NEW! Whipstitch Patterns–the OverMost. GIVEAWAY on MADE!

(If you’re joining me here from MADE, welcome!  I’m a huge, huge fan of Dana’s and couldn’t be more excited to be part of Boy Month.  I’m also thrilled to introduce you to my very first downloadable pattern, the OverMost–stick around and let me know you dropped by, then head back to MADE to enter the giveaway!  Thanks a ton, and happy stitching.)

In our neighborhood, just on our street and the one behind us, there are 14 children.  Thirteen of those are under the age of 5, and only two of them are girls.  Both the girls live at our house.  So imagine how excited I was when our boy O was born last year–I felt like I’d finally joined the club.

Having a boy is so different in so many wonderful ways than having a girl–I’ve enjoyed it way more than I could have anticipated.  Dressing him was a challenge, though; I used to joke that I thought boys would refuse right from the cradle to wear anything other than t-shirts and cargo pants, but mommies of boys all over would get rabid when they told me, “NO!  There IS nothing else!”  I had no idea how hard it is to find modern, cool clothes for boys to wear that are also fun to make and easy to play in.

I’m a personal junkie for overalls.  I looooooove me some overalls.  In the summer, I have found that most of the overall options are of the jeans variety, and I’m not such a huge fan of those.  One afternoon, when talking to our neighbor across the street about his son and my overall fetish, I mentioned the “Shortall.”

Him:  “The what?”

Me:  “The Shortall–you know, overalls that are shorts, for the summer.”

Him:  “That’s a dumb name.  It’s not even accurate.  If anything, they should be called the OverMost.”

Me:  (Dead silence as I allow his brilliance to sink in.)

Me:  “Um, can I totally have that name, and like, trademark it?  Because it’s awesome.”

And that, my friends, is how the OverMost was born.  I adored making these when I was designing children’s clothes, and now I’m loving having them for our boy.  Fully lined (or reversible) and with a high bib front and elastic waist back, they’re comfy and cute and still boyish and modern.  And I’m super thrilled to be offering a GIVEAWAY of the soon-to-be-released OverMost pattern on Dana’s blog, MADE!

When the flood came through our house last fall, I lost a number of my most treasured patterns.  The OverMost was one of those.  I was super bummed, but when I dug out the pair I’d made two years ago, I decided to use Dana’s influence and re-create the pattern from the pair I still had on hand–hooray!  While I was at it, I realized that I’d love to make the pattern available to lots of folks: these overalls are so super simple to make, suitable for nearly any level of stitcher, and turn out great in almost any fabric.  Currently, the pattern is just in a size 2, but given enough interest, I’m planning to produce it as a multi-size pattern for 12 months-4T and make it available for download purchase, just in time for spring and summer weather (oh, and there’s a long overalls version, too, for those of you whose winter drags on and on…).

Cross-back straps, pocket variations, and two lengths.  I’ve done these in baby cord, quilting cottons, twills, and denim, and it’s always dreamy (and shhh! they work great for girls, too, so if you’re a hand-me-down family, make a pair in gender-neutral fabrics and use them for YEARS!).

One lucky winner will get an advance copy of the pattern PLUS a $20 gift certificate to the Whipstitch shop to purchase fabric for making the OverMost.  Jubilee!

To win, just head over to Dana’s AMAZING blog MADE and leave a comment to be entered to win (and huge thanks to Dana for hosting!).  Winner will be drawn randomly Wednesday night, giving you plenty of time to enter.

Ooh, and let me know below that you dropped by–I’d love to hear in the comments what sizes you’d like to see this pattern in, too!  I’m super excited to put it out there, and want to be sure everyone gets a chance to send their guy to the park in just the right size.