Sewing for boys – a picture post

I am still here! I was MIA here lately (again) but have been sewing lots of clothes during this last winter.

This is a picture post about some of the apparel I made for my sons, nephews, and godsons. Some pieces were gifted before I took time to take a photo…

Many pairs of trousers, this is about half of the lot I made.

 

 

   

And then T-Shirts, short and longsleved. Here are two of them. I love sewing according to the boys interests.

 

And then I made two jackets for my youngest.

One outdoor version that is made from a softshell fabric he chose at our local fabric store. I doubted his choice at first but am now in love with his new jacket. He wears it every day and is very proud that he helped making it.

This is the indoor version, made from a blue and white/grey knit fabric. I made visible seams with my new Bernina Coverlock machine.

And then little boy chose this sheep-fabric for another sweater. It turned out too large for him so now big boy gets to wear it first…

This was the boys’ lot. See you soon with the clothes I made for the girls in our family!

Do you have a great pattern for boys’ apparel that you can recommend?

Keep Sewing and Happy Mother’s Day!!
Christine

Upcycling: denim meets neon and SnapPap

I recently finished two upcycling projects, both made from worn out denim jeans.

I turned my husbands favourite pair of jeans into a little boxy bag, lined with travel themed fabric.

One of the back pockets found it's new function as side panel. 

I used neon green thread to add some fresh accents and as I forgot the handles initially (duh...), I used some neon green zippers as a last minute fix. I covered the multiple-stitched ends under some scraps of SnapPap (aka "Vegan Leather", washable and sew-able thick paper).

The second project was way quicker... I found the instruction for a flatcap in a book I recently bought (I might have bought it just for the cap...) and used one of big boy's holey pair of jeans to make a flatcap for little boy.

I couldn't resist adding a bit of SnapPap and some neon green thread, too.

My favourite bit is the little punched star I attached to the screen.

Here's a close-up shot.

Miriam, thanks for the inspiration!!!

Do you have favourite upcycling projects? Or worn out clothes you want to re-use and upcycle? Please share so I can turn more of our old denim wear into new things.

Happy sewing

Christine

Upcycling denim into bags for boys

While in many anglophone countries kids go trick or treating on All Hallow’s Eve, in Germany the kids take lanterns on St Martin’s day and walk around the neighborhood, stopping at every door and singing songs. They are usually rewarded with candy.

I decided to make two new little bags for them to collect candy.

I browsed the internet and found this awesome tutorial. It was easy to follow and I finished the bag in two evenings. The only thing I changed is that I used a pair of old denim jeans instead of fleece.

It would have been easier if the legs had been wider but with some squeezing and twisting I managed to make do.

I showed the shark bag to my sons and my youngest adopted him at once. I told my eldest that I’d make him another one. But he asked for a dinosaur bag. Duh. No online tutorial available ): So I had to come up with something myself.

I upcycled more denim, combined it with felt and some cotton fabric and tada: this is the dinosaur bag:

After much tweaking, swearing and seam ripping it was done. And I won’t do it again. No wonder there are no tutorials for dinosaur bags. The construction was a real pain in the butt…

But it was worth the effort. My kids love their new bags and they were a huge success on St Martin’s day:

And now they take them to kindergarten every day.

Happy upcycling!
Christine

More upcycling

Do you sometimes turn long denim jeans into shorts?
Here’s an idea to re-use the denim legs you cut off:



For a more manly version: Simply cut out a matching denim circle for the bottom. Sew the circle to the raw edge (right sides together) and fold over the already hemmed seam. Done in under 20 minutes I dare say!



For the girly version I added a pink lining. Another 15 Minutes and you have a super quick last minute gift that you can fill with a bottle of wine and chocolate or tools and beer (for the guys in your life).
Let me know what you fill in this quick and modern gift! I’d love to hear it!

Happy sewing!
Christine

P.S. Tutorial anyone or are the instructions clear enough?

