Boys in Summer Blog Tour

 

Welcome to my stop on the Boys in Summer Blog Tour!
Having 4 boys, I tend to do a fair bit of sewing for boys, and this was another perfect opportunity to sew up a great boy shirt again.

I used the Discoverer Tee  by Ellie and Mac (affiliate links) and let my son choose the fabric.

He chose pretty basic fabrics--solid cotton lycra knits, but the design of the pattern definitely adds some interest with such basic fabrics. 

I will confess this shirt has been worn and washed before I could grab pictures of it, and I forgot to iron it after the washing. He's pretty thrilled with it and was very eager to wear it. 

I really like this pattern as it's a looser fit and my boys really enjoy that as they do not like tight fitting shirts. Plus as I said before, it's not just a basic tee--it has a cool design element that takes it up a notch.
If you don't have this pattern yet or are looking for a cool boys pattern (even my older boys like this shirt!) be sure to go buy the Discoverer Tee  by Ellie and Mac (affiliate links) 

Looking for more summer boy inspiration? 

Follow along on the Boys in Summer Blog Tour hosted by Made by Little Gents by clicking through the links below. 

  Fri. May 4 Made for Little Gents (Intro to Boys in Summer Blog Tour)

Mon. May 7 Elli & Nels in Stitches 

Tues. May 8 Our Play Palace | Made by Laura! | Beri Bee Designs 

Wed. May 9 Made for Little Gents | Momma Newey's Makes 

Thurs. May 10 Phat Quarters | Dreams & Stitches 

Fri. May 11 Stylin' Stacy | Tenille's Thread

Mon. May 14 Paisley Roots | Fabulous Home Sewn 

Tues. May 15 Seams Like Style | Kathy's Kwilts and More 

Wed. May 16 Sewing with D | Auschick Sews | Seams Sew Lo 

Thurs. May 17 My Sewing Roots | Sewing à la Carte | Middle River Studio 

Fri. May 18 Lunatiek | Needles to Say | Manning The Machine

Sew Lovely Cherry Blossoms

Sew Lovely Fabrics once more has an amazing preorder open! 

The fabrics are from Raspberry Creek Fabrics so these are milled and printed in North America.

I got to try out the Cherry Blossom and Stripes.

The fabric sews up very nicely and it is a lighter weight cotton jersey fabric which is perfect for summer dresses and tops. 

I paired it with a coral rayon spandex for the neckband and flutter sleeves. 

The dress pattern is the (affiliate link) Hazelbee Dress pattern (which seems to be unavailable at the moment.) 

Be sure to order your fabric soon as there are minimum amounts needed to be able to get the fabric ordered in. (Don't worry--if minimums are not met you will be refunded!) 

This dress will be headed off to a cute baby girl! 

Suburban Stripes

I think I've fallen in love with bamboo cotton jersey.

It is so soft and the drape is amazing. 

It is perfect for spring or summer tops.

When I saw that Sew Lovely Fabrics had in some bamboo cotton jersey stripes, I knew I needed to try them out. 

I chose to try out the Charcoal Mix & Everglade and I'll admit I ordered a few more to try out on my own as well! 

My son needed a new shirt for Church for Spring/ Summer so I chose to sew up the Suburban Basic Tee from New Horizons Designs. I did do the sleeves a little different--I added enough at the bottom to hem it instead of cuffing it. 

The fabric is available now from Sew Lovely Fabrics so be sure to check it out! 

Favourite Sewing Supplies

(This post contains affiliate links!)

I thought it'd be fun to share some of my sources for some of my favourite sewing supplies.
This is so far from an exhaustive list but it's a short, fun list of items I love and enjoy using.

Pear Shape Safety Pins

These are great for attaching your tags to your items if you're selling or gifting. They are delicate but add such a pretty touch! Add your washing instructions, logo tag, or even a personal note to your items. 

Buttons from Skull Buttonry

The selection here is amazing! I've gone with mainly plain wooden buttons but the painted ones would add an amazing touch to your handmade garments. 

These ship from Australia but arrive in a very reasonable time. 

Zippers from Zipper Island

All your zipper needs in one place. Seriously. And the cost is very competitive as well. I stocked up on a lot of 7" zippers in a huge variety of colors.
I'm not sure I'll ever get through them all, but I love having a wide selection on hand when I'm sewing little pouches or need to find a good match for certain fabrics.

