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. 

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.

Today I have an awesome opportunity to be part of the Boys Can Wear Pink put together by Kelly of Handmade Boy. Kelly is so crazy talented I am sure you have seen her work around (big thank you to her for patiently waiting an extra day for me to post). She really put together an amazing line up and all of the creations of the series have given me great ideas for pushing the envelope of boys sewing in creative ways.

Even though February has been very busy for my family I couldn't help but join her worthy cause. Ridiculous gender roles stereotypes really get my blood a political science grad mind a boiling. It is crazy how indoctrinated we have let our society become on such silly issue. I felt like though I am a stay at home mom and my husband is the sole bread winner, but who we are would safe guard our kids against prosperous gender inequality. But two recent instances have helped me realize how much we needed something like this to be able to talk about gender roles.


The first was the battle over the fuchsia spoon. A few months back I purchased a single set of kids plastic silverware and bowl set from IKEA. I loved the bright colors and figured it would be fun for the kids to eat in. A few weeks in I began to notice that Boston expected to get the purple and fuchsia stuff because she was a girl, This was even with me mindfully switching up colors for the kids every time. We had to talk about sharing and how everyone should have a chance to try each color.

The other was when Ryder told Boston that she couldn't be Spiderman because girls can't be as good at hanging as boys could be. This declaration nearly made me loose control. This is the first industry I have worked in that is an typical of women's industry (before this I have worked in tech support, landscaping and custodial work). I barked back that men and women can both do what ever they wanted and had a passion for, and the important part is to work hard. It seems like that day we have had multiple discussions on what jobs both girls and boys can do. Since then the only jobs we have come up with that are not jobs for both men and women are women being pregnant and men growing beards.
This outfit really became my representation of that lesson. Boys are told to be tough and strong from the beginning. But Ryder's strongest personality attribute in his momma's eyes his compassion and love for the people around him. His affection is the type that just melts over you and his intuition for others emotions makes him highly compassionate and aware at even the smallest plight of others. He often is found with his sweet smile to say, "Do you want to cuddle?" as he snuggles into his love ones. I don't want to loose this buttery warmness to gender role expectations, this makes him a great older brother. I know this will also make him a great friend, husband and father. I see this same genuine love for others in his dad, Slim Jim.
When I told Ryder about this series and I would be making him a "pink outft" he immediately worried that people would think he was a girl. I reassured them it would be fine and I would make sure that though it had pink no one would confuse him for a girl. I went to work planning the outfit knowing that the Moto Maxx would be the perfect pattern for a boy look. The next morning I showed him my design and he excited confirmed with one small changes I needed a different monster.

Kelly clued me in on Urban Threads which is where I picked up this monster used. I do not own an embroidery machine so each layer of the design was achieved by stacking and applique. This process took me so much longer by days than I thought (yes I said by days, yes I am slow and a bit picky). I love the texture the layering gives it. After making all the layers I stitched and then roughly appliqued around the perimeter and reinforced the back with knit interfacing.

The attention to detail of the Moto Maxx from Love Notions (affiliate link) made it the perfect base for a strong boy look. The only other alterations that I did was taking in the arm cuffs until it was my desired tightness. I sewed a 8 on top and a 7 on bottom according to where he fell on the sizing chart.

Result: He loves it! He doesn't think that it looks like A girl. Boston wants a monster shirt so she can match her brother.
PS. Would you like a chance to win some fun prizes?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I am very tickled to be a part of Sew in Tune, a series hosted by Melly Sews and Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy. I have watched the series for years but didn't really know how to get involved. After a sewing/YouTube music marathon I decided to e-mail Melissa & Stacy to desperately beg and plead ask them if they had any openings. They were so kind to make a spot for me.
I have to own up to something before we get started it took 3 photo shoots to finally get the photos I was looking for. I am so grateful for my kids and their patience with their mom. As I mentioned yesterday we have been dealing with full cold-pocalypse for weeks this all was happening when I desperately needed to take the pictures for Sew in Tune. (Luckily a large majority of the sewing was done weeks before cold-pocalypse.) It was a little stressful and I was really wanting to be respectful of how the kids were feeling. I really let them decided what level they wanted to take things to. Honestly even though they felt like crud they were really excited to pretend to be their favorite YouTube stars.