Turn too holey jeans into shorts

My progress on #2 of my to do list: 

I finished off two jeans that were too holey and turned them into shorts:

In fact, it was the first time ever I used a twin needle and I'm really impressed with how easy it was to use and how nice the seams look.

That were the top priorities of my list. Tonight I can dwell on finishing my Jelly Roll (Race) Quilt Top. But I might be tempted to watch our National Team play in the European Football Championship instead :o)

This was the last utilitarian sewing for the next weeks. Promise. I'm glad to return to quilting now :o)

Happy Sewing!

Christine

Sewing on patches and jeans re-assembly

Sorry, no progress on my to do list yesterday. We had to pay an emergency visit to the dental surgery. My eldest fell and lost two teeth :o( With examinations, x-rays and lots of consolation, I was completely exhausted last night. 

Luckily, he is one brave boy. Once he discovered that he  now looks like a first grader, he was quite proud (he is only 4 years old) and didn't shed another tear.

Today, I managed to squeeze in some sewing time and finished off my boys' jeans.

And here's how I attached the patches and re-assembled the jeans.

Pin the patch to the jeans. Don't forget to take out the paper templates!!!

Stitch close to the edge all around the patch. Use a denim needle. You may want to use matching thread if you don't want the stitches to show up. I used matching thread in those cases where I embellished the patches (I wanted the ants to take center stage). In the case below, I made a plain denim patch and used contrasting thread to sew it on. If you want a more prominent stitch, consider using a triple straight stitch, it allows the fabric to stretch and is wider that a usual straight stitch.

Pay close attention that this mistake does not happen to you: when sewing trough the patch, I caught a bit of the edge and had to unpick many triple stitches. Huh. 

Turn inside out, line up edges and pin.

Sew along the former inner seam, using a triple straight stitch. It will allow the fabric to stretch and is stronger than a single straight stitch.

Serge the fraying edges (my sewing machine came with a serger foot) or zig zag along the edges.

Turn and admire your work.

This is my work from this week:

As this one already was decorated with prints and applique, I just made a plain denim patch. 

 Here are some ants for my eldest.

Little crowns for my eldest (I should have used an embroidery thread but didn't have a matching one at hand . Oh well.)

And finally some more ants for my younger son. 

Happy Patching!

Christine

Darning holey jeans

Today I continued working on #1 of my to do list: Mending my boys' jeans. 

Prior to attaching patches to the jeans, I fixed the holes to prevent further fraying. And here's how I do that (this is the way I do it, it might not be the way a professional sewist would do it but it workes for me).

First of all you have to open up the seams. As you can see in the photo below, there is a double-seam and one single seam.

Here's how it looks like when the inside is turned out.

Open up the single seam generously, it will be easier to fit the jeans under your sewing machine's arm when the opening is rather wide.

If neccessary (when both layers are serged together) open the serged seams. That is pretty easy, you'll see :o)

Below you can see a large opening but the seams are still closed at the far right and the far left sides.

Cut some lightweight fusible web to a size that is larger than the hole. 

Turn inside out. Put some (old) cotton fabric between the denim layers to protect your jeans.

Lay out your fusible web on the left side of your holey denim so that the hole is completely covered.

Iron according to manufacturer's specification. 

Take out your (old) cotton fabric.

Turn right side out and trace the patch with a watersoluble pen.

Take your jeans to your sewing machine and insert a jeans/ denim needle.

Stitch forwards and backwards several times to close and secure the hole. Make sure you stay within the marks that indicate the future position of the patch.

This is how it looks like after darning. 

For a rather ragged look you can simply leave it that way and skip the patches entirely :o)

This is a look at the left side. Yeah, I know, the fusible web was a bit large :o)

That's it for today. To be continued tomorrow with how to attach the patches and how to re-assemble the jeans :o)

Karen made some great progress on her list as well, so hop over to her blog and say hello :o) 

Happy Sewing!

Christine