Just in time to beat that winter chill, you can now sew a Downtown Boy jacket or two for the bigger boys in your life! Yep, that’s right…Downtown Boy is now avaliable in sizes 6 – 10 years!
I know that many of you have been hanging out for a big version of this pattern and hope that you have just as much fun sewing this cosy jacket for your older boys too.
The pattern specifies using Pellon as the layer of warmth in the jacket, but I’ve enjoyed using quilt wadding lately. You could also easily leave out the pellon/wadding and include a fleece lining too if you wanted to.
When I first designed the jacket, I thought that the sleeve pocket was a trendy detail to include…my siblings thought it was a great joke when they pointed out to me that sleeve pockets are used to carry cigarette boxes in! Haha, I think our little boys will enjoy using the pocket for collecting shells and rocks 😉
Remember, the original Downtown Boy pattern remains the same, but will now be called LITTLE Downtown Boy – including sizes 6 months-5 years.
The new pattern, BIG Downtown Boy is EXACTLY the same design, only the size range for this pattern is 6-10 years.
You can find out fabric requirements for Big Downtown Boy on my website. If you have a store and want to stock this or any other Make It Perfect pattern, contact Creative Abundance to place an order.
If you would like to purchase a copy of Big Downtown Boy for yourself, they should be popping up in retail stores very soon. Ask your favourite store to get one in for you!
I’m giving away a copy of Big Downtown Boy to one lucky reader – leave a comment on this post to be in the running! (Giveaway will close Tuesday 14th June and winner will be drawn via a random number generator)
I know that the sewing pattern world is lacking decent patterns for boys…so let’s do something to change that – check out my latest pattern, High Flyers:
High Flyers are a handsome pair of pants that can both dress up and go casual with ease. With these cool and comfy trousers in your little guy’s wardrobe, he’ll always be looking shipshape.
Featuring an elastic-backed, adjustable waistband, slim fitting legs, loads of pockets and an easy-to-sew fake fly opening, High Flyers will suit just about any occasion.
High Flyers can be given a more casual feel with the use of contrast topstitching detail and when sewn with denim they make a great pair of jeans.
I breathe a big sigh of relief as I send this pattern out today. It has been one of the most time-consuming patterns that I have designed so far. I know that so many of you have been crying out for more boy patterns, but to be honest, there isn’t a lot of variety when it comes to boy clothing. After a bit of research (read: rummaging through wardrobes and examining my boy’s pants!) I came to the realisation that if you want to sew for boys, you need to spend time on details. It’s these details that will help create a quality pair of pants that look as though they’ve come from your favourite clothing store. Girl’s clothing has the advantage of using beautiful printed fabrics to give them detail, but when it comes to boys we mostly stick with plains, checks, or other toned-down fabrics so unless sewn details are added then your elastic-waisted pants will look a little slouchy and more like a pair of pyjama pants.
Having said all of that, I can assure you that it is NOT hard to make a tailored pair of boys pants. I’ve worked really hard to simplify some tricky sewing techniques and make sure that High Flyers has all of the detail of a store-bough pair of pants with minimum fuss.
And what about that fly, I hear you ask? I have to admit, I was scared of sewing a proper zippered fly to begin with. I got over it though and worked it out and it isn’t that hard, but still a little tricky for a less-confident sewer…so instead of a zippered fly, High Flyers features a fake fly opening (yes, it opens, not just pretty topstitching) that is sewn shut half-way down. So the pants are still easy to get on and off, but look as though they have the real-deal fly, without the tricky zippered opening. Besides, what little boy wants to remember to do up his fly all the time anyway?!
I think you’ll enjoy making these – and it is a great satisfaction to sew something for your boy that looks as though it came out of a shop.
And I’m sure that your boy will dance some crazy moves in approval like my cool model Jake did! Big thanks to my awesome photographer, Sally from Eden Lane Photography. Her photos never disappoint – there are loads more on my website. If you are looking for a photographer in the Sydney area, I highly recommend her!
You can find out fabric requirements for High Flyers on the website. If you have a store and want to stock this or any other Make It Perfect patterns, contact Creative Abundance to place an order.
If you would like to purchase a copy of High Flyers for yourself, they should be popping up in retail stores very soon. Ask your favourite store to get one in for you!
I’m giving away a copy of High Flyers (in your choice of size range) to one lucky reader – leave a comment on this post to be in the running! (Please make sure you leave an email address with your comment. Giveaway will close Wednesday 25th May and winner will be drawn via a random number generator.)
Nothing goes down better than a hot pie on a cold night. This mixture makes a lot – if there is too much filling for you, pop it in the freezer and take it out for another time. Or make individual pies and freeze the ones you don’t eat. I didn’t write down exact quantities, but anything goes with a pie…you can follow the basic method for any fillings really. You might want to alter the amount of water/cream you add at the end depending on how much sauce you want your pie to have.
Chicken and Vegetable Pie
1 onion
2 carrots
1 zucchini
50g olive oil
frozen peas
frozen corn
500g chicken breast, cubed (make sure the cubes are chunky as they break down during cooking time)
150g water
1Tbs TM vegetable stock concentrate
150g cream
3Tbs cornflour
Place onion, carrots and zucchini into TM bowl. Chop on speed 5 for 4 seconds.
Add oil and cook on 100 degrees, speed 1, for 4 minutes.
Add remaining ingredients. Cook on Varoma temp, speed 1 for 20 minutes.
If sauce is too runny, add a little extra cornflour and cook on Varoma temp, speed 1 for another couple of minutes to thicken.
Place pie filling into puff pastry lined pie dish. Cover with another sheet of puff pastry and bake in 200 degree celsius oven for 20 minutes or until pastry has puffed and is browned.
It all started when I spotted some finely dressed ladies at the grand royal wedding on television a couple of weeks ago. They were wearing beautiful pink and white houndstooth jackets. I’ve searched high and low for a picture of them, I thought this one was it, but on closer inspection I’m not sure that it is houndstooth after all. Never mind, they started something. And right now, I’m crushing houndstooth…
Wow! Winter has really struck with some force this week. Talk about cold old days and lots of snow on the mountains. Lucky for us, our house was designed to be super warm without the use of too much heating, so we are always nice and toasty inside. The problem is, we don’t get rugged up enough when we leave the house because I don’t realise how cold it actually is outside until we are in the thick of it!
It’s been awhile since I last made a Downtown Boy jacket and was a nice change to sew something small. Tommy is now nice and warm, ready for our winter outings. I made him a size 1 as he is still little (but turns 2 next month!) and there is plenty of growing room for winter and maybe even next year too. My preferred insulation for making both Downtown Boy and Uptown Girl jackets is quilt wadding. I do specify using Pellon on the pattern cover, which is fine, but lately I have been using quilt wadding and am really happy with the warmth and snuggliness it gives. Plus, it feels a little less synthetic than Pellon.
The exterior jacket fabric is one of my favourite prints. I’ve used a heap of it before and had to re-order for the jacket. (The only place I could find it online was Duckcloth, but it looks like they’ve sold out now too!) And yep, besides the scarlet door, it does match the front of the house. Not intentional, but obviously showing my love for the charcoal, white, green combination!
I had intended to release this pattern in big sizes (6-10 years) for winter, so while I was in the right frame of mind I got to work yesterday and started nutting out the up-size. Should only be a couple of weeks and I’ll have it ready for anyone who is wanting to sew it for their big boy this winter!
SUPPLIES: Make It Perfect, Downtown Boy pattern Jennifer Moore, Monaluna, Hip to Be Square in Steel Robert Kaufman, Pure Organic Solids in Chartreuse
