Boys Can Wear Pink!

When my friend (and co-contributor over at Peekaboo Patterns) Kelly from Handmade Boy told me she was hosting this blog series, I couldn't wait to join in the fun. I love sewing for my boy, and I love anything that helps break down gender stereotypes. (In my pre-sewing life, I was a women's studies major in college. I love this stuff.)

Then I remembered that my boy really dislikes pink. When he learned his colors, he removed all of the pink crayons from the box and gave them to his sister. Seriously. He has plenty of exposure to stereotypically girly things, since he lives with a very stereotypically girly big sister. This kid has spent plenty of time playing dress-up, wearing fairy wings, and joining tea parties. (I have yet to correct him that the lavender straw bonnet that he calls a "cowboy hat" is anything but. It's just too adorable.) And he enjoys all of those things...but he likes his cars and trucks and blues and greens a bit more. He plays with the toy strollers - but flips them over to spin the wheels. You get the idea. I even confess to having said "He's such a BOY!" on more than one occasion.

He's never been much for a lovie or a security blanket, but has had a few different ones over the past two years. One of the first was Winnie the Pooh, but Winnie seems to have been cast aside in favor of a purple Care Bear (he and his sister, without a hint of irony, exchanged Share Bear and Harmony Bear as Chanukah gifts this year) and now lately, Skye from Paw Patrol. Out of all 6 pups (well, 7 now that they've added one) he picked the girl pup as his fave.

You can see here how much love the little figurine has gotten - my poor guy even has a scar on his eyebrow from where he fell on top of her one day and got quite the gash, but he still loves this little pup. "Tiny Skye" was a little uncomfortable for snuggling with, so I bought him the stuffed toy. He calls her "Big Cuddly Skye" and loooooovvvvves her. And heaven help his sister if she thinks she's going to get her paws on this one.

When I first got this Paw Patrol fabric, I made a simple raglan tee for him with charcoal grey sleeves. He loves it and prefers to wear it for 24-hour stretches at a minimum. He even loves it so much  that he'll use a napkin at mealtimes instead of his sleeve. I knew it was time to make a second one for the rotation (I'm not THAT good at keeping up with the laundry...), and this was the perfect opportunity. I used the Moto Maxx pattern from Love Notions, which is one of my all-time favorites for A, and made a size 3 so he'll have a little room to grow. I printed out Skye's badge thanks to Google Images, and then traced and sketched the various components onto Heat n Bond Lite. Ironed that onto grey and pink knit, cut out the pieces and ironed them to my shirt, and then laboriously topstitched each layer one at a time. (If you have an embroidery machine, that would be a much faster way to do this!) When I do appliques, I find it easiest to make sure to do all of my topstitching before I sew up the side seams of the shirt. (It might seem obvious, but if you're like me, it isn't always!)

All that is to say, he may not like pink very much, but you'd never know it sometimes. We'll just say he has an affinity for strong female role models. ;)

Please make sure to check out all of the amazing stops on this tour, and especially Kelly's blog Handmade Boy to see where it all started. She's put together an awesome contest and prize package, too - you can enter using the rafflecopter below.

The prizes include:
Purple Seamstress is offering one yard of solid cotton/lycra fabric and one yard of coordinate

Phat Quarter Shop: $25 gift certificate plus a surprise fat quarter 

Paisley Roots is offering a pattern of choice

Patterns for Pirates is offering a pattern of choice

Mouse House Creations: pattern of choice

Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop: $20 store credit

If Only They Would Nap: Bottoms Up Pants Pattern

Mabel Madison: 10% off code for visitors and 1 yard of the fabric 'Pit Stop' poplin in pink

Thanks for joining us!

a Rafflecopter giveaway