Young gentleman’s party outfit (Burda 02/2014, Burdastyle Boy’s vest and Ottobre 6/2012)

Tomorrow we celebrate the 100th Independence day in Finland! For the occasion my son needed a stylish party outfit. Since most of the RTW party outfits are pretty bad quality and not very well suited for K’s slim figure, I wanted to make my own.

The trousers (Burda 02/2014 149)

I went through my Burda magazines and found a nice pattern for boy’s trousers in 02/2014 magazine. These trousers were narrow cut, they have side-pockets, two welt pockets in the back and a fitted waistband. The sizes range from 128 cm to 152 cm. I chose the size 128 cm, since the width of it matched the existing trousers my son had. To be sure, I quickly made a toile and that was a good idea since the trousers were really tight at the back. I scooped out the back of the pattern just like I do with my own trousers and after that the pattern fitted.

This pattern cannot really be recommended for a beginner. Making the side pockets was easy but the back welt pockets already trickier. The instructions for the fly made me scratch my head several times. This seems to happen every time despite me having made several flies before. Often I have found it easier to look at an existing fly in a pair of trousers and figure out the procedure by myself.

I was a bit worried that the waist would feel uncomfortably tight since my son is used to elasticated waistbands but finally the trousers ended up fitting perfectly!

The vest (Burda 02/2014 145)

I bought this pattern online since I couldn’t get the magazine from the library. This is a pattern for a classic boys vest with two welt pockets and a little belt at the back. The sizes range from 128 to 152 cm. This time I chose the size 134, but I narrowed the pattern down to width that corresponded to the size 128 cm.

I used the same wool suiting that I made the trousers from. I added viscose satin for the lining and for the back pieces. My previous experiences with this lining sating have shown that it frays like crazy. This time I decided to be smart and I cut the pattern pieces out using my rotary cutter. Then right after, I went through all the edges with my bottle of Fray Check. That really made a difference! I did not have any fraying edges throughout the project and the Fray Check also stabilized the edges a bit which reduced the shifting of the fabric.

The shirt (Ottobre 06/2012 37. Visiitti)

This is the same magazine I took my son’s winter coat pattern from. It also has a nice party outfit for boys. (In fact, I could have also taken the trouser and the vest pattern from here, had I wanted to.) The pattern I chose is a classic button-down shirt, with a classic collar and two breast pockets.

The shirt pattern has sizes ranging from 134 to 170 cm. For smaller boys, there is a similar pattern in the same issue. My son’s is awkwardly between sizes 128 and 134 cm which always makes it tricky choosing the right sizes and patterns. This time I also went with 134 cm but ended up narrowing it down for about a size before the project was finished.

After sewing so many shirts lately, this one was easy to make. Now that I have found a perfect tutorial for the sleeve plackets at Off-the-cuff, even they don’t feel off-putting anymore.

Conclusions

It is certainly much more work to sew outfits for boys! I think it took me about a week to complete everything. I am happy how the outfit turned out, though. With some new leather shoes and a bowtie, this gentleman is ready for any party!

Thank you for visiting and welcome back soon!

Happy sewing!

Katja