Project Run and Play Week 2 "Boy's Week"

So I hope you have been following what has been up with project run and play, the designers have some really fun stuff going on for week 1. This week the theme is "Boy's Week" which was really fun and challenging at the same time. I don't have a "little boy" so I have to keep in mind what a "big boy" would want to wear as opposed to just doing something *I* think is cute.

So when I was trying to decide what is quintessentially boy, I decided on Jeans. My son wears jeans almost every day, and he has a FAVORITE pair. His faves came from a thrift store a couple of years ago, they are GAP brand and fully lined in a plaid flannel. When I got them for him they were nearly new, and looked great. After a year of him wearing them every single time they come out of the laundry, (and a year of him growing) his poor jeans aren't looking quite so fresh, and they are starting to get a little high-watered too. A few weeks ago he asked me if we could go to GAP and get him another pair - I had to explain to him that I was pretty sure they were at least a few years old, and that they wouldn't have the same ones at the store still. And then along came the boy challenge, which was a great excuse to make my son a pair of flannel lined jeans!  

I am going to warn you, he's 11 and going through a weird phase when it comes to photos, he doesn't quite know what to do with himself, and he CANNOT stop himself from being awkward, and just try telling him to stand still so you can take a picture of the Jeans details on his booty - not happy mom, not happy.

So I used a light weight denim so that the jeans didn't get too boardy once lined with the flannel (which was just a plain charcoal color) I used traditional gold colored jean's thread to make them look more like real jeans, rather then home made ones (because he's 11, homemade looking is NOT going to fly!) After I sewed the jeans all together I used a dremmel tool with a sanding wheel to sand some wear spots into the edges.    

There are jeans rivets and buttons on the welted pockets, and some sanding, patched holes, as well as some extra darning style stitching. The waist band has adjustable waist elastic, with buttons on the inside so that he will always have the perfect fit. The key hole was just something I found in the jewelry section of Hobby Lobby, I thought it would be kind of fun to elude to some sort of branding.  

So I decided if I was going to make jeans, I needed to make them special, otherwise I might as well just buy him a pair! In order to make this pair unique I took the front left leg piece and sewed cut strips of denim down leaving raw edges that would fray. I did a sort of pseudo check/plaid pattern.  

I added a decorative triangular gusset to the right leg too as a tie in to the left leg. After sewing the jeans altogether, I dripped a little bleach on a few spots, and then ran them through the wash to fluff up the fraying.  Then I painted some spots of grey paint onto the legs to increase the "grunge" factor (I didn't want them looking like girl jeans at all!) I decided at this point to dye the jeans gray too - the fraying was sort of bright white, and I felt it was too stark, so I just threw the finished jeans into a pot of grey RIT dye and followed the instructions, and then washed them again.  

So of course he needed a shirt! I had a really soft pumpkin colored Rayon  knit that I thought he would really like (it's his dad's favorite color, and of course Isaac loves it too!) and I decided that his outfit needed to be more *formal* So I appliqued white stripes onto a gray knit I had, and then appliqued the tie onto the front of the shirt before sewing it together. I made the sleeves extra long, but tighter at the cuff, so they don't fall onto his hand, but bunch at the wrist (it seems like everything is short on him anymore he's such a weed, these will take a little while to get too short!)

awkward but hilarious, he is so strange!

Yup, "I'm 11 and don't know what to do mom!" He's such a sweetie! 

Along the same vein of loving his dad's style, Isaac requested a plaid wool vest  to match the one I made for his dad this summer. I made it from some lovely wool I got from Hancocks, and it has 2 welted pockets with buttons on the outside, and one welted pocket in the lining. I made Isaac's look a little less formal in scale then his dad's, so it was a little more casual, and funky for his age.

I like the look of the vest being open for casual wear, if he were in slacks and a real tie, I  would totally button it up!

He was so excited to get another pair of his flannel lined jeans, and he is planning on wearing the whole outfit (minus his dad's hats) to school tomorrow, which I'm gonna call my seal of approval, and claim to awesome mommy fame!

These pictures will be shared here as my entry to project run and play's viewer participation competition as soon as it is time on Monday!


 C.R.A.F.T