Hey all,

I am participating in the Handmade Boy's 3rd Season of  Boys Can Wear Pink. I am so happy to be sharing this project with you, and to have a place to express my feelings about a subject I feel deeply passionate about.
I don't know if it comes from being a mom of a boy, a girl, and another boy; or just part of my mom DNA that makes me happy to see my kids not be limited by traditional gender bias. I love seeing my daughter be proud of her strength and speed. I love seeing my oldest son show kindness and compassion. We have talked about how they can be whatever they want to be, and they are constantly and courageously pushing limits.
Shortly before little man was born we moved into a new neighborhood. One day that summer shortly after we moved, Ryder was cruising as fast as he could in his Cuddle Monster Motto Max (that I had made for Season 1 of Boys Can Wear Pink). When the self determined queen bee of the block, that is a few years older than him, asked him why he was wearing pink because that is a girl color. He came inside in full tears, we talked about favorite colors and how silly it would be for a gender to "own" a color and clearly his outfit wasn't a girl's outfit because I made it for him (one thing I know about Ryder is he has real courage and pride in my sewing ability, and if any kid makes fun of something I have made those are real fighting words).
I was doing dishes in the kitchen when he marched back out there and told Ms. Queen Bee politely and confidently that boys can wear what ever colors they want to; that this was his cuddle monster biking outfit. I was so proud. I continued to be proud of Ryder as he defied societal norms and proudly wore it until it was way too small. I am constantly amazed and so grateful for the example he is setting for Miss B and Little Man.
I knew with this project that I wanted to make something that would be flexible enough for Little Man to chase and play with his big brothers. I also struggled with a direction for a long time. The vest I had pre-cut  a few weeks ago but was unsure of what to pair it with. For the vest I used the Aztec Vest from See Kate Sew, I decided to leave out the zipper because I was worried about putting in a zipper with the softer Jersey compared to the sturdy sweatshirt fleece. I am digging the open feel of the vest because he is all about independence in dressing for the outdoors.
Then finally after looking at my knit scraps I decided on the Brindle and Twig Harem Coverall. I have to admit I own a few of their other one piece outfits but have never sewn them because of my fear of snaps. I loved this pattern from the first time I saw it, and being on kid number 3 rompers are my favorite (one thing to wash, no coordinating to worry about).
I thought about incorporating bright pink into the cuffs but then I remembered that Little Man, though not as bad as his sister, is a messy eater. So I went about assembling the romper not sure what exactly I was going to put on the front to help incorporate pink, I was about 95% percent done when I saw this small scrap of pink cuddle soft that Little Man always seems to find in my fabric stash. I knew it would make the perfect addition as an appliqué. When I thought over my struggles with regular appliqué two years ago, it seemed like a great time to try reverse appliqué. Though it definitely isn't perfect, I feel pretty good about it. This was my first time appliquéing on, and the thickness of the cuddle soft was a little difficult. I free handed the heart and liked the way the tilted heart looked (hearts are often reserved almost exclusively for girl's clothing, so I thought this was another stick it to the man).
We went out to our neighborhood park for pictures and for the kids to enjoy nice weather and clear air (something we have been really struggling in Utah the last few weeks). When a little 10 year old boy said,"Ryder, why is your brother wearing girl clothes?"
I went some what into Momma bear mode and used much the same logic that I had used before with the little girl.
Ryder cut me off quietly and said, "It is super cute and it is his Valentine's Day outfit," very matter of factly.
When we got home he was talking to another friend about it. How it is so dumb that some people think there is boy and girl colors, there are just colors.

He ran by me saying, "Mommy, Hi!"

It is such an amazing experience to see my kids grow up and see my boys practicing to be good dad's as they try to pack their baby dolls around. Having my oldest feel safe enough to ask for a Ken doll so he can play "husband" or nice guy friend to his sister's doll. I am so glad to have good kids that set example for their little brother...
...Well for the most part, but sometimes they do leave him in a lurch.

Note:Both Ryder and I were right there to catch him when I captured this picture, he really wanted to try the monkey bars so I figured the best way to help him move past this desire would be to give him an opportunity to try hang.

