I sometimes find it difficult to sew for baby boys. One problem is that you can’t add too many cute frills because people might find it too girly. The second problem is that dresses are somehow just more fun to make. I usually end up making another Growing up sew liberated envelope tee. However, my colleagues have been creating a lot of boys lately so I’ve already given several of these tees away. It was high time for some diversification or risk people thinking I am a one-trick monkey.
I still had some of the coronavirus fabric that would be great to use for a boy but the amount was somewhat limited so not every pattern was going to work. After much deliberation I chose blouse 6 from Knippie 5 2010 in size 74. If you compare the shirt I made with the line drawing you might notice that my version doesn’t look all that much like the drawing. First, I made short sleeves because of fabric limitations. Second, I don’t really like the western cowboy details so I left these completely off on the front and changed the curved yoke to a straight yoke and cut the back piece on the fold. I considered leaving out the yoke completely but inside yokes are pretty useful for embroidering sizes on so that persuaded me otherwise. I didn’t like the square pocket so left it off as well. In the pattern the front placket facing is cut separately which I really don’t understand when you don’t use a contrasting fabric (bulk, extra sewing, seriously why?) so I merged the front and front placket pattern pieces. On the sleeve piece some of the notches were missing but I didn’t have any trouble putting them in, it just took a little bit more care to get things properly aligned and eased in.
The main fabric is a baby corduroy that is really soft. It also doesn’t wrinkle much when it is washed which is a huge bonus for parents with young children. I didn’t have enough fabric left to cut the collar and used some left-over fabric from another make. I think it works very well and probably makes the shirt better looking than if it had just been the main fabric. It does seem to become a bit of a theme though, not having enough fabric for what I want to make. I’m not entirely sure what that says about my project planning and fabric buying skills…
I didn’t have suitable buttons in my stash and used snaps. This is possibly also a safer option in clothes for young children but I found it a bit challenging and time consuming to get them all spaced equally. Don’t do this bit when you’re in a hurry. They look really good though. I placed the top snap a bit lower than they did in the line drawing because I don’t think baby’s like having a collar really tight aroung their neck.
I didn’t follow the Knippie assembly instructions. According to them topstitching of the collar is optional. Optional??? Not in my book. I used French seams for the side seams and the yoke trick (also called burrito method) for the shoulder seams. This encloses all seam allowances which looks really great in my opinion. The seam allowances of the sleeves were overlocked and then topstitched in place.
There are two things that I am not completely happy about. I accidently cut the back yoke piece upside down (getting creative with limited amounts of fabric does have its risks…). Luckily little kids mostly lie on their backs right? I also should have used a lighter thread for attaching the collar because on the inside you can now see the stitching line. Other than that I think it turned out very well and I will probably use this pattern again.
It looks really cute. I think your seam finishes are well chosen. I always think seams should be “soft”, especially on baby clothes. Sometimes just seeing them makes me itch. But French seams are great on baby clothes.
I guess your project planning and fabric buying skills are similiar to mine. Buying fabrics you like when you see them. Usually I buy to much and get stuck with a piece thats to small for anything else but kid stuff.
Yes, seam finishes are important for young children, somehow their skin is a bit more sensitive. Since baby garments are so small it doesn’t even take that much more time to do a French seam so I’ll usually try to do it when it’s possible.
I this case I really wish I had bought more of the fabric, I think I only got 0.5m or so…
Well I think that this baby top is perfect for a little boy! It has been such a long while since I have sewn any baby clothes. I think you did a wonderful job!
Thank you! I guess I am at that age that suddenly a lot of people around me start a family. I’ve been making a lot of baby stuff the last couple of years.
A beautiful and thoughtful gift. It looks great. I enjoy reading how you change patterns to solve problems – very practical and motivating. Do you subscribe to pattern magazines and build up a resource, or find patterns as you need them?
When I first started sewing I bought the occassional magazine. When I realized I was buying almost every Knipmode issue that came out it made more sense to get a subscription because that’s a lot cheaper than buying the individual issues. Right now I’m thinking of cancelling my subscription though because I already have several years and I’m not loving the designs as much as I used to (and it’s starting to take up a lot of space). For kids clothes I have less patterns, I have a couple of Knippie issues and that’s really enough for now. I only need a couple of good patterns for baby’s because I only make kids clothes as gifts for newborns. Lastly, I also have some books that contain patterns and I am occasionally tempted by indie patterns and buy those as well (and then it takes a while to actually turn them into a garment).
A very timely post for me, Emmely as I am about to become a “Nanna” (grandmother) for the first time in a week or 2! Yay! We don’t know if it’s a girl or boy yet so I could well be following your lead with this cute little shirt. (On the other hand, there are SO many lovely baby girl patterns too!)
Exciting times for you! I think it must be even more fun to make clothes and toys for your own grandchildren than it already is to make them for friends and co-workers.