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Thursday, August 15, 2013

Coastal Cargos and Recess Raglan, done!

I'll preface this post by saying that these may be the last two garments I sew for this particular child of mine. Granted, it's the end of a 10 week summer break, but the amount of grief I was given when asking said child to try on the clothes I had painstakingly made for him has convinced me to stick to selfish sewing for a while!  That face above?  That disdain is for real.  
On to the garments!  I am super pleased with how these Coastal Cargos turned out!  Style-wise, sewing for an 8 year old is tricky; you definitely don't want their stuff to scream "my mom makes my clothes!", so essentially I was aiming to make something you could buy at the store.  My son and I picked out the fabric together (Joann's), with some negotiation, of course.  We weren't going for the 'military fatigues' look, but there was a serious lack of better options at the store and he wouldn't even consider the rust colored version I had in mind.  
My son is super skinny, so I used size 6 for this pattern.  Most patterns have excess ease (and my French seams probably used more seam than they were allowed), so these pants fit him well right at this very moment, with little room to grow, unfortunately.  But hey, at least I have a younger son!

Melissa's directions were great and I loved all the details in the pants (Three different types of pockets, button tab for rolling up the pants, zip fly, belt loops...these pants have it all!)
In lieu of bias tape on the leg seams, I went with French seams, that I sewed down (topstitched).  Flat-felled seams were my original plan, but the FS seemed like it would be easier, and less finger-burn inducing.
Inside topstitched French seam, with button tab
Other edges were serger-finished
It's unlikely that my son will actually use this feature, but the pants roll up and are secured with a button tab!  It'd be great for wading in the ocean...like this weekend while I'm fabric shopping at Hart's....
At the last minute, I wanted to make a t-shirt to go with his new pants, so I downloaded the Recess Raglan Shirt, by See Kate Sew.  It's a great little pattern, and between my two boys will be useful for years, but the size 6 was pretty big all around for my guy.  Next time I'll size down and probably make the sleeves a little slimmer.  I started off with the elbow length, but they just looked comically large on my skinny guy, so I cut them back to short sleeves.
This morning, we carved potato stamps to look like animal prints and he used them to decorated his new top.  The boy loves his animals!
Pretty adventuresome looking outfit there!  He just needs his Adventure Bag and he's ready to go...back to school :)

P.S. The Coastal Cargos Sewalong is going on right now--you still have time to join in!



10 comments:

  1. Awesome, one day he will look back and be grateful and proud you took the time to do something so special for him :-) I'm so behind with my sewing, I finally finished cutting out two pair last night and want to get on with sewing, but it is the weekend here, which means family time..love them, but I just want to sew :-)

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    1. I have to say, there are times I just go and sew, even on the weekends! The sewing room is next door to the boys' bedroom, so I can still hear and see them. That counts, right? :)

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  2. Excellent pants and tee shirt! We appreciate your efforts, even if the boy doesn't, LOL! I agree with Deb though - one day he'll realize what a gift it is to have a mom who sews!

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    1. Well to be very fair to the boy, I do think he appreciates them...he's just super grumpy about having to try them on 4 times (interrupting play time and whatnot). When asked if he'd wear them for the first day of school tomorrow, I got a solid "Maybe" out of him :)

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  3. These turned out great, and I love the animal tracks as a print - great idea! Pinned.

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    1. Thank you! Your pattern is really wonderful!

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  4. I know what you mean about trying to make boy clothes seem store bought - both a fun challenge and kind of annoying that we simply can't be as creative with their stuff! Love these, though, the pants look great and love that he stamped his own animal track shirt!

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    1. What is super ridiculous is that I know I can go to Old Navy and buy the exact same pair for less than the cost of fabric....but at least I know the working conditions under which mine were made (not too bad, actually!) and even if he doesn't like trying them on, I think he gets that I make things for him because I love him. :)

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  5. Lush! I love them!! Bah to boys who are too cool for wearing gorgeous, mum made trousers! He still looks cute in them though :P

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    1. Thank you, thank you! As I mentioned above, I got a "maybe" out of him when I asked if he'd wear the pants for his first day of 3rd grade (tomorrow!). I'll take that over my other son who flat-out refuses (and literally cries if I put them on him) to wear the overalls I made for him a few months ago!

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