Preppy DIY Fashion for Your Little Guy

Posted on June 12, 2012 By Guest Mama real fashion

I hear a lot of complaints about how few cute clothes there are available for little boys, and most of the time I agree. When I go to a store, I am hard pressed to find a shirt that is logo or picture free, but they often have no style.

That being said, I will find a gem every now and then and I’ll stock up!

In fact, I do a lot of clothes shopping at the thrift store and find quite a few pieces that are nicer than other things in regular retail stores. I shop in lower end stores (for real, who wants to spend $30-40 on a shirt that a kid will grow out of in a few months?), and the thrift store has low-priced clothing from all walks of life.

My other problem is that I hate to shop — it’s the “saver” in me, I must admit.

Despite these challenges, my little guy has a fairly complete wardrobe, and that is where the fun for me comes in! I like to “fill in the blanks” of Preston’s wardrobe with some custom pieces, made by ME! I know when he is a big kid he is going to hate wearing mom’s “homemade clothes,” so I’m getting the most of out it while he is too little to care.

My latest project, and the star of this post, is a cute button-up seersucker shirt, with linen cuffs and a pocket. I’m loving the preppy look! I have to admit, though, this project was no walk in the park. I thought it would be pretty easy when I started it, but I quickly ran into a few road blocks.

I bought the pattern, fabric, buttons and interfacing, all for less than $10 (taking advantage of coupons and a sale on McCall patterns) at my local fabric store, and sat down one evening to cut out all of the pieces.

If you’ve ever sewn a beginner pattern, you’ll find that the directions are pretty easy if you are willing to not be overwhelmed *ahem*.

Lucky for me, this isn’t my first beginner pattern (it’s my second, I’m clearly a pro), so I didn’t have to start completely from scratch. It gives you a key on how to lay out the pattern pieces to cut them, which sides are right and wrong sides of the fabric, and then of course step by step (with pictures) instructions on how to sew. Yay!

Cutting the pieces went smoothly. Then, I had to sew the front and back together and add the pocket. I had no problems doing this. But sleeves are my worst nightmare. I pinned those buggers every quarter inch and, ta-da, I did it!

Then I sewed up the sides of the shirt, turned it right side out (you always sew a garment inside out), and felt really proud of myself. It looked like an (unfinished) shirt!

Then it was time to do the cuffs.

Uh oh.

Since this little shirt is the size of an XL toddler, the sleeve openings are pretty small… too small to fit on the arm of my sewing machine. Uh oh! What is a girl to do? Call her mom of course!

And my mom came to the rescue with her 40 years of sewing experience. My lovely mom gets full credit for the addition of the cuffs AND the buttonholes.

She showed me a neat little technique that you can use if you have a piece that just won’t fit in the machine (you basically find a way to make it fit *wink*). She also has an awesome sewing machine that makes perfect button holes every time, so we took full advantage of that!

Phew. Crisis averted. THANKS MOM!

And then it was on to the next crisis. Ah, yes, as it turns out sleeves are not my worst nightmare. Sleeves are cute, cuddly kittens compared to… collars!

I was sure the collar wouldn’t be that bad, since I had done one before. I was wrong-—it was crazy! I slaved over this thing, reading and re-reading the directions, pinning, pressing, sewing, ripping out all of the stitches, sewing again. Let’s just say I learned a lot, and I’ll be doing it differently next time (if there is a next time; I’m more than a little discouraged). In the end, the shirt did end up with a collar. Then all I had to do was hem it and add a few buttons.

It was thrilling to finally be finished, and we immediately had to do a fashion shoot (by immediately, I mean, when Preston woke up from his nap).

This little shirt is really cute and perfect for your preppy little guy. My cutie will wear it to church, for visits to Grandma’s house and to school. It’s a great summer addition to a toddler’s wardrobe and can be worn with pants or shorts.

My absolute favorite part of this shirt is the pocket! Lots of stores carry similar variations, so you don’t have to follow in my DIY footsteps. (Unless, of course, you want to (dun dun dun)!)

I’d be happy to answer your sewing questions, and would love to see some clothes you’ve made for your kiddos. Just post a link in the comments section.