Sewing for Boys - Tadah Troop Shirt

If you're like me and don't have kids of your own, or sew for kids on a regular basis you might not have heard of Tadah Patterns.  Tadah are an Australian pattern company who focus on baby, kids and teens patterns. They're a popular pattern company and for good reason.  Their patterns are well drafted, with clear instructions and illustrations, and result in some adorable finished garments.

I have a number of friends who raved about the Tadah Troop Shirt (which comes in baby, kids and teens sizing). I was a little intimidated to start with, smaller pieces and a collar.  I've only made one collared item before and it was a number of years ago.  Thankfully it was way easier than I had anticipated and now I'm addicted.

I've made three Troop Shirts in the past few days and needless to say I see many more in my future. For something that ends up with lovely finishes, including an enclosed back yoke and shoulder seams, it comes together really quickly. I cut two out just before Christmas and when I got around to sewing them both it only took a couple of hours, they'll only get quicker the more that I make.

I made two out of the caravan fabric (which is poplin I picked up for $3/m at Spotlight years ago).  When I can I like making matching things for my nephews whenever possible so no one feels left out.  I'm sure this will stop in another couple of years but at 5 and 7 you can still get away with it.

I caught up with a sewing friend yesterday who very kindly gave me some snaps to finish them off.  You can really tell I don't sew for kids by my lack of snaps.  Needless to say some snap pliers and snaps are on their way to me now.  Thank goodness for eBay!

Another benefit to sewing for kids is the ability to use up some leftovers, I got around to cutting myself out some shorts out of this fern linen/cotton blend from Spotlight and had enough left over to get out another Troop Shirt.  Needless to say given my current addiction to Troop Shirts the shirt is finished (just missing the snaps) and the shorts haven't even been started.

I recently purchased some custom woven labels to add to all my handmade garments.  I'm really happy with the quality of them but the service wasn't fantastic.  I may order from the again in the future but I'll see how long it takes me to go through the ones I've got.   I'm also making my own size tags using some ribbon along with some heat transfer vinyl cut with my Silhouette Cameo.  The Silhouette is adding lots of to my creative outlets lately, so I'm sure you'll see more of it in the future.

Anyway, I really need to start an assignment, but I'd love to see what you've been making lately!