Week 4 Projects

Inspired by boy challenge week is up. Everyone did an amazing job once again. I am always so inspired by these ladies they are all so talented!
In no particular order here are the entries this week:

#1 Letterman Sweater Bree@ Extraordinary Bree

A couple of months ago my kids celebrated the 50th day of school by wearing a plain white t-shirt with rolled up sleeves, jeans a size too small and their converse for “50s day”.  I was bummed.  The moms of girls throughout the district got to sweep their little girls hair up in a high pony tail and send them off in circle skirts and cardigans.  But not me.  I scored the internet the night before for something… anything 50s style for them to wear that I could whip up overnight.  I found nothing and when I picked up the pair of them after school I couldn’t tell which ones were mine.  They were lost in a see of boys wearing white tees and jeans. All but one.  He was wearing an old varsity letterman cardigan and he looked cool.  To make this cardigan I went digging at the Goodwill and found a million and one old grandpa style cardigans in giant sizes.  This one was an XL Tall!  I cut it to pieces and put it back together to fit my guy.  I used another sweater to create the stripe on the arm (used to show the number of letters earned) and the letter

#2 Geek Chic Lacey @ Brick Story

Inspired by boy? Yes, please!  It’s a well known fact that menswear fabric and boy styles look sooo adorable on little girls. So naturally I really couldn’t resist going all out boy for girl, a la Ralph Lauren. (Inspiration News Flash: Have you seen the RL Rugby blog!?). As a result here are The Varsity Sweater and Tie Waist Shorts ready to rock the halls and take any little one to the top of the popularity circle, er, I mean, class. The Varsity Sweater started out as a striped pullover, a sweatshirt, and a tee which all got a new life as part of this letter adorning cardigan. The Tie Waist shorts are upcycled from men’s trousers and neck tie and also have an adjustable ribbon waistband. The undershirt is a white tank which was owned by my model; it got a quick makeover with some iron on transfers.

#3 Little Miss Newsie Amy@ Naptime Crafters

“Since I don’t have a little mister in my life I took on the challenge of making a boy-inspired outfit for my little miss. I love how it turned out! This little tot is ready to hit the streets and sell some papers! I know I’d buy one from her:) Her newsie cap, trousers, suspenders, and loafers are all boy. But… with a touch of pink in the fabric, some ruffles on the suspenders and across her cute little hiney this outfit is 100% girl! I designed all of the patterns from scratch and had so much fun making them for my little newsie!”

#4 Lil’ Rascal Jenn@ A Jennuine life

When I started brainstorming for this week’s “Boy Challenge”, I immediately remembered some men’s wool suiting I had seen at my local fabric shop and thought classic styling was the way I wanted to head.  From there I knew I wanted to go boyish, but still meant for a little girl; or a Lil’ Rascal in this case!  I started with a simple t-shirt refashioned from an adult-sized shirt, then added a pretend childlike drawing tattoo on the sleeve with “Mom” using fabric paint for the heart and embroidery for the outline and wording.  The wool suitings found their way into the rest of the pieces of this outfit.  A pencil skirt with a little cummerbund detailing at the waist.  The vest reverses with snap closures to the same fabric as the skirt.  To top it all off, a little hat out of houndstooth and lined with the yellow knit from the t-shirt.  This little tomboy is ready to play with frogs and lizards, and stomp in mud puddles.

#5 CowGirl Shanna@ Celebrate the Madness

Inspired by a boy was foreign territory for me.  After some pondering, I decided I would take a classic American figure, the Cowboy, and use that as my inspiration!  I mean what is manlier than the American Cowboy???  When I think of cowboys, I think of boots, plaid, blue jeans, hats.  That being said, and considering future challenges, I decided to go with the plaid.  I kept it blue, a boyish color 🙂  I wanted to put it on the bottom rather than the top, to spice it up.  The overskirt is a four gore original pattern, complete with tiers of coordinating ruffles cascading in a bustle type fashion down the back.  The front has two rows of pickups, so that you can use the drawstrings underneath to gather the skirt up slightly.  The underskirt was a decision that I am soooo glad I made!  It is a full on petticoat, and having never made one before, it was fun and slightly time consuming, not so good for last minute, but definitely worth it!  I cannot wait to post the tutorial!  I think it just makes the entire look!  For the top I wanted to make it simple so that it did not distract from the skirt(s), but I added the detail of the smocking to give it a little more shape.  I am over all pleased with the ensemble, and the model all but refused to take it off after the photoshoot, I think she loved it!

#6 Still a Princess Chelsea@ Creative Mammas

When I found out what the challenge was, it took me back to the days of being a tomboy. Before boys had cooties.  When we ran around, climbed trees, played basketball and football and looked for lizards. I wanted to capture that in this outfit I designed. I made the pants, the vest and embellished the T-shirt. The pants were really fun to make and came together just as I had visioned. I made them with plenty of pockets for all those good finds when you’re out playing. The vest was challenging! I really wanted to throw it to the birds!! I didn’t have an exact idea on how this was going to come together so I made it up as I went. Sometimes it works for me, and sometimes it makes more work. Anyway, after much effort, the blasted thing turned out and now I LOVE it. Adding the pockets and soft collar transformed it from blah to fab. And the T-shirt, well it was the easiest! I just did a freezer paper stencil, ironed it on, slapped some fabric paint on and let it dry. BAM! It’s the part of the outfit that seals the deal. All together, it says , “I’m tough enough to hang out with the boys, but I’m still a princess.”  WOW! It’s all I can say! The ladies did it again! I love all the variations and I love the styles! Great job everyone!