This means that we had 1 inside photo shoot inspired by Shadows by Lindsey Stirling. This was really born out of necessity because both the kids were not able to go outside. I am glad that we were able to do it though they aren't my most frame worthy photos, I realized afterwards the kids really enjoyed that photo shoot. That song is one of their favorites. Every time it is on they are always trying to arrange mirrors and lights so that they can make their shadow do something different than what they are doing. I would love to set this sort of scene for them again in the future, all the ones that turned out are great at featuring their personalities because shadows are way cooler than whatever mom is doing with the camera. The only problem I had is they kept shifting the "spotlight"  so not all of them did turn out. This is also the only day I could convince Boston to do Lindsey peacock hair.

Lindsey Stirling
I knew with Lindsey Stirling as my muse I could take it any number of directions since she often does cosplay for her video game covers, but also beautiful feminine looks. After watching days of YouTube videos I decided doing a more casual, layered every day look that shown in Minimal Beat and I loved the flowiness of the directions of stripes on Come with Us. I noticed in most of her videos she frequently wears red, gray and black; Boston doesn't prefer red so the pink in her hair and shoes is a replacement for the red.

For the top: Light weight tissue sweater knit, Banyan Tunic from Figgy's
For the hoodie: 2 Upcycled tees, Bimaa Hoodie from LouBee Clothing (Previously Blogged here)
For the leggings: Scuba knit, Basic version of Dressage Leggings (affiliate link) from Jennuine Designs

Peter Hollens
Ryder couldn't have been more excited to be getting a mommy made shirt. With me testing the Haven Acres collection for the last several weeks he was understandingly feeling like he was getting the short end of the mommy sewn stick. He was pretty stoked when I told him about this sewing project because he likes that Peter Hollens is a Good Daddy (this is a very important characteristic for this sweet boy who's biggest fear for the future is that he won't be a good daddy and his kids won't like him). He thinks it is cool that he likes both Star Wars and Playing X-box.

When ever I put Peter Hollen's playlist on he will settle right down and listen to all the songs. I planned on making him some pants from Slim Jim's old pants using Patterns for Pirates Cpt. Comfort Jeans. I plum ran out of time so instead I matched it with a pair of jeans from Gymboree which have a similar ribbed knit waistband.
I noticed after several Hollen marathons that Peter Hollen wears a gray Raglan sleeve top in a lot of the videos. For the shirt I used the Jolley Rodger Raglan sized up 1 size because this sweater knit had little to no stretch. When Ryder saw the neck band he told me that I needed to make the waistband to match.  I forgot that in sizing it up that I needed to take to take a bit off the bottom. As it currently stands it is a long but he will probably catch up to it in a couple months. The contrasting ribbing is a light gray ribbing. The only modification I made to the pattern was to make the neckband a little less wide, not really on purpose but when I was getting ready to cut Ryder started playing the "what happens if....." game which caused me to loose focus and cut it 1/2" less wide. I like how this looks. I think it really sells the whole sweater look. I purposely cut my ribbing one size smaller because I was using actual ribbing and not just a jersey or interlock. The only thing I would have changed was making the bottom waist band a bit smaller so it would suck in the shirt a bit more. As soon as he put it on he said that is comfy. I was so happy to oblige him!

I love how both these artists have made a name for themselves even though they have been told time in and out that they would never be successful. I really think the reason they have done this is that they work crazy hard and really enjoy their work no matter what. I also love that I can be on their pages and never ever have to worry about profanity or inappropriate videos.  They are example of high standards and hard work gets you where you want to be. All the while they are making great music.

Here are Peter Hollens & Lindsey Stirling collaborations together:  Fields of Gold, Skyrim, Game of Thrones, Star Wars (kids personal favorite)

Thank you so much to Melissa and Stacy for having me. Happy Sew in Tune.

