Pajama Party with Project Run and Play

Pajama Party

It's a pajama party hosted by Project Run & Play!

Christmas always means new pajamas for Thomas and my niece and nephews and so joining in on this pajama party was a no brainer when I was invited!

Above I state that Christmas means pajamas, but in truth, it's Thanksgiving and pajamas for our family. 8 years ago, my nephew, who's birthday is December 28, was approaching his first Christmas. That same year, my sister was due to have my niece, right around Christmas. (She was born Christmas Eve!!) At Thanksgiving that year, I gave my sister and brother handmade stockings for my nephew and niece to have for Christmas. I loved surprising them so much, that the following year, I made them each a pair of Christmas pajamas, and gifted them to my niece and nephew at Thanksgiving dinner so they would have them for Christmas morning. And like that, a tradition was born! Every year since, I have made them, along with my son, pajamas for Christmas morning and gifted them to them at Thanksgiving dinner. And each year, when they come to my house to celebrate Christmas, they wear their jammies.

This year, my niece and nephew even wore their pajamas from 2018 to Thanksgiving.

In 2018 I used Peek-a-Boo Pattern's Little Long Johns for all the kids. I've used them a couple times for this project. The kids LOVE one piece jammies still. (PS, this pack of kids grew a TON in a year!!)

Sadly, I couldn't find pictures of every year. I know they are probably on my old laptop, but I just didn't find the time to boot it up to search. So, you get just a few years down memory lane for me.

Christmas Jammies 2013 was the first time I used the Little Long Johns.

 I used the butt flaps that year and they were just too cute on the little ones!!!

2015 was the year of the mix match mess. Absolutely zero rhyme or reason that year. But the kids still looked cute! I know the pattern on my nephews (far left and the baby) were Peek-a-Boo Cozy Feet. I can't remember what I used for my son and niece that year. 

2107 was probably my favorite set. I loved the muted Christmas pallet I used to create their North Pole flight pajamas. The fabrics used were from the Purple Seamstress. My niece is wearing Love Notions Wrigley Raglan. My nephew has on Love Notions Samson (the raglan shirt) Thomas has on the Vanguard shirt I believe and he has Moto Maxx pants. I can't remember the patterns used for my toddler nephew or my older nephew's pants. HTV files were found on Etsy and sadly no longer available.

This year I went classic Christmas pajamas, with a fun little twist on a few of the shirts! I added some heat transfer vinyl to match each of the older three's personalities. The youngest got a fun full stripe pajama set.

Thomas is soooo NOT a morning person. But he is on Christmas! He laughed so hard and yelled "It's so true!" when he opened his pajamas at Thanksgiving.

I used New Horizon's 11th Hour Gear shirt and Peek-a-Boo's Essential Sweats for the cozy fleece bottoms.

Next up is my older nephew. He has Love Notions Vanguard Shirt and Moto Maxx bottoms for his pajama set. He love video games and this dino reminds me of a video game icon.

Making this design perfect for my gamer nephew!

And now my only niece! I used Love Notions Classic Tee and Leggin's for her pajamas. She is in full crazy cat lady mode, head over heals in love with her new kitten. Meowy Christmas was a must on her shirt!

She LOVES the fit of the Leggin's more than any other pair in her closet. Or so she tells me anyway. I size up one size because she doesn't like her clothes really tight and use the elastic size for her actual measurement. The result are her perfect Leggin's!

And last, but never least, my youngest nephew. He has a full stripe set. And truth is, I had intended on all of their pajamas looking like this set. Buuuuttt, I didn't order enough fabric, so I was forced to get creative. And like usual, I love the results of being force off my original plan!

The stripes just work for his spunky, slightly mischievous personality, so I think this is a win all around!

All fabrics this year came from Peek-a-Boo Fabrics. And while they weren't a sponsor, I am a long time, super repeat customer and highly recommend them. :) The shirt designs were created by me, inspired from searches on Pinterest.

Who loves party favors????!!!!

Hope over to Project Run + Play and sign up for their newsletter! When you sign up, you will receive a free digital pajama design! 

My little nephew in the stripes is ALL about bears and NEEDS that hi"bear"nate one! And "Sleep Mode" is perfect for my older nephew!!

 Which one is your favorite?

Boys Can Wear Pink 2019

Boys Can Wear Pink Season 5

We are back for season 5 of Boys Can Wear Pink! I can hardly believe we kicked this fun even off five years ago! Thomas was so little!!!

Let's take a quick trip down memory lane. 

Season 2, he still pretty much let me sew whatever I liked. He had his opinions, but they were simple requests to meet. He would wear a button down, but he wanted it to have soft sleeves and a hood is always a plus with him.

