What do you make for little boys?

[Lois]

I have two boys, ages 3 and 1. It's so fun sewing for girls, but what about boys? What do you make? I just can't think of any cutesy things to make for little boys.

Lois

[rubelin]

I most often make jammie pants for my boys. I have an old Burda pattern for baggy elastic waist pants and I've made a bunch out of fun prints, knit and woven and shorts as well. I've also done tees out of cool prints.

[Carolinamidwife]

Yep, lots of PJs! I made my ds 3 pairs of PJ pants today, lol. And shorts, it's super easy to make shorts. You can also embellish a plain white T to match the shorts pretty easily.

[KariM]

I made pants and shorts for my son in fun prints. He liked dinosaurs and bugs so we'd pick out fun novelty prints and then match them up with solid colored t-shirts.

I LOVED sewing his Halloween costumes, though, because then I could get creative.

I do have to admit, though, I'm enjoying sewing for my DD more than I did for my son.

[Carolinamidwife]

I was going to add that it's really fun to let them pick the fabric. Max LOVES picking his own fabric... which is why I made 3 pairs of Spongebob jammies yesterday, lol.

[tboroson]

Wild Hawaiian shirts!

[Kari_mom]

Pillows, drawstring backpacks, stuffed animals like snakes that don't even need a pattern. Pillows are a funny thing, my boys love picking out fabric for a new pillow. I usually buy half a yard and make a 14" pillow. Pillowcases if you have enough pillows. Vests with tons of pockets for stuff. Raglan t-shirts, I think most print knits look better as the the body of the shirt with solid color sleeves. Costume stuff can go beyond Halloween, I made a raincoat from waterproof nylon that is trimmed out as a firefighter jacket. It is a hoot to see my 3yo ds wear it on rainy days.

Then there are always pjs and shorts, lol. Check out these cute clamdigger length pants at Lands End . I might have to make a pair of those.

Compared to sewing for my daughter, what I miss with the boys is sewing special occasion clothes. I've made flower girl outfits, her first communion dress, birthday dresses, etc. for my daughter. I really can't get excited about khaki pants and a buttondown shirt. And the older the boy, the more boring it gets. So sew cute stuff quick before those boys are too old!

[annethcz]

Your boys are still young enough to make cute boutique-ish type of clothes. Pants/clamdiggers/shorts + coordinating T-shirt with applique to match the bottoms. Camp shirts are always good.

I know it's silly, but I like making semi-matching outfits for my kids for special occasions. Last year, I made outfits for the 4th of July. DS got shorts, DD1 got a skirt, DD2 got a sundress

[marisa724]

I made a 'romper' jumpsuit thingy tonight from a KwikSew pattern. Short sleeves, short legs, with snaps up the front. It's not quite finished or I'd post a picture, maybe tomorrow. If it fits DS and doesn't look too dorky I may make a few for the summer -- so far it looks really comfy, and easy-on/easy-off.

[falcon]

I'm always looking for new ideas of cute things to make my son (20 months old) too! Sometimes if I see something on ebay that I love, I will try and duplicate it... Lately I've been making pants and or shorts with embellished (store bought) shirts. Here's the outfits I finished so far...
http://www.PictureTrail.com/gid7038756
(Hope the link works.) Currently I'm working on reversible pants sets (no pictures yet!) Unfortunately Falcon can't model the clothing I made him, since I'm making him stuff a couple sizes ahead of where he is currently at. I don't really care about finding super-masculine fabrics, since I've had people tell me I have such a cute girl even when he wore a navy outfit with trucks all over it

I'd love to see pics of what other people are making for their sons!

[JennInSeattle]

Man those are awesome!! My favorite? The dolphins pants/shorts set! Wow, you are talented and have such an eye for fabric!! I feel totally inspired! Great job! Now I need to see pictures of Falcon in them.. I mean Prince Falcon!

[KariM]

Great outfits for Falcon.

My DS (who's 13) sewed himself a pillow using the dragon/flame fabric!

Any tips on sewing on the embellishments? This would be a great solution for my teen who wants original clothing.

--Kari

[LaLa]

I have made doll slings for boys in fun boy-ish prints as well as letter shaped pillows to spell out their name or initials.

I have made boy waldorf dolls

you could do playsilks or play cloths (not needing to be silk)

hats for summer in boys fav print

a toy/doll/bear/dog/baby

balls, sqaures, tactile books

cloth activity books are fun

[jeanieloz]

I sew clothes similar to what Falcon makes, including embelishing ordinary t-shirts.
Quilt fabrics are fun, cotton, and lightweight. I make pants for ds to wear that are big and poofy so the mosquitoes don't eat him up in the summer.
I always made rompers out of old t-shirts for my boys when they are younger. And as they get older, stuff sacks, pillows, pillow cases, flags, quilts for their beds, patch blankets, they are in scouts so I sew their non-uniform patches onto a fleece blanket, Also when we travel we get patches as souvineres, so those get sewn onto vests or jackets I make. I've also made rain ponchos, costumes, all kinds of stuff.
Donna

[falcon]

Thanks!

Thanks for the compliments, you made my day! Dh likes the dolphin set the best too! I'm partial to the Prince Falcon set, because I love the feel of chenille, and the shirt was kind of a pain to make. All of my fabrics are from JoAnns, (the evil) Walmart, or ebay. I use a small zig zag stitch and clear thread to sew fabric on to the shirts (so if I mess up, it's hard to tell bwah ha ha)... Except the prince shirt; I did that one by hand with metallic fabric because I found it to tough to sew the tiny letters on by machine. (Although I'm sure it is possible if you have more sewing talent than I do!) I don't have a serger, just a regular old sewing machine, so I don't do anything too fancy! I like to use border prints (though it is hard to find ones that aren't very pink and/or flowery) or big prints (because then I can just cut out one of the designs and stitch it on the shirt like I did with the monster truck set). And since I buy the shirts pre-made, I can usually finish an outfit or two in a few hours! (Which rocks since I have very limited time to sew!)

It is sooo tough to find cute colorful boys clothes once you get past about size 24M or 2T... it seems like everything is either so plain dh could wear it (if it were bigger), or it has some cartoon character on it that we don't watch It is such a bummer that designers come up with so many adorable designs for girls and so little for the boys! (end mini-rant)

I can always use more inspiration, and love to see pictures of finished projects! One of these days I'd love to make a boy waldorf doll

[JennInSeattle]

Summer - Thanks for the explanation! I'll have to keep my eye out for border prints and I didn't even know clear thread existed! What pants pattern are you using? Nathan is just about 20 months too.

[falcon]

For the dolphin pants, I used Simplicity (New Look) 6446, omitted the cuffs and added about 1.5" to the end of each leg instead (for the shorts, I just took this same pattern and shortened the leg) I wanted something wide and breezy for spring/summer pants, which is why I went with a pj pants pattern. I used the New Conceptions pattern for the reversible pants, which will have a slimmer fit.

I found the clear thread at JoAnns on the rack with the regular thread. I love it for machine sewing fabric on to shirts, but it was too fine and hard to see for me to use for hand sewing. (Not that I'm doing much sewing by hand anyway! )

[JennInSeattle]

Awesome! I'll see if I can find at least the pants pattern at JoAnn's this weekend. We are beginning to get in desperate need for pants!

[momof2tadpoles0104]

omg summer if you ever decided to sell that frog set im your woman!!! :LOL
gosh your good!!!!!!!!!!

[JennInSeattle]

I picked up the pattern tonight and some fabric. I'll let you know how they turn out! Thanks for all of your help and I may ask for more.