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!
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.)
