Dapper little dude

I don’t know why it’s so hard to find an actual little boy’s suit in stores these days. You would think that, of all times of year, the weeks leading up to Easter would have the racks packed with tiny suits. But sweater vest is as dressy as it gets anymore. Not knockin’ the sweater vest; I just prefer to take it up a notch. So for three years running, I’ve made my tiny guy a little Easter suit. Even sewing patterns are hard to come by, though. Anyone who has tried to sew for little boys knows what I’m talking about it. You get the baby romper patterns, pajamas, and t-shirts & shorts. (Seriously? I’m going to waste my time sewing an itty-bitty t-shirt?) Vintage and retro patterns are the only way to go anymore!

I thought I had made a pretty good score on a little suit pattern that I got on ebay for 99 cents. Then there was a whole wrong address fiasco and I wasn’t sure I was even going to see the pattern before Easter, forcing me to return to the pattern I’ve used the past two years. I found it at Value Village for 69 cents (I’d say I’ve gotten my money’s worth out of it by now). For some reason, I thought I had used the largest size last year and that’s why I needed a new one. Lucky for me, I hadn’t, so one week out from Easter, I was buying fabric.

Whenever I can, I try to avoid synthetic fabrics, which tend to be the only option for suiting material at Joann’s. I had to resort to that last year, but it wasn’t my favorite and I was hoping to find something better. And then I found the linen! Ahh, so many nice linens. I really want to go back and get several yards to make myself a dress. Or two. Or more. Focus, focus! Florals will not work for a little boy!  Not only are there a dearth of boy patterns, it’s tough to find appropriate fabric, too! I finally settled on a nice tan and white stripe.

Tiny jacket

The stripes turned out to be a minor hassle. I’ve mentioned before how you have to be careful when sewing with plaid and the same rules apply for stripes. When the fabric is folded in half, the stripes should line up before you start cutting anything. Should. Unless, the stripe is not an even pattern. At first glance, mine seemed to be, but once I folded the fabric in half, I realized that the repeat on my stripes only went one direction. It’s not a big deal, but it does mean that I had to cut out the pattern pieces with the fabric laying flat. Twice as much work to make sure that both sides of the jacket and both pant legs and sleeves resemble each other, with the dominant stripe running through key spots on the body. By the time I finished cutting everything out, my brain was fried. I didn’t want a repeat of the horrible sewing experience I had with Rana’s pink dress, so I just set everything aside and came back to it the next day.

Tiny trousers with fake fly, decorative button, but real pockets.

That was the right choice! It all went together beautifully. And, since I managed to crank it out all in one day, I decided that I had time to make Konik a little hat. After all, the girls had sun bonnets, why shouldn’t he get a new hat, too? That, too, was a good choice. I mean, just look at him!

Who else wants to just hug him up?

Corduroy newsboy cap lined with seersucker and one of those do-it-yourself buttons to match.

Oh, and little man knew he was good-looking stuff today. It was so funny watching him cavort and frisk around at church. He was even shaking hands with people, this tiny little person who’s not even 3 feet tall acting like a big man.

Maman loves her baby.