As I’ve gotten involved in the online sewing community, I have seen seamstresses come together to do great things. Exemplifying the “Be the Good” movement, these generous women (and a few men) have orchestrated large donations to families in need, promoted shops for WAHMs who need the boost, and set up groups for donating and trading gently loved clothes for kids. Kelly at Handmade Boy is continuing that tradition with the release of The Fighter Tee. When you buy the pattern 100% of the proceeds go to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. As a runner, Kelly has pledged to raise $1000 for St. Jude’s, and the Fighter Tee is how she is planning to raise the money. I think it’s awesome! This is Kelly’s first pattern release and it was professionally drafted by Tami of Love Notions who very generously donated her time to the cause. If you’d like to give directly to St. Jude, you may do so through Kelly’s runner’s affiliate link.

Trivia Break: Even though I wasn’t raised Catholic I’ve always been fascinated by saints and how they are given patronage (is that even the right way to say that?) St. Jude is among my favorites, as he is the patron saint of hope and lost causes. I believe that we all have times where we need a little help from St Jude, and times where we need to act on his behalf for others.

I was very happy to help test the pattern before release, where I made three different versions including my favorite of the batch, this dragon-themed one. The Fighter Tee has a loose fit, and you can safely size down if you want something a little more slim, though James is at the very bottom of the sizing. I love the color-blocking on the side and under-sleeve panels.

For the blog tour, I wanted to make one more and have a ton of fun with it. I broke down a Punklets panel from Piccadilly, laid it on wide stripes from TKB Prints turned vertical, and paired it with safety pins from  Cuddlemuffins; the sleeves and back of the shirt are more Punklets. On the applique work I used a decorative stitch to reinforce the overall punk rock feel of it. My kid may look like Zack Morris now, but if he has any of my DNA running in his veins he’ll be turning into Dexter Holland (The Offspring) some time in his mid-teens. May as well get us all ready for that now 😀

If the music is too loud, you’re too old

Meditating on how hardcore I’m going to be in 10 years

To smize or not to smize.

Monday: The Wholesome Mama, My Creative Room, Wild & Wanderful