handcrafted by RED - sewing and other crafty adventures: Boys Can Wear Pink!

Yup, we're still at it over here! The last time I posted was for LAST year's Boys Can Wear Pink tour, so it's fitting that we're dusting off the blog for Year #5 (and our 4th installment). This year it's more like "Boys Can Wear Mauve" 😉 and this boy generally prefers purple over pink, but you get the idea.

I knew when we started talking about this blog tour that I wanted to use this amazingly cozy slub french terry from Sly Fox Fabrics. I've bought this fabric in nearly all of the colors, and the Sloane sweater that I made for myself gets worn constantly. Archer has commented multiple times about how soft it is, and I knew he'd love it for himself. I saw this hoodie in the Mini Boden catalog (they call the color "berry"), and knew it would be the perfect look for my boy and this fabric.

I decided to use the Samson sweater pattern from Love Notions to create this design, and modified it in a few ways from the basic raglan. I used the hood from the Navigator pattern, and sized up a bit to make it nice and roomy (next time I wouldn't size up quite so much, as it became a bit heavy once it was lined). I used Kelly's tutorial from the Navigator sew-along for making the pocket front, and divided my front pattern piece into sections to get the blocked look in the inspiration hoodie.

(Colorblocking tip: trace your pattern piece onto a new sheet of paper, and use a pencil/ruler/french curve to decide where your blocking will be. Now cut the pieces, and either trace new pieces with added seam allowance, or make a note on your pieces to make sure to add SA to ALL cut edges so the sizing will remain consistent. That's all - it's that simple!)

One more tip - topstitch as many of your seams as possible to draw attention to the lines you've created in your colorblocking. Especially when it's a monochromatic fabric like this, the seams will sink in nicely and really add some texture to the finished garment.

I absolutely adore the finished hoodie, and so does Archer - he's been wearing it nonstop since we took photos, and he's already made me promise a quicker-than-normal turnaround time from the laundry basket. I know he'll get a lot of wear from this, and I'm glad he doesn't limit himself to just blue or grey or green. We try pretty hard in our house to move away from predictable gender roles (my husband cooks and does dishes, I take out the trash, and both kids take dance classes) and talk often about why gender norms can feel so constraining (especially for boys in American culture!) - and this turned out to be a good example of a garment that can really work for anyone. Miss P has already asked for one in green (I'm using the Altitude pattern from Peek-a-Boo for hers) and I'm working on a grey one for myself (using the Rockford Raglan from Love Notions for mine). Thanks again to Kelly for having us and for the timely reminder that boys can indeed wear pink!