With Love,
Scary
PS. Before you go, check out these cool prizes and other awesome ideas. 

You know those clothing items that it doesn't matter what time of the month that as soon as you slip into them you instantly feel like a million bucks? This is the single most favorite item in my wardrobe. Often time in the sewing blogging world we sew something up and almost simultaneously post about it. We try our best to objectively review but it is hard to know really how something will hold up to everyday use, week after week.

I originally sewed the Everyday Day Maxi for See Kate Sew as part of her testing team. I am just short of 6' with all of the height being in my legs. I usually add 4" to the skirt of any dress that I sew, but with this one I really wanted it to be truly maxi so I laid on the ground on top of my fabric and marked from my under bust line where the heel of my foot landed.
I like the way the neckline is designed, where initially match the raw edges of the neckline and neckband from the inside. Then folded over to the seam allowance enclose the raw edge and have a clean finish inside and out. The directions instructed that you top stitch the neckline with but with the unique texture of the fabric I decided to hand stitch this using a blind stitch binding method. I also hand stitched the hem with a blind hem. 

I had purchased 4 yards of this peach fabric when I found it. I didn't know what I would make with it but I knew that I wanted to have enough to give me the flexibility to sew want ever it was. This ended up being a heaven send for this project, because maxi dresses require such large cuts of fabric (I only ended up using 3 of the 4 yards for this project). 
From the time that I sewed this dress has been my go to dress. I sewed it right before I got pregnant and wore it through the whole pregnancy. For my pear shape the amount of gather in the skirt has been the perfect amount to skim over my bumps without looking frumpy.  I usually show quite early but because of the silhouette of this dress I had people in my congregation that didn't know I was pregnant (because I wore this dress every week) until one week when I decided to change it up with a dress made from Motherhood Maternity.
When Slim Jim broke his foot their was several weeks where I had to wrangle those crazy kids fairly pregnant. Though I had to worry about keeping up with them; I didn't have to worry about whether my dress was riding up or if I was exposed in some way.

I have cared for this fabric by hand washing it or throwing it in a lingerie bag and hanging it to dry. After a year it is showing some wear but it still is the item that I know that always has my back. There is something so important in a Mom-inform about having the thing that makes you feel the part of lady. I love how this dress makes me feel like I am in a knit version of a Jane Austin Era dress.

I would love to hear about your favorite pattern that you have ever sewn for yourself? If you had one fantasy about who you are and what you are doing in that pattern who would you be?

Now how would you like to win some prizes?
 

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Now for a special announcement: Obviously the pictures for this post was taken a year ago and this isn't as ground breaking as many of the other posts that are part of this series (Lauren seriously put together a great group of ladies and please go check out their posts because they are amazing). Life has been a little crazy around these parts and I have really only tried to participate in blog tours I feel strongly passionate about to contain the craziness a bit. But this cutting down hasn't been enough, for the time being I need to cut out all blogging deadlines out of my life. My kids and my husband need me to be me the mom and wife who is all in emotionally, physically, spiritually and mentally. Blogging doesn't leave me with enough in my reservoir to be who they need me to be.

When our baby was born he had to spend a week in the NICU due to several complications. One of these complications was with his oxygen saturation. One day while I was there I went to fed him from a bottle and the nurse had given me the regular flow instead of the slower flow that we usually used for him. The milk came to fast and he began to choke on it. His saturation level went down to the 73% almost instantly and in my hands I had a purple baby. It was the most scary moment of my life. Instantly everything in my life was in perfect clarity the things that mattered (my husband, my kids, our extended family, our families goals) and the things that didn't. Luckily, I few seconds later I  was able to get his oxygen levels to get back up by startling him awake and since he has been home he has been very healthy.

I wrote later that week about that experience so that I could remember what I had decided and have my thoughts prepared to you about why I was doing this, but I didn't finish it. In fact I put it away and thought someday it will be the right day to share this or maybe it won't. I so love the supportiveness and sisterhood that is in the sewing blogging world that it has really been hard for me to admit defeat. This last deadline was the nail in the coffin that sewing blogging isn't working in my life right now and it will be healthier for my family for me to say goodbye. I will share with you an excerpt of what I wrote several months ago because they might provide further clarity as to the year long journey of letting go.

