I picked up the Art Museum vest + trousers pattern back in the fall when Oliver+S was running a 50% off sale. I love stocking up on some patterns from my want list during those sales! I hadn’t really given that pattern a second glance when it was released but after seeing Tara’s great buffalo check vest and Gail’s awesome plaid pants, I knew I had to have it for myself.

Easter is one of the few times a year where I try really hard to get the whole family in new (preferably handmade) clothes. Growing up in the south, the annual Easter dress search was a big deal and it’s kinda fun to continue that tradition with the boys- except not with new dresses obviously. 😉 

I started on these vests way back in February in order to make sure they were finished by Easter- the winter Kids’ Clothes week theme was upcycling so it was the perfect chance to get a head start! I’ve been working on them in bits and spurts whenever I could fit in some spare sewing time. And I actually finished them two weeks before Easter- a miracle for me. 🙂

Eliot’s vest is a size 2T and made from an old pair of my husband’s dress pants. The lining is a blue sketch print from my stash.

Oliver’s vest is a size 4T and is made from an old pair of my dress pants- from way back in my school teaching days. I let him pick out the lining and he decided on a Lorax fabric from my stash- Dr. Seuss is always a great idea. I do think the vest runs a little short. Next time I make one I would probably add a little length so he won’t grow out of it so quickly.  

Oliver’s pants are also upcyced- another one of my husband’s old khakis. Though I think with his size we are reaching the end of being able to upcycle from old pants! I had to do some major seam ripping of waistband and patch pockets to have enough fabric. After I was all finished, I realized you could still see the needle holes on the front right pant leg. I used all the tricks up my sleeve to remove those marks- finger scrubbing, rubbing with a wet cloth then ironing, and finally rubbing with a white vinegar soaked cloth and a final press with the iron. All that work did help minimize the marks but they did not disappear like I’d hoped. I think that with all the time I spent seam ripping and such, it would have just been cheaper to go buy some khaki fabric- lesson learned for next time.

Oliver’s measurements put him in the 2T waist with a 4T length. I was afraid to trust the measurements completely so I ended up making him the 3T with 4T length. I ended up cutting them back to the 3T length because they were super long- after reading a bunch of reviews, this seems to be a pretty common theme. I probably could have gone with the 2T width too but this way he’s got some room to grow for a while. 

Have you noticed all the welt pockets- 6 to be exact! Yeah, my first time with welts and that was quite the workout. I managed ok on the vests, and then I realized that my pal Kristin had written up a picture tutorial for the O+S blog so that was super helpful and so I used that when I made the pants- much easier. The pockets all turned out pretty well, if I say so myself. I used the Lorax print for the inside of Oliver’s welts, and he is pretty pumped to have Lorax pants as well as the vest. Anything to get him excited about his handmades!

Eliot already had a pair of pants to coordinate with his vest and shirt so I decided not to make him a pair. Final handmade tally- 2 vest and 1 pair of pants. The boys’ shirts are from Target, and Eliot’s hat was a steal in the Target dollar bin! They loved wearing the Fedoras and actually managed to keep them on most of the day. Their cuteness was just too much for me!