Little boy's play outfit recon

Today was my eight year old son’s birthday, and I blew my diet so badly that I’ll have to sew and craft like a madwoman for the next few days to keep my mind off of food. The day went really well, and the birthday boy was delighted with his loot.

As an extra gift, I tried to surprise Owen with a sleeveless tank top that I sewed up this morning, but I messed up on the sleeves. I cut the binding a little to short, and it make the armholes pucker. I cut it out really late last night, and I must’ve been thinking about how cuffs and collars should be smaller than the opening---not so with armholes on a tank top! He has been asking for sleeveless shirts, so I’ll try again, and refashion his botched shirt into a smaller version for my littlest guy.

Here is my 21 month old boy's new outfit, refashioned from old clothes and a bit of green jersey. I’m still working out the details, but this is the first try. As I cut out the T-shirt front, I discovered that the printed section was not a perfect circle. I dealt with the wonkiness of it as best I could. Oh well, it's my first muslin and he'll have grape juice on it soon enough. :o)

I was trying to go for something like a bicycle-short length, but they ended up more like capris.

For the shirt, I used an old painting Tshirt of mine, and made a pattern for him from a Tshirt that fits him. My shirt is about 14 years old and has some paint and ink on it, but it made a good practice garment. No worries about wasting money screwing up some good fabric. The little shorts are made from an unloved black turtleneck. They turned out a bit longer than I had planned, but I guess they do protect his knees a bit as he plays. ;o) The next pair won't be quite as long. The jersey made for turtlenecks is wonderfully soft for comfy toddler clothes. I'll be looking for a few more wardrobe rejects to make into playclothes for my little guy. I think I’ll make a black shirt to go with the shorts. Maybe with an appliqué in the green.

The other project here is the top from a sleep set I made for my eight year old son a few days ago. It is made from an old touristy shirt. It was a test pattern. The next ones I make for him will be more boyish; I raided my own wardrobe for a shirt to practice on. The set has shorts made from the green jersey fabric that did not make it into the photo since they are in the washer right now. This outfit has been worn and washed once already.

I’m not entirely happy with how baggy this pattern worked up. I’ll try it again with a men’s t-shirt from the thrift shop, and maybe make it a size smaller.

Excuse the wrinkles: it just came out of the dryer.

I ordered one of the LEKO software patterns for children last week, and I'm eagerly awaiting it's arrival. If the software works out, I should be able to really start stashbusting my kid fabrics. I also ordered the test demo CD for me.

I'll post later on my adventures with LEKO later on this summer. They can't be too much more hit and miss than the big four pattern companies...I hope. :o)