Happy Valentine’s Day! We have never really done much for Valentine’s Day, but I decided to make the kids coordinating shirts using this XO fabric that I purchased from Raspberry Creek Fabrics last year around this time. I only had one yard of the fabric so I had to get a little creative in order to make shirts for both kids.
I knew that I wanted to make Owen a hoodie, so I decided on the Jolly Roger Raglan from Patterns for Pirates. After cutting his out, I didn’t have a lot of fabric left and Lillian didn’t truly care if I made her anything. But I looked through my patterns anyway and noticed the 11th Hour Gear shirt from New Horizons. I started out with just the pocket with the XO fabric, but lucked out that I could also fit the sleeves!
11th Hour Gear Shirt
I will chat about the 11th Hour Gear pattern first since it’s new to me. When I first saw this pattern I thought it was a pajama pattern. And it is, but it’s also so much more. There are so many options, so with the right fabric, it doesn’t need to be pajamas. I think I would consider it more of a comfy clothes pattern. Which is perfect for both of my kids! I can’t blame them; I mean, who doesn’t love comfy clothes?
This pocket is actually what drew me to this pattern in the first place. Along with all of the options….which include shorts, straight leg pants, and joggers, as well as a slim fit T-shirt with or without the neat looking pocket, long sleeve, short sleeve, or muscle tee/tank. I mean seriously, the options are endless. You could mix and match and probably make a week’s worth of outfits if you made them all with coordinating fabric!! Hmmmm…maybe that should be a goal of mine.
It’s definitely a slim fitting shirt, but that would be necessary for pajamas. Lillian is super thin so this was perfect for her, but I need to learn to pay better attention to the length, because I feel that I could have lengthened this shirt a little for a better fit. It’s not too short, just not a lot of room for growing.
The pattern was easy to follow overall. I did struggle at first understanding the pocket, but once I was actually just taking it one step at a time I got it. It also has you understitch, which I had never heard of before. But with a little google search, to help clarify exactly what that meant, it was easy peasy! The directions did explain, but I still wanted to look online to make sure I fully understood!
The Details
I decided to try adding a few more details to these shirts than I normally do. I’m so glad that I did! First, I added red reverse cover stitching to Owen’s shirt. I was actually really nervous to do this since I had never tried before. But I practiced on some scraps so I could figure out how to get everything lined up and actually on the seam! It’s not 100% perfect, but I still love it!
I also used reverse cover stitching on Lillian’s shirt for some extra details. But since I didn’t have a ton of the XO fabric, her shirt seemed a little bare in the front. So heat transfer vinyl (HTV) became my friend. I took an image of the fabric and converted to a SVG file so I could use the exact same X and O. I then cut it out of the HTV and applied to the shirt.
Jolly Roger Raglan
I’ve talked about the Jolly Roger Raglan before in a Halloween post, which is kind of funny since this is also a holiday shirt. This time I used french terry so I decided to make it one size larger. Plus, the last one I made fit perfectly, and I wanted this to fit a little longer (if it isn’t stained after he wears it the first time! It can also be layered and fits more like a sweatshirt this way.
Even though it’s XO fabric, I don’t feel that it can only be worn on Valentine’s Day. I’m not one to make things that can only be worn once! Love is always around, right? Not just on Valentine’s Day!
So, tell me, what do you do for Valentine’s Day? Do you make your family special outfits? Do something special with your significant other? Ignore the day because it’s a “Hallmark” holiday?
Disclaimer: I am an affiliate of New Horizons so I am compensated for any orders placed through the links in this post.
