First Choice Boxers for Girls?? Yes Ma'am!!

You know how much I love making boxers!!  Well, I decided to do some girly boxers using the same pattern I like for the boys.  These are for my dd.

Here is the first pair.

Don't you just love the lace??  The lace for that placket was a little tricky, but it was worth every bit of effort.  I will post a tutorial soon on how I made the adjustments.

Here is a closeup of the placket area.

I folded the hemline up rather than under to make a cuff so I could attach lace there too.

I also used lace on all the seams including the back.

I'm not sure I'll put the lace on the back seams again.  It kind of makes them look like panties.  NOT the look I was going for.

A couple of things to share:  First, girls (I'm told) like their boxers to sit lower.  In fact, they buy men's boxers and fold them down at the top to get them shorter.  So I took off a full inch from the top of the pattern, then turned the hem under a full 1 1/4" to form a casing for the elastic.  If you've made these before, you know the elastic is typically sewn to the inside of the boxers and visible.

Second, I lengthened the bottom by about 2" to accommodate the bottom cuff.

I think these really turned out cute!  I have already bought a silky black fabric and a red charmeuse to make 2 more pair.  I want to add some lace inserts to the black pair.  I hope they turn out like my vision!

Isn't it kind of cool to add a bit of heirloom sewing to otherwise plain old boxers?? 

Thanks for stopping by!  Please feel free to email or comment with questions.

Angela

Quilted Star Pot Holder

One of my sewing friends over at Everything Sewing introduced me to this pot holder.  You can find the tutorial here.  This is my first one, so obviously, there were some challenges.  This hot pad is huge!!  It is nearly 10" square when finished.  I had to square mine up so much that it wound up being just shy of 9" square.

The beauty though with this one is that you can use scraps.  There was no cost for this gift.  I used some old Amy Butler scraps used to make Britt's overnight bag and scraps from this little outfit I made for my great-niece.  The green fabric is a broadcloth used to make this nightgown for another niece.

Most of the work associated with this project is in the cutting.  But once you get past that, it really goes along fairly quickly.  I will do this one again for sure and just keep them in my "gift" box when I need a quick gift.

I really do like this little hot pad.  It is for Robbie's teacher for Christmas.  I hope she likes it.  It doesn't look like much, but it sure was a lot of work! LOL

Thanks for stopping by.  Please feel free to ask any questions.

Angela

Simplicity 1605

We get an angel from the angel tree at our local YMCA every year.  This year a 7 year old boy needed PJs, so my husband asked me to make him some.  And of course, who would say no to that???!!  So I used Simplicity 1605 for the pants and bought shirts.  I used part of the fabric to make an applique on the shirt.

This first set is totally cotton and all boy with all the little trucks.  I almost got the pattern to match perfectly everywhere except the back seam.  I know how to do it now and will post a tute soon, so you'll know too if you don't already.

This pair is flannel.  

And a close up of the applique.  Sorry it's a bit blurry.

It is so easy to coordinate a top with the pants if the fabric has the right pattern.

I also made these for Robbie, and this is the best picture I could get.  I knew I wouldn't get them off of him ever again, since he literally stood over my shoulder in his underwear while I finished hemming them.  I needed to alter them a bit, because they really are too big.  But that wasn't happening once they were on.

This pattern runs slightly larger.  Robbie is a size 7 in pants, so I made the medium.  I should have gone with the small but added a bit of length.  It is a super easy pattern for pants.  I am not liking the shirt as much, but that's because of some of the instructions.  More on that in another post.

Thanks for stopping by.  Feel free to ask questions.

Angela

Easy Knit Scarf!

I made this for my niece for Christmas.  Her favorite color is green.  I found the tutorial for this scarf here.  I actually found it on Pinterest.  You GOTTA love Pinterest!  Be sure to check out her other tutes while you are there.  Really cute website.

I won't go into all the details, since they are outlined very nicely in her tutorial.  The only changes I made were to shorten the scarf (60" vs. 80"), since my niece is only 13, and to make the small cut pieces closer together. 

This project took less than an hour to complete.  It would be a super first project for a newbie.  It was a challenge to get the knit to "not" curl long enough to get it cut and stitched.  But a friend gave me some advice for my next knit project.  Spray starch it really well before cutting and stitching.  It reduces the curling.

I couldn't get Robbie to model this one for me, so the lamp had to be my model this time.  This pic is just slightly closer.  The lighting that day was awful!

 Happy Tuesday!
Angela