This last week I had an experience that cemented so firmly a decision that I have been mulling over for months. It all happened in one split scary second everything was clear and I knew what I needed to do.
Since we competed in PR&P and my legs swelled and bruised from foot to mid calf I began to we question whether this blogging thing was best for me (both for my health and my ability to be a good mother). I rested and came back to it several weeks later feeling renewed and ready to sew.
I committed to myself that I would only be working on sewing projects that excited me and that I believed in (like the dressage outfit for Boston's birthday, the brother/sister outfit from sew a tune, girls bundle up, the extraordinary girl, boys wear pink outfit and finally the top stitchers). For each of these projects right around the each deadline either me and/or the kids got very sick.
Some of them hit durning our cold apocalypse, others had stomach bugs but each one had something big enough for me to need exceptions and/or additional help from family (I really hate doing both of these). I wasn't keeping my head above water and I knew I was putting out people right and left. All this was my mellow version of blogging where I was only taking on commitments I was passionate about.

I will probably stop by every once in a while to show you something I have sewn for kicks and giggles. Pictures of the kids. Or maybe share a new favorite recipe. To be honest I don't know how often or how amazing it will be. I love you and I so apperciate each and everyone of our readers we know many of you by name.

This is only my journey and I trust that my sisters will make their own paths through life.

Today, we are participating in the Sewing for Kindergarten series hosted by Sewing Like Mad. Last fall we sent her an e-mail begging to be a part of this series. It is honestly one of my favorites to watch every year. Because you get to see lots of fun clothes with cute little five year old personalities exploding out of them.

First days of school are bitter sweet; it's a milestone day where as you were raising that first kid that it felt like the days of kindergarten would never come. All of the sudden it's there and you're thinking, what happened to my little baby? For both of us we discovered that it was best to put the game face on and fake it till you make it.
The start of this school year brought some unexpected twists and turns in preparing for our very first kindergartners. We both started out with the plan to do public school kindergarten and each of us found that different avenues were better fits. Al is currently in the beginnings of finding the sync of homeschooling and Scary is discovering the ins and outs of charter school.

Do you feel like crying or celebrating?  
Al: Most days a bit of both. Even though I'm an teacher, I never thought that would be one for a kindergartner. Some days we laugh and everything goes great, but other days I want to cry with frustration. I sure hope I get better at this.

Scary: I had excused myself to be an emotional basket case for the first day of school. So much that I was going to have my husband take the day off to accompany me in dropping him off. All the while leading up to kindergarten I was telling Ryder that he was going to love school and it was so exciting all the things he would learn.
It was like I had excused myself to morn, the change of my baby to school age kid. But I truly knew what a great time he would have at school.

Ryder informed me that this pose all the cool hip kids are doing.  I must be too old but I don't get it.

When we got the call that he been lottery selected for kindergarten at the charter school (which started a week previous to when the public school started) I only had 4 days to register, gather school uniform stuff and attend back to school night. Somehow this chaos forced me to find calm and I was able to keep my emotions together until half way through the car ride home. Where Boston's crying finally broke through my shell and we cried together. Once we realized together that pickup comes quickly both Boston and I have enjoyed our daily girl time.

And what about your child?  
Al: Ty has always loved school and anything learning involved. She loves it as long as it's hard. When daily themes cross multiple subjects and senses, she loves it even more. She's also having a lot of fun teaching her younger siblings to write letters, read them stories, and skip to songs.


Scary: He is loving school. He comes home and uses his handouts to teach his sister. He has taken great pride in the things he has already learned. Last Friday when he came home from school he asked if I could volunteer in his classroom so I could see what a great job he is doing. He does not prefer his daily sound fluency practice. He puts up with that so he can get to his, 20 minutes a night reading which he adores. He does very well at fine motor skills so handwriting practice he breezes through painlessly.
 
