191. Read All About It! Newsboy Cap: Free Pattern + Tutorial

Being invited by the ever-creative Dana to participate in Celebrate the Boy month gave me an opportunity to revisit one of my favorite topics: my 6-year-old son's head.  I've traced the story back to labor: I checked into the hospital when I was 6 cm dilated, at which point the doctor remarked that, based on my baby’s head size, the baby would weigh at least 8 pounds. I was stunned and scared! Hours later I was surprised not only by my baby’s gender (BOY) but also by his 8-pound baby head on a 6-pound baby body.  Mmmm hmmmm.

After the initial head pointiness from that trip into the outside world, my son’s head bounced back into admirably round form.  It has always been enormous, enormously round, and an enormous source of pride for me, with its glossy, healthy hair and housing the most amazing, wondrous brain!  Sometimes I am allowed views into the brain in that head, with thoughts both fantastical (“When I grow up I am going to buy my own chocolate factory”) and mystifying (“If I had a turtle, I would punch it in the face”).

I will always remember his first store-bought driving cap, allowing me to Celebrate the Enormous Head.  Given that, it was exciting to be invited by Dana to participate in Celebrate the Boy and find a way to share the joys of adorning our beloved boys' heads.  When I read that newsboy caps were traditionally made of 8 panels, I scoffed at the wimpiness of the commercially made 6-panelled caps, and I vowed that our handmade caps would return to the illustrious glory of 8 panels. Don’t our boys deserve that???

Of course they do, but after drafting from scratch and sewing three total samples to get to this point, I only have a cap pattern to offer for ages 6-8.  Tiny changes in the pattern make a big difference, and I need more time to grade and fit for smaller heads.  So stay tuned for a cap pattern I'll share in the future for ages 2-4 or something like that.  Or, if you're brave and try your hand at grading it for other sizes, please let us know where we can download your version.

Keep reading for the Read All About It! Newsboy Cap: Free Pattern + Tutorial.

190. Wednesday Workshop: Simple Sweatshirt Recon

It has been a busy and a bizzy February!  I just got back from a short trip to New Orleans, and I had not seen the city since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.  I didn't visit the Lower Ninth Ward or go on a self-guided photo tour of other areas that had been ravaged by Katrina, because I was working a lot and, in between, nursing a cold in the comfort of my hotel room.  Still, it was good to see spirits so very high.  The French Quarter was bustling and all outward signs say ongoing recovery.  Esp. with the recent Saints Superbowl win.  WHO DAT?!

I have thought a lot about sewing but don't have much new clothing to show for it (but lots of crafting!  I'm just not used to blogging those crafty projects...).

Well, I have one new garment to share.  After the sad news of Alexander McQueen's untimely death two weeks ago, I felt a little down and knew the best way out was to start one of the many sewing projects in my mental queue.  Behold: the simple sweatshirt reconstruction.

189. Giveaway Winner!

Thanks for playing along in the new BBW: Dresses giveaway! Congratulations to... Corvus! I'm emailing you now for your snail mail address.

Enjoy your day, everyone.

188. Giveaway! Built By Wendy Dresses

I'm telling you: There is no good reason why I keep winning blog giveaways! I enter because the item is something I would appreciate and use and don't have, and I only ever enter when it's easy and fast. But I never expect to win. When I do I feel like I've got to keep the goodness going. That's 2010 for me -- the year of keeping goodness going.

I recently won a giveaway on the sweet blog Carrie Girl. Carrie offered a copy of Cal Patch's Design-It-Yourself Clothes book (which I promise to review after I've made a pattern from it and sewn up the garment), and I WON!!! Immediately I felt I needed to keep the goodness going, so I emailed Carrie herself and asked if she had a recommendation for a hip, hot, new sewing book I could offer as a giveaway item, and she suggested Built By Wendy Dresses: The Sew U Guide to Making a Girl's Best Frock.

I've never seen or read this book, but Wendy Mullins' Sew U was possibly the very first sewing book in my library from my early days learning to sew clothes, and it is really an exceptional sewing book. Which gives me faith that this new one will not disappoint. And you know how I love my dresses! It would make me so happy to see another dress lover win this book!

The book is released for sale tomorrow, so let's end the giveaway and pick a winner tonight at midnight CDT. I'll announce the winner tomorrow morning and hopefully the book will be on its way to the winner, stat.

HOW TO ENTER: Leave a comment describing the dress of your dreams -- the dress you'd make if you had the skills, the fabric, the time, whatever -- and your email address so I can contact you if you win. Good luck!

187. Celebrate The Boy

Well, well, well. I am really expanding my horizons this month! If this encompassed all the sewing blogs out there to some degree (knowing there's overlap and bits of this and bits of that)...

... then my little blog started out in the Fashion/ Apparel, included Refashion in 2008, and then touched on some DIY in 2009. Why not round out the picture by dipping my toe into crafting?

Dana over at MADE was one of the cool bloggers I hung out with at Wardrobe Refashion two years ago, and she is, without a doubt, a blogging phenomenon! Dana is a great designer and photographer and has provided inspiration for countless creative folks around the world. She had this great idea to host a month of making things for boys, who we all know kind of get shortchanged when it comes to sewing, as compared to girls. And she invited me along for the ride. My project and tutorial are going live February 27, so I shall keep you posted.

As much as it feels like my participation in Celebrate the Boy is a craft thing, it seems that Celebrate the Boy will feature projects that fall all over that chart above. Meaning some DIY, some craft, some refashion, and some apparel -- like Dana's first post of the month! These envelope neck tees with contrast ribbing and serging are to die for! Go check them out, and I hope to see you following along this month!