I plan to have masses of fun creating awesome, colourful, comfortable and joyful clothing for my little boy. The images illustrating this post are my current inspiration points for mini-dude clothes sewing.

(image source: C bien fee!)

My feelings towards new clothing for children remain the same, perhaps are even stronger, three years on. Thankfully, about 40% of the clothes Dolores wore when she was tiny was either unisex or once were bought from the boys section. Plus, an enormous amount of recent hand-me-downs means Squiggler (working-title) should need very little for the first year. Which is useful, because clothes start to fit the child for more than five minutes the older they get, so any sewing efforts for a year+ will be enjoyed for longer! Fabric-wise, Ill hunt through the non-girly sections of my stash that Dolores would now refuse to wear. Plus, I was sent an amazingly generous package from Josie at Fabric Godmother (pictured at the top of this post) when she heard that I was having a boy. The length of fabulous orange-y leopard print twill is for making something for Dolores so that she wont get jealous!

Just as all these discoveries and ideas have been taking place, Kids Clothes Week has popped up announcing their latest challenge at just the right time. This time the theme is The Future, and although it isnt compulsory that you incorporate it in any way (the only stipulation is that you sew kids clothes for at least one hour each day for a week), I will be using the challenge to sew stuff for my future-son! If you sew for kids, are you taking part this season? Any ideas yet?!