Project Run and Play Week 2 // Little Lumberjack

Don't forget to head over to Project Run and Play and vote for your favorite plaid outfit!

I am so excited to be back for week two of Project Run and Play! This week the theme is "Buffalo Guys or Gals." This little guy has been asking me to make him something for awhile, so I thought I'd make a boy outfit this week! I love this picture of him - it really captures his personality.

I love plaid! It is a very popular fashion choice this time of year in Minnesota. I knew I wanted to use red and black plaid because it is so classic!

My little brother's outfit started with the jacket. I was looking through my stash and found this beautiful piece of red and black plaid wool! It was gifted to me a few years ago by a sewing friend and I never found the right use for it until now. It was only about a yard, so I had to be very careful cutting it out!

I started with the Reversible Zippy Hoodie from Kitschy Coo. Instead of making it reversible, I fully lined it in fleece, made a half zipper and added a kangaroo pocket. The pocket is also lined in fleece so it feels soft on my brother's hands.

As you can see, there are "X's" through each plaid square. Since my sewing journey started with quilting, I thought it would be fun to quilt the jacket. To do this, I first cut out all my pattern pieces from the wool and the fleece. I then stacked each wool piece with the matching fleece piece, pinned in a few places and quilted "X's" using my walking foot. After all the pieces were quilted, I was able to sew the jacket together.

I am really happy with this jacket and how well the plaid matched up! I used to be afraid of sewing with plaid, but now it's one of my favorite prints!

In this picture, you can see the inside of the jacket and the quilting detail. I also finished the seams by binding them with bias tape. The layers were quite bulky to sew through, but I didn't break a needle!

After sewing the jacket, I thought my brother needed something to complete the outfit! First, I made him some pants. I drafted a pattern using an existing pair of my brother's jeans. I wanted to make a casual pair of pants and found the perfect piece of black corduroy in my stash!

I wanted to have the pants match the jacket, but still work as a stand alone piece too. I decided to add a rectangular piece of the wool plaid to the knees. The patches are backed with fleece and quilted, so it will feel soft during wear. My brothers are tough on their pants, so the knee patches will also help keep these durable.

My favorite part of the pants are the back pockets! I traced the pockets on his jeans to come up with an accurate shape. Then I handstitched a "D" on each pocket with red thread for the first letter of his name. He loves it, and it adds a nice personal touch!

I made little belt loops using scrap strips of the corduroy. There are front pockets, which I drew onto the pattern piece and cut out. Next time I would make them a little deeper, but they work! I also did a faux fly and topstitched with red thread to make it stand out. I used this tutorial as a reference for drawing the faux fly onto my pattern piece. The red button is decorative, but I liked how it complements the red in the plaid!

The waistband has elastic in the back and is flat in the front making for a comfortable pair of pants for a 9 year old boy!

As you can see, it is the perfect outfit for a little boy on the move!

Last, but not least, I wanted to make a shirt to complete the outfit. I found some scrap pieces of knit plaid in my stash (from Girl Charlee) and I had just enough to do some color blocking. I used the School Bus T-Shirt from Oliver + S because it fits my brother well. I chopped the front piece right under the armscye to add the color blocking. I also cut the neckband on the bias to add some interest.

My little brothers love to juggle! We had so much fun taking these pictures at our local apple orchard!

Thank you so much for reading and don't forget to head over to Project Run and Play and VOTE for your favorite look!

~Elizabeth