Question to your kindergartner: What has been the best and worst part so far?
Ryder: I love recess. Friday's where go to school all day and we get to have art and music. I really love art! Friday's, I get to eat Breakfast and Pizza with peaches at the school. They also have both juice and chocolate milk. I like Math group because it doesn't take as long as reading.


I wanted to ride the bus and I don't get to ride the school bus going to charter school. I really wanted to ride the school bus with my friends around the block. I really want to go to school with my friends around the block.

Scary (Ryder's Mom): Let me interject here, I wasn't going to let him ride the school bus anyways so this is a funny one to me. My own life experiences have caused me to have problems with school buses, I don't judge anyone who has their kids ride the bus but I would be a basket case everyday having him ride the school bus.
 I think it has been good for him to make school friends and neighborhood friends. It just makes it a little awkward on the days that he has a different school schedule than the public school, then I am turning away his friends that are ready to play.


Al: Ty thinks the best part about school is math, the songs, the directed lessons and activities. I'm not sure how to make practicing letters and basic reader books more fun, but that is definitely her least favorite part. I think it feels redundant and boring so she drags her feet while doing it. I guess we need to challenge this bright little lady a little more.

Details on Ryder's Outfits (Made by Scary)
I used the Jalie Tee pattern for all 3 of these shirts. After I tried this pattern for my husband I couldn't resist sewing again and seriously have been eyeing all the Jalie patterns, wanting to try them all.
Each tee was sewing double knit I found at my neighborhood Joann a few months ago. Both Ryder and I love these tee's. They were so quick to whip up and he loves the fit. I had these all ready to go with his pants that we had more than enough pairs of pants and shorts until we got the call from the Charter School. They have a fairly strict dress code that these shirts wouldn't work so instead of being his "Go to School shirts" they are his change out of as so as you get home so you don't wreak you school clothes. The details on plaid shorts paired with the blue tee is (blogged here).
The only thing that I have made him that works with the charter school is a pair of E+M No. 2 Shorts. I modified the front pockets so they would work for his dress code. But I still really wanted to make them fun for him so I used some Riley Blake Medium Dot Tone on Tone Green. With his polo these pockets are hidden to everyone else but him. In the near future I can see me sewing a Downtown V-neck from Fishsticks for use as a cardigan and some long pants using the Titchy Thread Small Fry Skinny Jeans.

Ty's Outfit (Made by Al)
Already putting together the school room, I had just sharpened a pile of pencils. As I was looking through the fabric I had on hand, I realized that this would make a perfect pencil inspired dress. To make it, I mashed up MHC Caroline Party Dress on top with our Betty Skirt on bottom. I decided to keep it simple and just make this dress and pull from the closet full of home made dresses for the other days.

4th of July is a BIG deal with my inlaws with a parade and fireworks. Usually on July 2nd and sometimes as late as 3rd I get a hankering to make an outfit for the kids. My procrastination in the past may have caused a little friction in my marriage. This year I decided to start much sooner and even though these took me weeks to finish (so I am still getting used to 3 kids and it seems to be one appointment after another), I am happy to report these pants have been in the done pile for almost a month.
The fabric is a double cloth I picked up from imagine gnats. I haven't sewn much plaid in the past so it was a new sort of adventure. I am not sure that shorts the best first project for a beginner plaid sewist. I really like the weight that the double cloth have I know that he won't be wearing through them quickly.
I used the No. 2 Pants/Shorts Pattern from E+M . I chose this pattern because I have already sewn it a number of times. I needed these to be a quick sew so I left out the pockets and used serged seams instead flat felt seams (here is last years version with pockets and flat felt seams made from a quilters cotton). I also changed out the woven flat front waistband for a knit elastic waistband. I chose to make them one size longer than I have in the past because is right on the cusp of another growth spurt.
He is pretty excited for all the horsing around there is on the 4th and I think these shorts will be perfect for him.

PS. Isn't his stick horse darling? Mama Shaffer made it for him and he wouldn't commit to an afternoon photoshoot without it so I promised him that we would included at least one picture of him and the stick horse.

