Teaching my Husband to Sew

I taught my husband how to sew this past weekend. Yup, I’m serious. He has been casually saying, “You could teach me” or walking into my sewing room and looking at my machines as I rethread them, etc. I finally took him up on it and like most things we do together, we had a good time.

How did we decide on the project?? Well, you know how I’ve been really into pushing myself and trying new things with my sewing? This was no different.

I decided to challenge myself with a fabric I’d normally not use. Then I took it one step further and challenged myself to use it on a pattern, way out of my norm.  When the fabric arrived my husband saw it and asked me what I was going to do with it. I explained my self-challenge and he promptly said, “Why don’t you split the yardage with me, teach me how to sew, and we can see who uses it better?”. So, competitive couple that we are, I accepted his challenge.

The challenge fabric is this cotton spandex (cotton lycra, same thing) Map print from So Sew English Fabrics. I haven’t used cotton spandex since I made my husband his ice cream boxers and it was a nice treat to use something different.

Lets talk about his pattern pick first. He likes all the Hudson pullovers from Greenstyle Creations that I have made him in the past so he decided to make himself another one. He used the map print for the body and found some brown cotton lycra in my stash to use for the sleeves.

He had it pretty easy with not having to print and tape a pattern since I already had his size handy. He did however have to figure out where he wanted his short sleeve line to be and he also wanted the neckline raised a little. I walked him through it and even let him use my serger and sewing machine.

I am seriously so impressed with how he followed my steps, was open to tips and my nagging about retracting the rotary blade before setting it on the counter. He did such an amazing job and I honestly can’t believe this is his first try at sewing. I videoed our “sewing lesson” in the hopes of sharing it on my YouTube as a couple part sewing tutorial, but technical, kid, and audio issues messed up several pieces. So I took a few clips of our fun and made an outtake video of sorts. It is available on my YouTube channel for your viewing entertainment. Yes, we are really like that 😂

With the remaining map print I made myself a crop top. I used the George and Ginger Picnic Dress bodice and love the litle gather front detail. I made my size per the pattern but I think I’m going to take off the band and bring it in a little. To use just the bodice, you do the pattern as directed and skip attaching the skirt.

Since I didn’t have anything to wear with a crop top, I made myself a pair of  highwaist elastic shorts. I used the Century from CKC patterns in this solid black crosshatch woven from So Sew English. The woven has some nice stretch/give, which I wasn’t expecting. I wish I had a few more yards of the crosshatch woven, I can totally see it as a summer dress or some flowy pants.

I’m not sure if I will wear the shorts on a regular basis, but I actually really, really like the top and think I may try making a highwaist maxi skirt to wear with it.

To complete our challenge I took a picture of my outfit and because a picture wasn’t enough for him to showcase his shirt, he made a commercial. 😂 You can see his commercial on my YouTube channel too. He assigned me a roll for it and we had lots of laughs. 

Help us decide! Who used the map print better??