Blog Hop!!!

I'm so excited to have been asked by Sarah at The Crazy Tailor to participate in my first blog hop. I said yes, immediately, of course! The purpose of this blog hop is to learn more about the blogger behind the blog. Cool right! I love getting to know more about the people who right the blogs I love. So I was given a few questions to answer so you can get to know me a bit better. :) How perfect for a new blog!

Why do I write? I decided to start up Handmade Boy because so many times I would see people say things like "What are good boy patterns?" "I see so many great girl stuff, what can I sew for my boy?" "Boy sewing isn't that exciting." "My son is jealous of all the stuff I sew for my daughter, what can I sew for him?" There are SO many great things people can sew for the boys in their lives! Really, a LOT out there! Sure, there are only so many ways you can design a pair of pants, or a shirt, but that opens the door super wide to put some artist thought into what you sew for your boy. DETAILING is what makes boy clothes amazing. Girl stuff gets away with slapping a ruffle on it, or the use of the million great girl fabrics out there to make girl stuff super cute and fun and different. For boy stuff you have to think a bit more, but it is possible to make amazing boy stuff through fabric pairings, detailing like topstitching and pockets and more! I want to open peoples eyes to how much FUN boy sewing is! Like I have said before, boy sewing is way more than pillow cases, pajama pants and crayon rolls.

Peek-a-Boo's Dakota Denim Jacket, Hangout Hoodie, and Classic Chino pants. Please, tell me what is boring about sewing that up? ;)

 What am I working on? Umm, a lot. LOL I have a stack of Halloween costumes in the works. I sew costumes for three of my kids (fourth is a big cool 16 year old who doesn't trick or treat) and my niece and nephew. I am also working on a few tester patterns. I really need to get better about blogging about what I test. I usually have around 3 tests going at any given time. I also have a shirt I need to hem up for my husband. Poor guy, nearly at the bottom of the stack. I also have a purse for myself that I have been working on since, umm May. Yeah, hanging my head about that one. Oh and a few crochet projects are going too. And if we are going to pull up the really sad, I just recently pulled out a blanket I am knitting that I have been working on, very slowly, for what is going to be the third winter. Maybe I will get that puppy done to enjoy this winter! (let's get real, that isn't likely. LOL)

How does it differ from others of it's genre? I am geared to the boy aspect of sewing, and not baby boy sewing. I aim for my things to look modern and resemble ready to wear items. I don't want my items to scream "My mom made me!" when my kids wear their handmade clothes to school. I want people to ask "Where did you get that?" and be surprised when my kids answer "My mom made it!" I also do a lot of sewing for older kids, which isn't very typical. And, my kids LIKE what I sew. I aim to show people that you CAN sew cool things that your tweens will like and cool stuff for boys that fits active, crazy, dirty little boy lifestyles. I don't feel there is a lot of either of these things in the sewing blogs. Lots of cute little girl sewing in about 12 months- 4 years is out there but not a lot of boy or older kid stuff, some, but not lots.

These Happy Camper Jackets from Peek-a-Boo don't look homemade at all and are great for boys and older kids!

 

Men's basketball shorts from Patterns for Pirates. Seriously, big boy sewing. And, he actually does WEAR these shorts. See, you can sew for boys of any age!!

 

How does my writing process work? Yeah, I don't really have a process. LOL I just kinda dump everything in my head onto my screen and then edit like mad so I don't sound like the Mad Hatter. When I do tutorials, I make an item (or 8 in some cases) to figure out how I want to tackle it if I am do a pattern hack and then I make a final one and take pictures of the process. I do have a sheet of paper, usually the back of some random school paper telling me about a class pizza party or family reading night, that I jot notes down as I go. Then I upload my photos and type out the tutorial. I almost always sit on a post for 24-48 hours before I hit publish and look at it several times to check for errors and flow of reading, that sort of thing.

Well, it looks like I answered all the questions! Do I get a sticker now? I should. Next week Karly from Paisley Roots is going to play along! Be sure to go see what she has to say next week! Thanks for asking me to play along Sarah! It was fun!

Let's get ready for some football!

Today I'm over at Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop sharing a tutorial on how to turn the Play Date V-Neck into an awesome football jersey t-shirt. I am so beyond happy with how the shirt turned out. It's perfect for fall and football season!  Head over there to check out how to make one.

Here, I am going to give you a little behind the scenes tour of the photo shoot.

 I normally share beautifully posed, modeled photographs.

Well, our modeling sessions are definitely NOT a calm, smooth event. They are crazy, silly and  honestly, not really posed. And I'll admit, they can be stressful! Especially when we are shooting with about 20 minutes of day light left and a deadline to pick up big sister from orchestra practice in 15 minutes! Crazy doesn't describe how I am sure we looked to the people running the track around the football field.

THIS is how he is during our shoots. 

While trying to capture the yummy sleeve detailing, he jumps up and starts shaking like a dog who just jumped out of the tub.

The gorgeously posed pictures are possible with a fast shutter speed and the ability to take 250+ pictures of  blinking, crotch grabbing, jumping, figgeting, and pure silliness in a matter of 15 minutes crossing my fingers that I have captured something great in there, all while playing with him and directing him to look this direction or that. A few mere seconds (maybe 1.5) after I shot that beautifully posed shot above, he threw the ball to me, which was more at me since I had a 20lb camera in my face and no free hand to catch that ball. (myself, and more importantly, the camera, were unharmed due to my lighting reflexes allowing me the skills to duck out of the way in time)

He was not posed in that quarterback shot. We were actually playing catch. Or attempting to anyway.

Goofy faces are his forte. Like I can't see them or something because I have my face behind a camera. I don't know. But when he does this and I tell him to "make a nice face, please!" He comes back with "You me like this?"

Yeah, that's exactly what I want. I want you to show readers how beautiful your molars are, kid.

In this stellar image we have not only a goofy face, but we also witness the wondering hand. That hand has to be accounted for in every. single. image. Nice, huh.

Exasperated that he has to stand right THERE in this nice little pocket of light. Modeling is tough work. He is also watching a man running around the track. Very concerned where that man was at all times. I don't know why that man needed supervised among the dozen or so other people out there that day, but he clearly did.

He is by far my most difficult model, but I love the challenge he brings with him to each and every shoot. I love that I am capturing HIM. He is a very sweet boy, but definitely has a level of spunk in him that can only truly be experienced in person. In the end, like always, he did give me some amazing shots.

Go check out the pretty shots and find out how to make your own football jersey t-shirt over at Peek-a-Boo Pattern!

Kelly