Ladybirds

I'm a sucker for bright colours. And find most of the outfits for little boys to be, in a word, boring.
When you go into the shops, 3/4 of the space is for girls -- hot pink, lime, purple -- colours that zing! And then the boys corner: blue, grey or khaki.
Dull, dull, dull (even with diggers or Thomas the Tank Engine on the front)


So, when I found this fabric, I had to have it for Mitchell. I loved it so much, that I bought it in all three colourways (yellow and green, as well as the red).

That was last year, & I've finally made it up into overalls.




I used the same Ottobre Farmer overalls pattern as for the blue geometric overalls, without dealing with the size issues -- so they're still a bit roomy for him.
[The photos aren't great -- it's hard to get him to stand still to be photographed right now -- he's always on the go!]
The panels of ladybirds on the fabric were separated by the sets of stripes, which I've used for the shoulder straps and to define the waist. I like the straps, but the waist stripes seem make him look a lot wider than he actually is, so I don't think I'll repeat it. Maybe, I could use that detail on one of the pant's legs -- asymmetric details are cool in kids gear right now.



I've added 2 buttons on the straps to allow for growth (and they look quite cute as a button detail as well). The button-holes got sewn a bit too close to the edge (blame doing the finishing at 11 pm). The extra volume comes in handy in the bend & stretch of a toddler's life!

And I have no problem spotting my kid on the other side of the playground!

Overalls

I love overalls for toddlers.
They're practical, tough, and look cute as well.
They also solve 2 of the big clothing problems I have with Mitchell.
1. The gap between shirt and trousers. He's such an active wee man, that he seems to come untucked all the time. Not that that's a problem in itself; but when he's climbing he seems to manage to get a knee into the front of his shirt & pull himself over.
2. The nappy removal problem. Having figured out how nappies go on, he seems bound and determined to down trousers and take his off whenever possible - regardless of the impact on floors, bedding and anything else in the way of the natural consequences.

So, overalls: no gap at the waistline to come untucked; and (so far, at least), he hasn't worked out how to undo buttons or snaps at shoulder level.

Sadly, however, there is a dearth of overalls in the 2+ size bracket, and what is available is, shall we say, on the drab side. Fine, if you want denim, and....more denim.

Enter Ottobre magazine.

I first found this, when I was looking for good patterns for onesies, when Mitchell was a baby; and I've loved it ever since. It's just full of fabulous sewing patterns for children, in a slightly edgy Scandinavian style.

Tracking through the issues, I came up with this overalls pattern (Farmer overalls, #9 from Issue 3, 2008).; which seemed close to what I was looking for.
Naturally, I wanted to make a few changes!
I planned to make them out of patterned fabric, so decided to eliminate a lot of the detailing: pockets, (yes, thank you, I can imagine what Mitchell would put in them), belt-loops and the double stitching. I also decided to use buttons, rather than snaps at the shoulders and sides. I like the look of buttons, and they're also harder for small fingers to undo. Finally, I eliminated the snap fasteners at the crotch. I find that they pop undone too easily, in ordinary toddler active movement, as well as being an easy access route for nappy removal.
As, these are for summer, I made them about 3/4 length -- almost shortalls, rather than overalls.

I hunted through the fabric stash & found a cute cotton/lycra geometric print in shades of blue.
And here they are.

I think Mitchell looks very cute in them.
I'm not totally happy with the fit. They seem to be a bit large around the waist and chest, while fitting nicely in the nappy area (cloth nappies make him a bit more bulky). I think they could stand to lose around 3 cm at each side.
But the plus side of a lose fit, is that he has complete freedom of movement.
And, I made the straps plenty long enough, so that we might just get another summer out of them.