Today, I am so excited to be participating in the Flip this Free Pattern blog tour from Frances Suzanne. When they offered a spot to us, we already had a lot on the chopping block for February, really we hummed and hawed but then I knew I had to say YES! Even though we were so busy we couldn't miss the opportunity to join in the free for all (sorry I couldn't help myself :). I really am so grateful for the free patterns/tutorials out there, really that is where we got jump started back into sewing. I also find free patterns a great way to try out new designers without any risk, as such is the case with the pattern I decided to sew.

As a beginning sewist or sewist who needs a refresher, free patterns are such a great way to sharpen the saw. Especially if you can upcycle your supplies, Frances Suzanne have a great list developing on their site of free patterns. Some of them I was completely unaware of and will be sewing up in the near future.
Even though I had a lot on my plate I had ever intention of doing an amazing baby boy layette flip, for our little guy that will be joining our family early May. All those plans happened before cold-pocalypse took over my life and now the life of my children. We have been sick for weeks which means instead of being at my sewing machine I have been laying in bed, trying to get out a yell out for the kids to settle down. Which I thought was bad until they got sick and then I had two fevering kids that have alternated waking me up in the middle of the night with their aliments. My usually supportive husband is no physical help as he broke his foot the week before we got sick and is on crutches. We are on the long road to recovery and I look forward to the day tissues, mucus and decongestants are not a part of our everyday life.
The pattern I used for this sew is the Hooded Raglan from Brindille & Twig (sizes 0-3M to 5-6). Brindille & Twig have some really darling designs that have attracted me for the last several months. In my opinion they have the greatest selection of unique unisex baby designs I have seen out there, but I was having a hard time biting the bullet after this free pattern I am hooked. Now just to decide which one of their designs to sew up next.
With all the craziness instead an amazing baby boy layette flip you get a simple sew it by the free tutorial and change hardly anything sew. I did end up sewing 3/8" seam allowance on the size 0-3M instead of the 1/4" called on by the pattern because my machine wanted to eat the fabric and I had no patience for the knots it was tying in it. I really don't see this making too much of a difference especially since I am hoping to use it when he is a newborn and just getting used to normal temperatures.
I think I would have been happier with my results if I wouldn't have tried to stretch the limits in fabric choices. Recently I was gifted this vintage terry cloth and couldn't help but sew it up. I have no experience with terry before this and with my vintage light weight sweatshirt fabric (navy) I was in for an adventure, but not the good kind. The kind of adventure that you don't get to seam rip your mistakes without ruining your article clothing. So forgive the mistakes I made and don't fault the free pattern.
I saved the pattern in my stash for him and hope to sew a more successful one before he comes. I love that the pattern includes raglan sleeves, kangaroo pocket and the hood & pocket are fully lined for ultimate comfort. We will just have to wait one trimester more to see how it fits the little guy.

Some other great baby boy patterns I found but didn't get to sew up were: 
Crafting Zuzzy: Baby Suspender Shorts Tutorial and Pattern Size 3M
(the designer has the full pattern available here, 0-3M to 18-24M)
this mama makes stuff: rocking baby nightgown (I have used this one before for baby gifts and totally forgot about it until a month and half ago)
Homemade Toast: Baby Toms
(the designer has the full pattern available here, newborn to 18-24 M and another pattern here, for sizes 3-10)
Go to Patterns: Baby Booties
I thought it would be fun to make these without the heart punch outs and maybe applique a car or other simple graphic on the toe. 
Go to Patterns: Baby Go to Leggings Sizes 3-6M to 9-12M
I think the fit for these leggings seem pretty unisex safe, I am sure that any sweet baby boy could pull them off with the right fabrics.
Titchy Threads: Little Kid Kimono Set 0-3M
When Boston was a baby in the hospital she kept breaking out from the high levels of bleach used in the hospital laundry. I would send her to the nursery in a mommy brought outfit and she would come back in a hospital outfit this time I am going to be prepared with a decent amount of momma brought clothing so this little guy doesn't have to worry about a rash. The top especially reminds me of the ease of the hospital clothing for dressing but it will be nice not to have all the chemicals.

There are lots of great flips that have already happened and several more coming your way make sure and follow Frances Suzanne this month. You are sure to great inspiration on just what you can make with a free pattern.