Celebrate The Summer Boy: Day 5 - Shorts!

Ok, so I'm a day late, but whatever. We went camping! First time with the little guy and it was a blast.

Back on topic; DAY 5! I have successfully created something summery for my little man for every day of this mini-summer-edition of Celebrate the boy, and man, am I pleased with my self! For day 5, I give you shorts, but not just any shorts, Flat Fronted Shorts with Pockets!

The pattern is by Dana of Made, the co-genius behind celebrate the boy. The pattern was a little odd to follow because it was an addition to an addition, the pockets to the shorts to the flat fronted pants which were a new version of the basic pants. However, if you have access to the interwebs, it's all simple enough. Also, my cheapy-cheapy theme (or it could be my reduce-reuse-recycle-theme) continues as these were made from a ladies flannel shirt I got from a clothes swap earlier this week. Boo-yah!

The little bum pockets were already on the shirt, and I sewed them shut so they wouldn't fill up with sand/rocks when he's playing. They're comfy-cozy soft because they're flannel, and they are nice and cool because they're cotton. Oh, and they look awesome!

Well, I hope to have at least one post this week, but I'm definitely feeling a bit sewed-out, so I'm taking a break. Yay summer!

Celebrate The Summer Boy: Day 3 - Summer Jammies

Woohoo! I'm loving the progress I'm making with this 'project-a-day' week. However, the downside it that I'm having a hard time photographing everything. That brings us to today's super simple post. Great project; fast, easy and money saver, but I don't have any pictures of it actually being worn! I'm just too bleary eyed to remember to get a photo of my little man in the wee hours of the morning. Whatever, I have another, even more amazing project (that I did not have any hand in making) to showcase as well. Yay, two for one, here we go.

Firstly, jammies. My little man is a skinny-minnie-miller, so he always outgrows things in length before he outgrows it around. Too easy. So what I've done is taken all his 1T size jammies that are too short and lopped them off into shorts and t-shirts. Save a little money on new jammies and it literally takes about 5 minutes to do, max.

(my 'before' and 'after' pictures are of different sets of pjs that both got the summer-treatment. Can't find the guitar ones anymore. Silly laundry.)

Now for the good stuff. It may not seem summery, but check out this super awesome poncho knitted by Grammie!

He loves it, and while it's still too big, he NEEDS to wear it (he gets testy about shoes and sweaters for some reason; everything else he could care less about). It's perfect for our Canadian summers, especially early in the morning, out playing in the yard before the sun has really warmed things up.

Thanks Grammie!

Celebrate The Summer Boy: Day 2 - Strong Man Tank

I love love LOVE this tank! I'll be honest, it was very difficult for me to work with knits here, however, I did it and I'm pleased with what we've got. I think one of my favourite parts is that I started with a $3 Joe Fresh T-shirt; yay clever me!

I saw it done by Muthase on elsie marlie's Kids Clothes Week Challenge, and was awed. It is so clever (and so perfect for my skinny little man)! It's a little cool outside today, so we took all of our pictures indoors (...ahem...please excuse our messy house).

(this is his "strong man pose")

Well, without too much more to say, here's a few more pictures!

(apparently he's having a Dr Seuss day)

Celebrate The Summer Boy: Day 1 – Picnic Pack

Wheeeeee! I'm so excited that Dana of Made and Rae of Made by Rae have decided to throw an extra little dash of their super awesome Celebrate the Boy series into the summer. Honestly, that's what got me into blogging in the first place. And while I was more than willing to wait until next March to join in the fun, a summer mini-series=woohoo!

So for my marvy little man, I've got 5 fun sunny new projects! Here's the first, which I will admit I did up a few weeks ago, but it is for my boy and it is for the summer, so it totally fits the bill.

Basically, here's what it is. They have in the last month opened three new parks in our subdivision (we are lucky, I know). Anyhow, I've noticed a little hole in our lives which could be filled with a sewing project (oh joy of joys!). Having a almost 2 year old boy, snacks are what make the world go round. But the park isn't really an easy place to let a little guy eat, because he like to put things down and tip containers over etc. Sadly, our Loopa bowl was loved to death (still planning on ordering a new one), so we needed something. For a while now I've been wanting to make one of these:

It's a toy pack that folds out to be a playmat. Made by Amy of Sweet Magoo's genius sister.

Well, why can't it be a snack pack that doubled as a picnic cloth? It can! I simply added a layer of waterproof material between the cotton inside and outside (so and spills don't leak out, or any yucky from the ground gets in) and voila!

And he loves it! He brings it everywhere we go, and wants to wear it all the time.

So I'm gonna make up a few more in different colours and trying different types of waterproofing. We'll see how it works out. Also, while some might notice the potential for gender neutrality here, let me tell you how hard it is to dig up some 'boy' fabric in our local 'little-old-lady' fabric store. I'm very excited that my #2 (still under construction) might be a girl, because the floral and cute vintage-type fabrics are bountiful, however it's slim-pickings for them boys. Well, this is what I call a success, and am sewing away on a few more.

Well, with 5 projects on the go (not to mention the Summer Sweater Knit Along starting up soon; gotta finish that baby-blanket first!), I have some serious sewing to dive into!

PS I'm listening to Newton Faulkner right now, and he's wonderful. If you enjoy Jack Johnson at all, or just appreciate some snazzy guitar playing, I highly recommend him.