to do: buttons

I've just gotten my sewing machine back from the shop from a much needed tune up. It's been sewing fairly wonky for awhile now. I am a bit ashamed, but I throw the timing out on it all too frequently, usually from hitting a pin while sewing.

Sewing with bad timing will create some strange stitching. Usually a bit too loose, though I tend to press on for a bit when sewing for my kids, since they never care what my stitching looks like and the tune up is frightening expensive. I hope to one day learn to reset the timing myself.

Straight sewing is one thing, but making buttonholes with misfiring machine is something I can not push on with. They just look awful and half the time pull out. So, I have a couple of projects that have been sitting for actual months, waiting for buttonholes. I know I shouldn't do this, especially with kids' clothes, because if I wait too long the kid will grow out of the clothes before they even try them on. I think I may get this from my grandma, who has a stack of knitting that fits... no one :(

A couple of days ago it was unseasonably cool so I decided to hell with it and got out a little linen jacket I had put together for Birdie Boy but never finished the buttons. Here he is, in his flowered linen jacket.



Birdie Boy loves flowers. It's one of his few non-family member words he says (the others are tofu, vacuum, and truck). The light jacket was made from the same Ottobre pattern I used for this polka dotted shirt. The sleeves are rolled back here, all stiff from the linen... really could use those buttons.



I hear a lot about how sewing for boys is either boring or restrictive. I know that handmade clothing for boys is underappreciated, even though they are often technically more difficult. I tend to disagree (or, rather, ignore) the idea that boys clothes must been plain and of traditional styles. I think sewing for boys can be a lot of fun, especially if you do not have to bother with tedious gathering (though, I do miss the twirling after). The main problem is a narrow idea of what boys should wear. I'm not so much about the shoulds. I suppose every once in awhile someone may cock an eyebrow at my son's flowered jacket (with pink and purple no less!), but when they see my what my Smootch is wearing, since she tends to dress herself in a Cinderella meets Pretty Woman meets Tank Girl sort of style, they generally forget all about the boy.

What do you think? After decades of discussion about what girls can wear, they can now pretty much wear whatever they want. Most boys' clothes aren't restrictive, ties not withstanding, which was a major problem with girls clothes in the past, but the do tend towards the dark colours. And, of course, boys can't wear pink! Okay, my boy wears pink, but I know many people think I dress my kid weird and worry about the long term affects (as if!)

I would love to read your thoughts on sewing for boys. Boring? Challenging? Underappreciated? Have no idea what I mean?

Oh, and if anyone knows of a good guide to resetting the timing on my sewing machine, you'd really save me a lot of money :)