Hazelbee Dress in Tulips

Sew Lovely Fabrics has some super sweet fabrics up for preorder (and these tulips are already in stock here!) 

I had a chance to sew up the Watercolour Tulips as soon as they came in and I'm very happy with this fabric. 

I used the Hazelbee Dress in size 12 months and sewed up the play dress with flutter sleeves. 

The pink is a cotton lycra I had in my stash but if you are looking for some really nice co-ordinates, they have a Jazzy pink and also a blue and white pin polka dot.

I did finish the dress a little differently than called for. I did a neck band in the round instead of a neck binding before the last shoulder is sewn. 

It'll be a perfect gift for a new baby--especially a pretty Dutch baby. 

While the tulips are available already, be sure to check out the fabrics that are on preorder before it closes on the 15th! 

Get Ready for Spring Blog Tour

Welcome to the 'Ellie and Mac Get Ready for Spring Blog Tour' hosted by 'Seams Sew Lo.'

Spring is around the corner. Or we'd like to think so.
Here in Alberta we can expect frost as late as the May Long Weekend, so it definitely feels like Spring is still a ways a way. But, we can be hopeful for an early spring.
So we're sewing for Spring!
I chose to use the Boy's Sunday Morning Sweats and the Discoverer Tee from Ellie and Mac.

 For the Discoverer Tee, I chose a lightweight jersey knit for the bottom portion and a slightly heavier weight cotton-lycra for the top and sleeves. The pattern comes with a long sleeve and a short sleeve option so you can make this year-round.

The Sunday Morning Sweats are basically shorts over a narrower almost legging-like pant. I only used the shorts part of the pattern for these shorts, but again they could be a good year-round pattern. They have a yoga waistband with no elastic so they're pretty comfy. 

Even though we're having a snow storm today and it's -30C with windchill my son decided to keep wearing this after pictures--he loves a good pair of shorts. 

Shirt fabric is from Girl Charlee (an old print) and Water Tower Textiles (solid).
The fabric for the shorts is from Zenith and Quasar (jegging).

Enjoy 35% off all Ellie and Mac patterns the month of February!

Please visit all the stops on the 'Get Ready for Spring Blog Tour' featuring Ellie and Mac spring sewing patterns, hosted by Seams Sew Lo. 

 Do not forget to enter the giveaway below too! 

February 3rd: Seams Sew Lo (Intro)

February 4th: Seams Sew Lo

February 5th: Violets and Jewels

February 6th: Threadistry

February 7th: Mama Can Make it

February 8th: My Crazy Crafty Beautiful Life

February 9th: Aurora Designs

February 10th: Flaxfield Sewing

February 11th: Floral and Flannel

February 12th: FABulous Home Sewn

February 13th: Minns Things

February 14th: Our Play Place

February 15th: Tenille's Thread

February 16th: Seams Like Style

February 17th: Hutsepruts

February 18th: Candi Couture Designs

February 19th: My Sewing Roots

February 20th: Manning the Machine

February 21st: Stitched by Jennie

February 22nd: Kathy's Kwilts and More

February 23rd: Sewjourns

February 24th: Mermaid Mama Designs

February 25th: Fee Bricolo

February 26th: Oak Blue Designs

February 27th: Big Fly Notions

February 28th: Sewing Blue

   a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sewing Something Sew Lovely

Sew Lovely Fabrics--a brand new fabric shop in Alberta, Canada that offers cotton jersey fabrics that are milled, printed and/or dyed in North America.

The fabrics I used are both bamboo cotton jerseys--chili and charcoal mix. 

(Just to clarify--the bamboo fabrics are from overseas but are part of their sustainability fabrics and pass all required tests.)

First of all, the packaging!
It was like receiving a present, it was so nicely wrapped.

A couple of samples were included--I think I'm in love with the Bamboo Fleece--I may have to try that one out as well.

And, to top it off, candy and a coupon! 

Last but not least, the fabric. 

The bamboo jersey is so soft! 

 I decided to sew up Ellie and Mac's Dicoverer Tee.

My son chose which fabric would go where and his one request for the pattern was that it wasn't too tight--either in the arms or the fit. I think we accomplished that.

This fabric was a dream to work with--I would LOVE to sew myself all the bamboo tops. 

Also, February is Heart Month at Sew Lovely Fabrics: 

Be sure to join the group and follow/like their page!