Project Run & Play: For the Boys

 
It’s Boy Week at PR&P!  I sew for my boys all the time, but I still enjoyed coming up with an idea that is all about my boys!  One of the loves that all of my boys, from oldest to youngest, share is the hunt for Punch Buggies.  My 19-year-old son, Sean, is the one who taught the little ones to spot them.  They aren’t allowed to actually punch anyone when they see one, of course, but my six-year-old Jamie is a champ at spying VW Beetles from blocks away!  (Sean’s halfway across the country from us in college now, and the little ones occasionally ask me to text him pictures of Punch Buggies just so that he knows they’re still looking.) 
 
Since I sewed for Jamie last week, Charlie got this week’s outfit.  (I’ll have to make a Punch Buggy shirt for Jamie later, though, or there might be a revolt.)  I drafted up a Beetle design and used the freezer-paper stenciling technique to paint it on a Patrick Curved Raglan. 
 
 

I used some color-blocking again this week.  This time it was a necessity since I didn’t discover that I was short on fabric until I had already planned the whole outfit.  I got creative with it, though, and added a unexpected second car on the back.  If I hadn’t told you, would you have even guessed that I didn’t plan it this way all along?
 
 

The red shorts are really my favorite part of this outfit.  After seeing the red pants that Suzanne from Winter Wonderings, Wanderings, & Whatnot made for her little guy’s Collegiate Cool Look last week, I just had to make red pants for Charlie.  I opted for shorts since we live in Florida, and shorts get far more use here than long pants.  I wanted to make them with red denim, but red denim isn’t easy to come by, especially locally.  A quick trip to one of our local thrift shops, though, turned up the perfect pair of recyclable red jeans!
 

 
I made some minor modifications to my Inside or Out Pocket Pants pattern including reusing the main structure of the front pockets from the original jeans.  I did have to reconstruct one of them to remove the watch pocket, and I ripped out and redid the topstitching so that it would match the remainder of the shorts.  Speaking of the topstitching, I considered using some brown denim accents on these, but in the end, I decided against it so that the shorts could be worn with multiple tops. Instead, I let the white topstitching be the accent.
 
 
The back pockets are those from the IOOP pattern with twin needle topstitching.
 
 
I added a gusseted cargo pocket and used the pattern’s pocket flap with the addition of a metal snap.
 
 
Charlie loves this outfit and couldn’t wait to put it on.  Is that not the sweetest smile?  I can’t help but notice, though, that those twin curls on either side of his forehead make him look quite mischievous.
 
 
Charlie put the whole outfit to the “boy test” by running, jumping, rolling, falling, etc. in the backyard, and I think it passed with flying colors!
 
 
While this week is all about the boys, there were quite a few little boy outfits sewn up the first two weeks, too! I love that! Our little guys are so often neglected when it comes to handmade clothing. It makes me smile to see so many moms making the effort to sew for them, too!