Kid's Sewing Strategies: Revised

Over the last couple of weeks I've been giving a lot of thought to kid's clothes sewing plans. I mean, even more than usual. So, we found out that the baby I'm currently brewing is a boy. It was a bit of a surprise at first, in a kind of 'But we make girls, don't we?' kind of way. Pat got over the shock within an hour, it took me about two days. Now I'm totally down with it and excited to make a mini-dude wardrobe, it's going to be ace!

(image source: Brindille and Twig)

This news also seems to be helping me accept Dolores's increasing desire to wear only dresses (preferably pink sparkly ones). I can't 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, I've been indulging her requests to wear dresses (or flow-y tunic tops which she also describes as 'dresses') as far as the weather, the day's activities and the laundry cycle will permit. Simply put: now that I'm 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 don't 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, I've 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 I'm going to have to make her a slightly larger selection than she currently owns.

(image source: Toby Tiger)

But back to the boy's stuff. Boy's clothing had always been a pretty abstract concept to me, not something I've given much thought. I've dabbled by making my friends' little boys the odd pair of trousers or shorts, but I'd 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 children's sewing pattern companies, despite there being some fantastic ranges for making boy's 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 boy's 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, I'll 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 won't get jealous!

Just as all these discoveries and ideas have been taking place, Kid's Clothes Week has popped up announcing their latest challenge at just the right time. This time the theme is 'The Future', and although it isn't compulsory that you incorporate it in any way (the only stipulation is that you sew kid's 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?!

(image source: Molly Goodall)

(image source: Zulily)

(image source: Jenn232 from Kids Clothes Week)

(image source: Petit and Small)

(image source: Instagram user @tomboy_in_a_dress)