Baby, it's cold outside!

After all of the Halloween sewing, I was so ready to do some selfish, easy sewing! I pulled out some pink jersey and an easy, but new to me cardigan pattern and had it (and a cardi for Myra) all cut out, when Logan blew the knee out of his favorite pair of pants. Y'all, I'm not gonna lie, I've been turning a blind eye to the desperate need that sweet boy has for new pants. He wears shorts as much as possible, but it really is getting cold, and his pants are veering dangerously close to the "high waters" territory. Naturally, he refuses to wear all RTW pants. So I traced out the next size of our favorite Ottobre pants from the 01/2009 issue.

I made them out of fleece. Logan loves fleece pants, and who can blame him? They're warm, soft and comfy. This pattern is basic, although Ottobre includes a ton of fun pockets and patches so that you can dress them up. For these two pairs, I only added a cargo pocket to one pair, inspired by a pair I saw in the mini Boden catalog.

I oversaturated the image so hopefully it would show the pocket. I used the coverstitch to hem and attach the pocket and left the edges raw. Hopefully, this makes them look less like PJ pants and more like daywear.

While I was cutting out the grey pair, Mitch wandered in to the sewing room. He petted the fleece and commented that it was quite nice, then in a subtle for him move, mentioned that his very favorite thing that I've sewed him is his fleece Kwik Sew pullover (which he was actually wearing at the time). Mitch doesn't ask for much, and I had plenty of that grey fleece, which was quite nice indeed.

I've made this pullover (Kwik Sew 3570) quite a few times as well, twice for Mitch and twice as gifts. I have to say that it is one of my favorite patterns, too. It is quite easy to sew, looks nice and fits Mitch's athletic figure well. If you sew for men or teenage boys, you really ought to have this pattern in your arsenal. It works just as well in jersey or interlock for a casual top as it does in fleece for a snug pullover.
This time around, I tried something new with the neckband that I really liked.

I know this picture isn't that helpful. Here's the skinny. The instructions have you sew the neckband on right sides together to the neckline, insert the zipper, then fold over the upper half of the neckline (basically a fold over facing) and stitch in the ditch around the neckline to secure it. Now this is fine, since the zipper eliminates any need for the neckline to stretch, but I always thought it looked sloppy on the inside. This time, instead of stitching in the ditch, I simply stitched the two seam allowances together using an overedge stretch stitch on my sewing machine. What the picture is trying to show you is the black serged seam (which was the first neckline to neckband seam) and on top, the overedge stitch to secure the facing. It's a bit hard to see since the thread from the second pass matches the fabric so it sort of disappears. Anyway, I really like the way this turned out - no floppy seam allowances around the neck - so I'll be doing it this way going forward.

Now, back to my pink cardigans!

Kwik Sew 3570 for Father and Son

Gift completed #2 was a matched set of fleece pullovers for my Dad and brother.

This is one of my favorite man patterns!  It's Kwik Sew 3570, and designed for activewear.  It makes a great casual pullover.  I've made it a couple of times for Mitch as well, and he loves it.  It is nicely shaped, comfortable and quick to sew.

Here you can see the side seams, which angle forward.  It creates a very flattering, slimming line.  The zipper insertion is actually pretty easy - thank you Kwik Sew for clear and concise directions with good diagrams!  I made these out of a lightweight fleece.  Here in Texas, we don't need much cold weather gear, but this is light enough for cool winter and spring days.  My brother also spends a lot of time riding motorcycles, and I thought this would be great for layering under his leather when it's cold.

I put it on my dress form to give you a better idea of what it looks like on a person.  Clearly, it is too big for me!  But it looks pretty good!  Maybe I should make a smaller one for me...

Kwik Sew 3570 in fleece

I dragged myself from my sickbed to make this shirt for Mitch last week.  He needed a cozy warm layer for biking and running.  I LOVE this pattern.  It is an amazing fit and goes together in a flash.  Seriously, zipper and all, this took a little over an hour to sew once it was all cut out.  Good thing, since I felt like crap.

Since I intended this to be a layering piece, for under a water/windproof layer, I slimmed it down to fit a little closer to the body.  Mitch loves the fit this way, so this will be a change I'll make to this top any time I make it.  This version is made from a thin microfleece.  It is very soft and super stretchy.

I topstitched the zip this time.  It is a little better centered, I think.  He wore it on our date night the other night, and our friend who was watching the wee ones, and who knows I sew, couldn't believe I made it.  She thought I got it at Old Navy.  Hee-hee.  That makes me smile!

I've been sewing a ton with fleece lately, and I love it!  I think I'll consolidate a few tips a tricks for y'all when I'm feeling a little better.  Stay tuned!

Kwik Sew 3570

Mitch is so supportive of my sewing, and never even rolls his eyes when yet another box full of fabric arrives that I wanted to make him something cozy that he could run in.  I had this heavy interlock in my stash that was so unbelievably soft that I had to buy it, but had no idea what I was going to do with it.  Cozy running shirt?  Check!  When I got Mitch's bike shorts pattern I also got KS 3570 for this very purpose.

Nice, eh?  You can't see it in the pictures, but the side seams come forward to form a very figure flattering v shape.  I often have fit problems when making tops for Mitch because he has a very athletic shape - broad shoulders and a defined waist.  I'm not complaining about this!  Just sayin'.  Why yes, my man is sexy.  Men's patterns aren't generally designed for his shape, but this one is!  Yay!

You can see the shape a bit better from the back.

And in keeping with my goal of learning new skills - a zipper placket.  It's a little lopsided, but the seams and top of the collar match up, so I'll take it.

Mitch loves his new shirt and as soon as he got back from this run wanted to wear it again, so I threw it in the wash and he put it back on as soon as it came out of the dryer.  I had a great time sewing this shirt.  The fabric was perfect and the pattern is a fun but easy sew.  There will definitely be more of these in our future!