Are any of you sewing 4th of July outfits? I would love to see them if you have them done leave a link below so I can check them out.

I have found it so difficult to put together a few minutes to sew with our new little guy, with all that difficulty doesn't diminish the need for sewing in our house (Over a year ago, I committed to sewing or finding second hand item as much of the kids clothes as possible. It keeps me busy, but happy that I am not contributing to the fast fashion trends).
Today, I was going crazy so I finally committed to turning a blind eye to my household disaster and spend a few hours hanging out with my machine doing what I love. I knew that I might have a chance of finishing a full sewing project in one day if I sewed a pattern I had sewn before (when Boston dressed her self in this Extraordinary Girl top this morning I took it as a sign).
I went for mostly black fabric since our summer swimming has only been backyard water hose activities while Baby Wayne sleeps soundly in his room. I noticed that she was getting cold with her old rash guard and swim bottoms, I thought that if I went with bottoms then the rash guard should dry faster and keep her warmer.
As soon as the bottom hem was put in she was rushing to get it on. I am not even sure I got all my strings clipped before the kids were ready to go do the slip and slide. I hope that soon I will be able to finish the matching swim bottoms.
The kids were having such fun in the slide that instead of a professional on location photoshoot I just did a in our back year playing in the slip-n-slide for the first time pictures. This way I could also hit the sweet giveaway as part of the Canadian Pattern Designer giveaway. I alreally own and LOVE sooooo many patterns from many of the designers of Canadian Pattern tour, that I was able to participate without altering my sewing to sew list at all.
I hope you are all having a nice summer.

First off I am so tickled to be part of the Canadian Pattern Tour so many of designers are among my favorite designers. We used this opportunity to try a new designer that we have never tried before. Let me tell you it didn't disappoint.

Al & I are always talking about the supportive nature of our sweet husbands. Without their help, encouragement, pizza runs, fabric store shopping, photography our blog would still be on square one. They have always supported us since the beginning because they knew that is was what we were passionate about and they were passionate about us. This project really is the perfect way for us to show our appreciation for them.
Up until recently I thought that Slim Jim appreciated the sewing I did for me and the kids but was okay with me stopping there. More and more frequently he seems to be dropping more and more hints that he wanted me to sew for him. Finally I asked him about it and he owned up to his desires, after that I really looked for patterns that would fit his casual relaxed style. Al's husband, Samson, has a similar relaxed style but doesn't feel comfortable with a v-neck (yet anyway we are trying to convince him that she should be).

The Jalie Men's Shirt pattern has 2 necklines (v-neck & crew) and 3 sleeve options (long sleeve, short, and a layered double sleeve) making it a great choice for the casual relaxed style guy.  The sizes start from a Boy's 2 (Chest: 22") and goes up to a Men's 22 (Chest: 50"). Really you couldn't ask for more in sizes from a tee pattern.

Al and I planned ordering a masculine looking knit that would fit the 40% stretch across the grain and in the length (according to the pattern). I felt like finding a fabric that met the requirements and what the guys would wear was a little difficult and May ended up being SUPER CRAZY for both good and bad reasons so I just pulled out a flat t-shirt sheet that I had on hand to sew them both up. Now that Sew Kinetic is back open I plan on making the next one out of their Triplex Heather, because it has the 40% across grain and length (I will just have to figure out whether Aqua or Surf will look better with Slim Jim eyes).

The only adjustment made to both tops was to add additional few inches since both guys are well over the average height for men. Slim Jim is almost 6'5" and Samson 6'4". 

This was my first Jalie pattern and I really like the way they write their instructions in a single sheet with references to the diagram page. This made it quick for sewing up and easy to reference specific questions. All instructions are written in both English and French.

My biggest complaint with the pattern was trying to figure out printing. It requires printing off the bottom pieces once for the front and once for the back. Printing off the front pattern pieces that match your choice of neckline style and then the back bodice piece.

Sometime V-Necks can be a little tricky but I felt like with the overlap it would be a great sew for event the most beginning sewist.  I think this would be perfect for a boy that was wanting to start sewing for himself. For me it was easy to sew both shirts at the same time, you really could build a whole wardrobe around this pattern. The neckline uses the same fabric, so you won't need ribbing.