Season 3 he went more subtle with this awesome rainbow zebra print.

Season 4, he was back to bold. He fell head over heals for this screaming pink octopus print that he still wears all the time.

And that brings us to this year. Season 5

Where did his baby face go?!?!

Thomas is 8 now and he has some strong opinions on what he will wear. And what he won't.

And he loves this shirt. I took a chance and sewed it without running the idea by him first. When I showed it to him, he snatched it up and hugged it and said "If you have me try it on, you will NOT be getting it back!" Well, it still needed hemmed, so we didn't try it on just yet. ;)

Luckily it fit!! I used my pattern Driftwood that I released with Love Notions last summer. If you don't have the pattern, you should get it. ;) The men's version, Dockside is releasing today! Can you say matching father/son polos and henleys for Father's Day? 

So the shirt was a hit! I really was afraid this would be handed down to my niece next week. (She's next in line for the hand me downs on shirts.) Sorry sweet girl, you can have it later.

The shorts though. He's "eh" about them.

And that's cool. I'm okay with that. Again, I took a chance on fabric. He really doesn't care for the feel of most denims and he thumbs downed this as soon as I opened it based on feel alone. However, a trip through the washer and dryer softened it up considerably and he was more open to them. They have a knit waistband, so that helps out a lot as well. I used Love Notions Vanguard pants and chopped the pattern pieces to shorts length just above the knee pleats, then rolled them because I wanted a relaxed 80's pink denim vibe. He said he would wear them, but I know he would love them more if I used a knit. 

Overall, he really likes his outfit and says he will wear it. Hooray!!! Another year of success!!

For the record, my 21 year old son is really jealous about that floral shirt. I so wish I would have had more than just some scraps left of that fabric!

Thanks for joining us on the tour!! Below are the awesome bloggers who are sewing and blogging right along with me. Some have been with me since Season 1!! Please go visit them and leave some love on their blogs!

Monday: Wild & Wanderful

Tuesday: Handmade Boy max california

Wednesday: Tales of a Tester Handcrafted by RED

Thursday: it's Liesel Sprouting JubeJube The Fairy Dust Bin

Friday: Paisley Roots Made by Jack's Mum The Berry Bunch

Project Run and Play Week 4

Project Run & Play Week 4

Holy smokes, we did it!! Here we are for finals week and I could NOT be more honored to be a part of this! Thank you so much for all your votes last week!

When I was asked to be a part of this adventure, the thought of designing a signature look was intimidating. At the time, I didn't know if I even HAD a signature style. But, over these last few weeks, I've learned that I most certainly do. My use of classic lines, solid colors, clean finishes, and small details came though each week. I can see that I definitely design with Thomas's feelings in mind. I use colors he likes, finishes he likes and even the style he likes. So, it was only fitting to title my signature style "Thomas's Closet".

Click here to place your vote for Project Run & Play

For my signature style, I went with a look that screams Thomas, athletic wear. And, being unable to commit to a single look, I designed a complete mix and match collection composed of a retro ringer tee, a long sleeve hooded tee, half zipper hoodie, training tights, basketball shorts and capri length joggers.

Have you ever really noticed what the stores offer for boys after they reach about a size 6? It's a sea of gray, black, and blue and it's composed of pretty much plain shorts and pants, and graphic tees. And brands tend to use their logo for their design element, if the shirt isn't covered in some sort of  loud graphic. It's pretty blah and uninspiring. There is SO much you can do with boy's clothes that older kids would still LOVE. Clothes don't have to be busy and loud to be fun!

"Thomas's Closet" has two shirts can be layered or worn alone and both work great with the pull over. The shorts work on their own, or with the training tights and the capris offer a fun modern piece, perfect for the kid who is constantly hot. Now, the pieces may look simple, but the details are where we get creative with designing for boys! Detail elements are very limited with boys. Girls have ruffles and bows, beading, cutouts, lace and jewels. Detail elements for boys involves a bit of creativity. I love using bits of my main fabric to create those detail elements. It takes a lot of time, but it's so rewarding!

The basketball pants look like they would be a quick make, but man are they deceiving!

I love how the basketball shorts turned out! They took an entire day to sew. Like all freaking afternoon, evening and night. No joke. Sewn from athletic fabrics and using my Kayak Boardshorts as the base, keeping the lines of the stripes straight was the first challenge. Each stripe was created by pressing the raw edge under, so everything would have a clean look. Some stretch hem tape kept the stripes in place while I sewed them down (after much fighting with the iron, a pressing clothe and my fabrics to get the glue hot enough to melt, but not so hot my athletic fabric melted!) Then came the topstitching. After countless skipped stitches and ripped out stitching, I reached for my clear thread and that was the trick for the polished look I was after! The band at the bottom was sewn in place, then folded up with the raw edge enclosed and topstitched with the clear thread, to continue the polished finish.

