Clothes shopping with a man is fruitless when the man is tall, thin and picky. It's hard to find a style he likes, and when something does catch his eye the fit's not right. If it's not too short in the body/sleeve or too tight on the shoulders, then it's inevitably hugely wide around the waist and hips. So the SWAp over at Stitcher's Guild got me thinking about the 11 garments I'd sew for my man.
I posted on Stitchers Guild last year about a knock-off Belstaff jacket for my man: his father has one from the days when they were a cheap and practical coat for motocyclists, and made just up the road from us, in Silverdale. Now they cost upwards of £500 and all of Hollywood is wearing them, the only way he's going to be seen in one is if I recreate it. (In an case, the real thing would have sleeves too short and shoulders too tight!) So that would be the starting point for my SWAP, and one of the three wildcards:
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| Belstaff Roadmaster |
SWAP rules call for 5 tops that go with 3 bottoms
Hot Patterns tees in nice soft bamboo jersey, say 2 short and one long sleeve version:
How about a Henley tee to add variety?
And a shirt: my hubby likes relaxed and comfortable so back to Hot Patterns for their Coal, Iron & Railroad shirt
Three bottoms:
Smart-ish but still relaxed Jedediah pants, I see these in a soft moleskin
We're allowed a couple of previously made items: the pants from Vogue 8940 fit right out of the envelope:
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| Vogue 8940: the trousers he didn't know he wanted |
And a pair of canvas cargo pants; Hot Patterns again:
Two wildcards to go. Hubby is partial to a hoody. I might try the Avocado men's hoodie from Seamster; a new-to-me indie pattern company, but this has fun styling details and I was sold by Brooke's blog about it over at CustomStyle. Using a thrifted tee fulfils the upcycling rule too!
And finally a men's vest: patterns are hard to find, but this one from Jalie should fit the bill:
Although the range of patterns on offer for men isn't huge, it's good to see some of the smaller and newer companies are stepping up with styles that men might actually like to wear. I could have added a pea coat, jeans, fleece jacket, or sewn-along to make a smarter shirt. Plus all the active and outdoor wear on offer.
I won't be entering this as my SWAP, but I might just make a start on sewing this collection.
Thanks for reading. Comments
are welcome!Labels: Belstaff, Hot Patterns, indie pattern companies, Jalie, sewing, sewing for men, Thread Theory, Vogue