How would you like a chance to win a Jalie pattern?
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Need additional inspiration on why you should jump into a Canadian patterns? Check out the inspiration below:

Creative Bug * The Wholesome Mama * stitched by crystal * Shaffer Sisters *  Call Ajaire * hibbadoray * Handmade Boy * Rebel & Malice * Sew Out of Control * All Things Katy! * Not Sew Fast * Conversas de Hermana * From-a-Box * Made by Sara *  Climbing the Willow * Swoodson Says * Thread Riding Hood * Sprouting JubeJube * Create3.5 * Calm and Carrion * Stitches by Laura * Pattern Revolution * PhatQuarters * sewstarly * House of Estrela * gloria june * Sew Far North * AmandaRose * Mae & K

Today, we are continuing our sewing of the Women's Bundle Up patterns (sale goes through May 8th). In full disclosure, we were given a complimentary the Real Deal Jeans pattern (review here) & Mykonos Tankini pattern for our review. But that didn't stop us from putting our money where our mouth is. We purchased the bundle so we could feature just a few more of these great patterns. We get no compensation from you purchasing the bundle. We honestly believe you would be hard pressed to find a better selection of patterns & with awesome size ranges! Especially at $4.50/pattern folks. Alright, alright enough with the pitch on to the mash up.
Eeekkk! I am so excited to share this self care sew with you. I've been badly in need of a swim suit ever since I entered motherhood and jumped at the chance to customize the perfect look for myself. The the main inspiration and foundation came from the Mykonos Tankini. I loved the design of the triangle tank option, but ended up going with the peplum version because I knew that accentuating my waistline would look best with my pear shaped body. I also opted for the boy shorts because then I don't even have to wonder if I need to add a layer of shorts over the suit when I go out in public. I guess I just always feel self conscious of my bare legs in moments like that.
I attempted to make the tankini exclusively using the Mykonos pattern, but it just didn't work for my shape as well as I would've liked. In the last month I have stopped nursing and now there's just not a lot of shape on top to work with. To be honest though, when I first saw the patterns for the Bundle Up I felt a crazy desire to have the tankini and then borrow the neat crisscross design of the Jillian Top. The finished look will be 100% functional for young kids, climbing and pulling on my suit.  I know that uni-boobs are taboo in the fashion world, but I've always seen myself as an athlete with 8+ years of doing sports year round so I actually prefer that athletic look.
As far as construction modifications goes, the biggest things were that I extended the waistline of the boy shorts about 5 inches so that if I was swimming when the peplum floated up that I wouldn't have to deal with my squishy, stretch-mark covered tummy being exposed to the world. I love my body and the joys in my life that came from it, but it's personal and I just want to keep it that way. Because I'm about 1" above average height I added 1" to the bottom of the peplum. I cut the Jillian Tank at the middle of the lengthen/shorten line so that could have it hit me at my natural waistline. I also used swim bra cups so that I didn't have to worry about nipping on cold days because most of my swimming is outside in fresh mountain water.
I was a little nervous to put myself out there with a swimsuit and I had came up with a plan to work out everyday, twice a day, for the next 2 weeks so that I was more toned. Ha, that didn't happen. I only ended up getting through 70% of 1 Jillian Micheal's workout routine. As I looked at the pictures, I found myself surprised by how I look in this swimsuit.

I feel like I look courageous, confident, and strong. Although I have 30+ lbs of extra baby weight around the midsection, it doesn't mean that I'm not beautiful and I can't take on the world. Lately I've had some eye opening experiences about my health that didn't keep me motivated more than a few days to be super healthy and end the end left me searching for the oreos. When I see these pictures, I realize that I am still strong and although I'm a mother of 3 young kids, I haven't lost my identity and it's not too deep to be able to find it further. Love yourself for what you are because that's pretty dang amazing!
With Love,
Al
PS. Don't forget to check out the other bloggers on the tour they are making some great stuff!