In one of my blogging groups, there was a call for a tour that I couldn’t resist signing up for.  Because it was SO me.  Karly, Jeanine and Cassandra are my kind of people.  They wanted to know if there were others out there that would rather / always sew something new instead of doing a load of laundry to clean what they already have.

Uh.  Duh.  Almost all of my clothes in my closet are a result of “having nothing to wear” so I whip something up quickly before we head out the door.  I’m sure people are skeptical when they hear the term “whip it up”…but it’s true.  I am a speed demon on the sewing machine.  Especially when I hit up my tried and true patterns.  It applies also to Louis’ clothes.

So what did I make?  The Jolly Roger Raglan from Patterns for Pirates, of course!  Not just one, but FOUR!

Okay, okay.  So I made four shirts.  That couldn’t have taken less time than a load of laundry.

WRONG!  I made all four shirts, start to finish…cutting and hemming included in:
ONE hour, TWENTY FOUR minutes, and FIFTY SEVEN seconds.  Bam!

It probably took more effort to get photos of Louis, since he wasn’t feeling it.  I mean, he wasn’t feeling it as much as he usually does.  Plus, kiddo only wanted to “look cool” in his photos, so he kept busting out this face and wore his sunglasses.  Oh Lou, I love you.

A proper photoshoot nowadays doesn’t happen without a cicada in hand.  Are you in a 17-year cicada zone?  They’re all over the place and Louis just adores them.  We can’t go outside without grabbing one, naming it, and playing with it for a while.  He’s enamored.

I know I’m not the only person who loves raglan shirts.  I love them for myself but I especially love them on Bennett and Louis.  It’s my simple way of adding contrasting fabrics while still maintaining a classic dude tee.  And the Jolly Roger Raglan is always clutch for fitting for me.

Fun story: we went shopping the other day at JCP and Louis really wanted to buy a tshirt for some reason.  “Louis, you know I make all of your clothes, right?  You don’t need to buy things, I can literally make everything here.”  But he was dead set on buying something, so we showed him the sales rack.

I held up a shirt he might like.  Lou takes one look and says, “That won’t fit me, it’s too big.”  The shirt I was holding was actually two sizes smaller than the size he would wear…however it was super wide, like all boys’ shirts in the stores.  He’s just so used to tailor made clothing, that storebought clothes look weirdly sized.  And they are.  Kiddo doesn’t know how good he has it.

Want the details on all four shirts?  Here’s my stab at it:

ALL: Patterns for Pirates – Jolly Roger Raglan
Science Tee: Main (upcycled way-too-large shirt), Sleeves | Motorcycle Tee: Main, Sleeves
Fox Tee: Main (WOVEN front panel), Sleeves | Animal Tee: Main

But wait, there’s more!  This tour wouldn’t happen without all of our amazing sponsors.  And we are having a giveaway as well!  Woot!