Do you have a husband, or a partner, or an older son that gets left out of the home sewn items that you make? I do, a long suffering husband who always says what amazing garments I make, and feels proud of the fact that our children wear a large proportion of my own creations. But he gets seriously left out. In fact, in all the years I've been sewing, I've made him one item. Just one... So when the opportunity to sew up this new Men's Trailblazer pattern by Twig and Tale came along, I jumped at the chance!
I sewed up the women's Pathfinder pattern for myself at the end of August, so knew a little about the princess seams and the general construction of this men's pattern, but hadn't used an open ended zip in one before! My first and only (two) experiences with open ended zips was in a zip up hoody in french terry for my two kids (not yet blogged about). It wasn't a fantastic experience, and collar pieces didn't line up, and frankly, after waiting nearly nine months from purchasing the fabric, zips and pattern, to sewing it up, the kids had grown somewhat, and the zips were too short. So to say I was apprehensive about putting in this zip correctly, was an understatement! BUT, I needn't have worried. The instructions are fool-proof, and include some excellent tips that I never thought of myself before.
I used the Atomic Web from the Sassy Cat's range by Michael Miller Fabrics as the outer. When I found out that I had the opportunity to sew up any fabric I liked, I figured the ultimate choice ought to be my hubsand's as he was going to be the one wearing the final garment. I never imagined that it could take so long for a man to browse through a fabric designers website! I guess it was like saying, here's a department store, you can pick anything in here, as long as it's just one thing. In the end he picked this one. I think it works well for him, and matches his blue eyes.
The lining for this body warmer is a super soft, super warm, super snugly cotton sherpa by Michael Miller Fabrics. I have never sewn with sherpa before, and had read stories of it shedding profusely around sewing rooms and cutting tables, and getting up your nose whilst sewing. But I can honestly say, none of that happened with this sherpa. Perhaps because it was 100% cotton? Or perhaps because it's a superior product? It's so easy to sew though. It has a slight stretch to it, but I basically treated it like a woven material, used a normal universal needle in my machine, and perhaps pinned a little more than I would normally to counter the fabric growing along the seams. I found if I kept the sherpa underneath, and the outer layer on top when sewing, it didn't grow so badly at all.
The Trailblazer pattern is perfect for accenting the shoulders and back yoke with a contrast fabric. I must admit, I didn't realise this when ordering fabric, and felt a little stuck with the one fabric for the outer. So to try to emphasise the pieces, I turned the print on it's side along the back yoke and shoulder detail. You can just see the print running horizontally instead of vertically in my pictures.
As you can see, it's the perfect pattern to get almost matching daddy and son body warmers (well, they're fabric prints from the same range, with the same pattern)! Snuggly and warm for crisp autumn days, with superbly soft sherpa hidden inseam pockets! You can find the matching kid's pattern here.
Did you know you can follow me on Instagram and I'd love for you to give me a like on Facebook.
*Disclaimer: Some of the links in the post below are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission (the price stays the same for you) which will help me in the future to buy more patterns to share them with you!*
I sewed up the women's Pathfinder pattern for myself at the end of August, so knew a little about the princess seams and the general construction of this men's pattern, but hadn't used an open ended zip in one before! My first and only (two) experiences with open ended zips was in a zip up hoody in french terry for my two kids (not yet blogged about). It wasn't a fantastic experience, and collar pieces didn't line up, and frankly, after waiting nearly nine months from purchasing the fabric, zips and pattern, to sewing it up, the kids had grown somewhat, and the zips were too short. So to say I was apprehensive about putting in this zip correctly, was an understatement! BUT, I needn't have worried. The instructions are fool-proof, and include some excellent tips that I never thought of myself before.
I used the Atomic Web from the Sassy Cat's range by Michael Miller Fabrics as the outer. When I found out that I had the opportunity to sew up any fabric I liked, I figured the ultimate choice ought to be my hubsand's as he was going to be the one wearing the final garment. I never imagined that it could take so long for a man to browse through a fabric designers website! I guess it was like saying, here's a department store, you can pick anything in here, as long as it's just one thing. In the end he picked this one. I think it works well for him, and matches his blue eyes.
The lining for this body warmer is a super soft, super warm, super snugly cotton sherpa by Michael Miller Fabrics. I have never sewn with sherpa before, and had read stories of it shedding profusely around sewing rooms and cutting tables, and getting up your nose whilst sewing. But I can honestly say, none of that happened with this sherpa. Perhaps because it was 100% cotton? Or perhaps because it's a superior product? It's so easy to sew though. It has a slight stretch to it, but I basically treated it like a woven material, used a normal universal needle in my machine, and perhaps pinned a little more than I would normally to counter the fabric growing along the seams. I found if I kept the sherpa underneath, and the outer layer on top when sewing, it didn't grow so badly at all.
The Trailblazer pattern is perfect for accenting the shoulders and back yoke with a contrast fabric. I must admit, I didn't realise this when ordering fabric, and felt a little stuck with the one fabric for the outer. So to try to emphasise the pieces, I turned the print on it's side along the back yoke and shoulder detail. You can just see the print running horizontally instead of vertically in my pictures.
As you can see, it's the perfect pattern to get almost matching daddy and son body warmers (well, they're fabric prints from the same range, with the same pattern)! Snuggly and warm for crisp autumn days, with superbly soft sherpa hidden inseam pockets! You can find the matching kid's pattern here.
Did you know you can follow me on Instagram and I'd love for you to give me a like on Facebook.
*Disclaimer: Some of the links in the post below are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission (the price stays the same for you) which will help me in the future to buy more patterns to share them with you!*