Boys

Pattern Review: Spencer Robe by Made for Mermaids

I recently made the Spencer robe by Made for Mermaids which is part of their Lounge and Lace collection. This robe is perfect for boys or girls and comes with lots of options as usual.

Living in Florida means we don’t need a lot of heavy, warm clothes, but my kids still like robes. This one can be made from lightweight knit material and is perfect for warmer weather. If you live somewhere cooler, it can be made from heavier knits like fleece.

This robe is super comfy – perfect for relaxing and curling up with the electronic device of your choice.

Pockets are a must for any kids clothing item and robes are no exception!

This is the long length which comes just to the knees. The short length just covers the bum.

I chose to add the bear (so it’s got a panda feel for my panda loving boy) ears. There are also options for kitty ears, dino spikes, and a unicorn horn. If you don’t want any ears, you can just do a simple hood or skip the hood altogether and do a shawl collar.

The Spencer robe is also available for men and women.

Individually – $9.00 each
www.madeformermaids.com/spencer
www.madeformermaids.com/womensspencer
www.madeformermaids.com/mensspencer

Kids and Women Bundle $18

www.madeformermaids.com/spencerbundle

Women and Men Bundle $18
www.madeformermaids.com/spencerbundle2

Kids, Women and Men Bundle $27
www.madeformermaids.com/spencerbundle3

Pattern Review: Baseball Boxers by Meyraki Patterns

*This post contains affiliate links.

I recently tested the new Baseball Boxers pattern by Meyraki Patterns (formerly PickleToe Patterns). They are a super quick sew! I normally make functional boxers (found here), but my oldest son is too big for the pattern now. I actually had to buy him underwear….oh, the horror! Fortunately, this pattern has solved my problem. It comes in sizes up to 16.

Front of Boxers - long length and regular length

This pattern is great for scraps – the front and back panels don’t take up much fabric. The legs require a little more, but I was able to use mostly scraps for these and still end up with decent looking boxers.

Back of Boxers, long length and regular length

I chose the easiest options for testing – unlined and unhemmed (actually that wasn’t part of the testing, but I rarely hem knit underwear – it doesn’t ravel and it seems like it’s just a wasted step). The are several options for leg length – I made the shorter length (stripes) and longer length (solid). There’s also an option to band them.

There are a couple options for the waistband too. If you have plush back elastic, you can do an exposed elastic waist. I did not have any, so my elastic is enclosed. Both are super quick!

Grab the pattern while it’s on sale plus the WHOLE site is on sale at 60% off with purchase of $10 or more in your cart.

*This post contains affiliate links. See my disclosure policy for more details.

Pattern Review: Skylar Pants/Shorts

I recently tested the new Skylar Pants/Shorts pattern by Made for Mermaids. I wasn’t sure about it – they are a low drop style. DS said he was willing to try them.

They were a super quick sew and I love the way the pockets are finished – they’re just serged, but it such a neat look.

In the end, DS wasn’t in love with them. He said they would be good sleepy shorts, but he wouldn’t wear them out. I had to convince him that taking pictures in the backyard was OK.

The pattern also comes with a pants option, but for us I don’t think it would’ve made a difference. He’s just not a fan of the low drop style. Maybe the shorter shorts length made it feel more like a girly style?

However, if this is your kids style, this pattern is for you! Like I said, it’s super easy and it includes options for front and back pockets as well as shorts or pants. Get it here.

Pattern Hack – Making Lined Shorts (Part 2)

If you missed part 1, check it out here. It includes the link to the free pattern I’m using.

For this pair, I’m using a cotton lycra for the inside layer and athletic knit for the outer layer. I’m using the Tupelo shorts by Sew Like My Mom again. It’s such an easy pattern! I cut the green layer about an inch shorter than the pattern (DS doesn’t want the shorts to be too long). The gray layer is cut to the pattern.

For this pair I sewed the inseams first.

I decided to hem the legs at this point. It seemed like it would be easier to do it before assembling the shorts. You can use your double needle or zigzag for a different finish.

Slide on lining (the gray) inside the main fabric leg (a green leg in this case) making sure that the right side of the lining is on the wrong side of the outside. In this case, the right side of the gray is against the wrong side of the green. I clipped them together to make sure that everything lined up.

Repeat on the other side. You should now have two mirrored pieces.

Turn one leg set inside out – in this case the gray is on the outside now.

Slide the leg with the right side showing (green in this case) inside the other leg. You should now have four layers – lining, right side, right side, lining.

Basically the outside fabric (the green) is now sandwiched between the lining.

Note that the right sides of the green are together. The right side of the gray is against the wrong side of the green. Sew the seam.

Turn them right side out and breathe a sigh of relief when all the layers are where you want them!

Attach the waistband per the directions. I put elastic in mine because the fabric doesn’t have great recovery.

Make sure that you get all four layers in your seam.

Admire your work! It really isn’t that hard and now that you know how to do it, the next pair will be easier.

Pattern Hack – Making Lined Gym Shorts plus a Free Pattern


*This post contains affiliate links.

Have you seen gym shorts that have two layers? Usually a light knit underlayer and then a stretchy mesh kind of top layer? Well, I decided that it can’t be that hard to make them without buying a special pattern. Guess what? I was right! My boys have both been wanting new gym shorts – the kind with just elastic, no tie waists.

Elastic waistband

I ordered some fabric from Amazon (yes, they really do sell everything!). It was a little thin so it was perfect for my experiment. I’m using the Tupelo shorts pattern by Sew Like My Mom which is free, by the way, and comes in sizes 12M – 16!

This is my wannabe ninja putting his shorts to the test.

For the first pair, I used a double layer of the orange. I folded the fabric the “wrong” way because I wanted the fold to be at the hem of the shorts. Instead of folding the fabric with the selvages together (so it’s half the width), I folded the fabric and kept the selvages on either side (so it’s half the length).

Place hem on the fold.

Keep the pieces folded and treat each one as one piece. If it helps, you can baste the raw edges together. Sew the center front seam and the center back seam. You will be sewing through 4 layers of fabric.

Line up all the layers to sew.

Then clip the inseam together and sew that as well.

Clip the inseam together

Because there is no need to hem them, you will need to tuck in the tails from serging.

Tuck in serger tail

Thread the tail into a large eye needle and pull it into the serger stitches.

Now it won’t be visible from the right side.

Next, attach the waistband per the instructions in the pattern. Just remember that you will be sewing through 4 layers of fabric rather than three. Also, because my fabric doesn’t have very good stretch/recovery, I used 1.5″ elastic. I measured it to fit my son’s waist, zigzagged the ends together and put it in the waistband before attaching it.

Attach waistband

Because the hem was cut on the fold, there’s no need for hemming! If you wanted it to look hemmed, you could sew a line of stitching around the bottom 1/4″ from the fold, use your twin needle, or zigzag (one of my current favorite ways to hem sports type clothing).

No need to hem because they're cut on the fold

The neon orange is one of his favorite colors (actually, any neon is good with him).

*This post contains affiliate links.  See my disclosure policy for more details.