Made it on Monday: Tutorial: Sunny Little Mister Suit

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Tutorial: Sunny Little Mister Suit

When I saw the theme for this round, I knew I wanted to do something that would involve yellow seersucker and blue and white seersucker. The idea for both outfits came from a desire to make shorts for my son.

For the shirt/jacket, use a looser fitting shirt as the guide for cutting. Fold your fabric in half and line up the center of your pattern shirt on the fold. Cut at least 1/2” extra around for your seam allowances. I didn’t want to bother with sewing in sleeves and was going for more of a tunic look, so I just cut around the sleeves as well.

Cut a second one for the back.

Like I said, I was going for a tunic look, so I originally just cut a slit for the neck in front. But my son has a HUGE head, so even with the slit, the shirt wouldn’t fit over that noggin, and it turned into a jacket instead. This tutorial will be for a jacket style, so go ahead and cut the front all the way down the middle.

Cut some long 2” strips of the contrasting fabric to be used as trim.

With right sides together, sew the front and back of the shirt together. Just start at the bottom of the side seam and go all the way up until you reach the edge of the sleeves. Also sew together at the tops of the sleeves/shoulders.

Snip around the curve under the arm hole so thing will lay smoothly when you turn it right side out. Press your seams.

Fold your trim piece in half long ways and press. Pin to the right side of the raw edges on the front and neck of the shirt so the edge of the shirt and the two raw edges of your trim all line up. When you turn the corner transitioning from the front to the neck, you’ll need to do a 45 degree fold/corner tuck to turn the direction of the trim. Sew.

Press so the raw edges of the trim and shirt are on the inside of the shirt.

Repeat and sew trim around the hem and sleeves.

Top stitch 1/8” from the trim on the yellow fabric to hold everything in place and give it a polished look.

The shorts were simple! I learned to make little boy pants following Dana’s tutorial last fall. It took just following the tutorial once and every pair I’ve made since then have come easily from memory! Here’s a quick rundown of how I made the shorts.

Using a pair of shorts that you know already fit as a pattern. Fold the material making sure that the stripes were running straight up and down rather than crooked. Fold the shorts so the seam that runs down the middle and between the legs when on is clearly shown. Place the fold opposite that on the fold of your fabric.

Pin and sew the right sides together of the seam that will run up the front and the back of the shorts.

Then pin and sew the legs so you’re sewing a seam that’s curved and runs over your first seam. I’ve accidentally sewn this part wrong so many times that I have to take a few extra minutes to study the shorts I’m copying and then really look at how the finished seam will hold everything together.

Turn the waist band down 1/4” and then another 1.5” (or however wide your elastic is). Pin and sew along bottom seam. I also then sewed 1/8” from the top for a more finished looking waist band. Leave a 1.5” opening for you to be able to feed the elastic in.