The simplicity of the training tights makes up for the shorts! Using Love Notions Leggin's as the base, I went up one size, scooped out the crotch curve a bit more and added some length to the rise. Sewn from some compression fabric, Thomas is in love and they look great layered under his basketball shorts.

The capri joggers were a fun sew! Starting with Love Notions Moto Max, I sized up a size to create some bagginess and created a capri length cut and added a cuff. I redesigned the shape of the front pocket and added binding for some contrast. Topstitching the pocket in place with a contrasting thread carries the teal into this piece. Adding a zipper welt pocket on one leg gives my little athlete a safe place to store the quarter he found during our photoshoot. The pocket is constructed into the inseam and side seam of the leg, so it doesn't sag even with an ipod in there. 

The gray wick away athletic fabric is from Simply by Ti. It's great for anything from tops to bottoms and it one of Thomas's favorite fabrics. He was so happy to get joggers made from it!

Comfort is Key

Thomas is very tactile and struggles with being comfortable in store bought clothing. Because of that, construction is a huge part of my design process. And, I use that to my advantage. Let's start with the details on the white long sleeve tee.

I took a classic hooded tee and added some fun elements to it. I knew the light drapy knit would be pulled down with a lining in the hood. So, I took advantage of the seam in the hood and added a cool contrasting strip. Creating bias tape with the scrap from the ringer tee, I covered the seam allowance and topstitched the binding in place. I love how this little element pulls the teal into the shirt and keeps Thomas comfortable.

 Using scraps from the joggers, I created more binding to encase the curved hem of the bottom of the shirt and the front edge of the hood. Creating bias tape from athletic fabric can be tricky, but it's well worth the work for the detail it adds!

(Dance party under the bleachers!)

I used my Driftwood Tee and color blocked the front. Contrast stitching along the seam keeps the seam from irritating Thomas and adds another element of interest. I used the same technique on the shoulder seams.

I used a reverse coverstitch for the stitching elements, but you can get the same effect with a triple stitch on a sewing machine or with topstitching thread or even with some fun decorative stitches.

The fabric for this tee is from So Sew English and I can't say in words how much I love it! I think between Thomas and I, neither of us will ever have a solid color cotton lycra tee shirt again. It's a cotton viscose and pure heavy to the touch. It looks like this white is out of stock, but there are lots of other options.

The half zip pull over may just be my favorite piece from this collection. Self drafted and made from ponte, it's warm without the bulk. The hood is lined with more scraps from the joggers, with the neckline encased in a fun pop of neon yellow fold over elastic.

To get a clean finish on the neckline, I sewed the FOE to the hood lining before attaching the lining to the hood. Then, I hand stitched the lining to the body of the sweatshirt making sure to only catch the seam allowance of the neckline so no stitching shows on the hoodie.

The pockets are trimmed with the fabric from the ringer tee, to continue with our color pallet. The three piece hood also features contrasting topstitching along the center panel to continue with that pop of teal. Thomas is a huge fan of a funnel neck right now, so it was only natural to incorporate that element into the hoodie. I get a kick out of how big he smiles when he realizes he can hide his mouth behind the zipper. LOL 

The ponte for the hoodie was from also from So Sew English. And, I must order more! The weight of this hoodie is incredible and the fabric was a breeze to work with!! I'll admit, I've steered away from the ponte bandwagon for quite some time and now I'm totally kicking myself for not jumping on sooner. It's love, guys! It looks like the gray is out of stock, but there are so many other colors available!

The ringer tee is also made from my Driftwood pattern. The neckline has been changed to a binding finish, instead of a neckband for a clean modern look. A single stripe of our gray athletic fabric on the sleeve adds a touch of retro feel that I love to mix in with our looks.

This gorgeous athletic fabric is also from Simply by Ti. The color is just striking! As soon as I saw it, I knew it would be the feature fabric for my signature look. And it didn't let me down! Easy to work with and outside of the standard "boy pallet" of gray, blue and black, it was the punch of modern color I was looking for to balance with the neutrals in my look.

I love the challenge of creating clothes for an older boy. It's so rewarding to take a stack of simple solid fabrics and turn it into something more than a basic tee and shorts! And it's cool!! He WANTS to wear these clothes. Heck, I want to wear these clothes!!

I hope my time on Project Run & Play inspires others to sew for the boys. It IS fun and creative and challenging, and I hope others see that, and create for the boys in their lives.

CLICK HERE to go vote for your favorite look at Project Run & Play!

This is it!! Final week of season 17!!!

Click here to place your vote for Project Run & Play