Well it seems like summer has arrived, although being Melbourne, it will probably disappear again next week. But in the interim my son needs some larger shorts
right now.

I turned to a Japanese pattern book I bought a couple of years ago. It's by
Makie design, and I think of it as a kind of follow on from
another book that they did for infants to toddlers. Between the two of them you can dress your child (boy or girl) from infancy to mid-chilhood. (I've posted some more pics from both books
here).

At the time that I got this book I was actually a bit disappointed. The patterns all seemed a bit same/same or uninteresting, and I found myself pondering the design of boys clothes, wondering where to get inspiration for something that was interesting or different without being silly. In looking around, trying to find things I liked, I noticed that the boys clothes I really liked were often fairly conventional garment styles, but with something special in the textiles used (colour, texture, pattern), the detailing (contrast stitching, buttons, seaming), or the proportions (seam locations, pocket placement, subtle shaping) that set them apart.

In revisiting the book this week, to find a
pants pattern for our growing lad, I decided I really like it. The garments fit the bill in terms of proportions and details, so really it's just up to me to make some good choices on the textiles side of things, and have a good look at the diagrams to get some of the finer points on the details (like a neat way to finish the waistband facing that I hadn't tried before).

For this green pair, I used a $2 remnant cotton/lycra drill, with some
Prints Charming striped cotton facing on the waistband and tab feature (both from the stash), and contrast orange buttons. Pleasingly, they fit C, and he seems to like his
Lovely Shorts as he called them (Ahhh, he knows how to make his mum happy!). There will be more pairs running around here soon.
Labels: Japanese pattern book, library, Makie, sew, toddler clothes