I love the concept of a capsule wardrobe: a small amount of well though-out pieces that mix and match effortlessly.

I mean, I love it for other people. Not for me. Me, I love making clothes too much for that craziness. I'd love to do it someday, but today is not that day. But I gotta tell you, every time I'm putting away laundry for my boys, wow, do I wish they had capsule wardrobes!

When RP Custom Fabrics sent me three fat halves of coordinating fabrics, I knew that I could make a super cute matching outfit for each of my three boys . . . or I could make Baby D one adorable mini capsule. So, I went with the latter. And when Sewing Blue Blog Tours (hosted by Made for Little Gents) asked me to join their Boys in Summer Blog Tour, everything came together perfectly!

Without further ado:

Copy of sudoku Dane's summer mini capsule wardrobe for boys in summer.png

Alright! So with 1.5 yards of fabric, I was able to come up with these eight patterns, matched with one pair of ready-to-wear moccs. I did three each of tops, bottoms, and an "extra" (which ended up being the moccs, a pair of booties, and a hat).

And yes, the bandana bib counted as a "top". He is a baby, and it is summer, after all!

I reorganized the fabrics and patterns many times, until I came up with the perfect wardrobe sudoku (probably the funnest part of capsule wardrobes-- I love looking at the wardrobe sudokus!). Obviously, this is just a mini wardrobe, so nine items was perfect, but if you're doing a full, legit capsule, you'll probably want a few more items.

sudoku Dane's summer mini capsule wardrobe for boys in summer.jpg

Putting the pieces together sideways, up and down, diagonally and corners, you come up with nine outfits.

Copy of sudoku Dane's summer mini capsule wardrobe for boys in summer version 2.png

Pretty cool, huh? I love the idea of bringing this whole capsule for a night away this summer- and being able to change a shirt or bottom if something gets spit up on, and still having him match! Perfect for a night away at the lake!

And, since I'm the world's okayest mom, with the best baby ever, I had little D model each of the nine outfits. He's a trooper, that one.

I love these fabrics-- the stripes, space theme, and aliens/monsters are so stinkin' cute. The colors are perfectly gender neutral.

And I have to say, I'm a converter to the lap tee. . . so much so that I made two! I used to try to make "normal" shirts for my babies, but with those big, gigantic heads, lap tees really do make sense (thank you to Patterns for Pirates for converting me with their Free Wee Lap Tee).

Watch it now, here's where I loose my sweet model:

Poor kid. That was the last outfit, and I snapped one picture before I swooped him up and apologized.

Let's see a happier face again.

Much better, haha!

Bonus- most of the patterns I used were free! Here's everything I used:

Patterns for Pirates Fee Wee Lap Tee and Free Teeny Beanie
Menta Booties
Stitch Upon a Time Jack's Joggers (in shorts length)
Hugo romper
Peek-a-Boo Patterns Romperalls
Max and Meena Dribble Bib

D is getting to the age where he loves chomping on anything- this Dribble Bib kept going straight to his mouth.

Done with the baby overload? Good! Head over to all the other awesome stops on this blog tour-- all focused on the boys in our lives in the sweet, sunny, summertime!

Looking for more summer boy inspiration? Follow along on the Boys in Summer Blog Tour hosted by Made by Little Gents by clicking through the links below.

Fri. May 4 Made for Little Gents (Intro to Boys in Summer Blog Tour) Mon. May 7 Elli & Nels in Stitches Tues. May 8 Our Play Palace | Made by Laura! | Beri Bee Designs Wed. May 9 Made for Little Gents | Momma Newey's Makes Thurs. May 10 Phat Quarters | Dreams & Stitches Fri. May 11 Stylin' Stacy | Tenille's Thread Mon. May 14 Paisley Roots | Fabulous Home Sewn Tues. May 15 Seams Like Style | Kathy's Kwilts and More Wed. May 16 Sewing with D | Auschick Sews | Seams Sew Lo Thurs. May 17 My Sewing Roots | Sewing à la Carte | Middle River Studio Fri. May 18 Lunatiek | Needles to Say | Manning The Machine

Thanks so much for checking out D's mini capsule! I have to admit, this is making me think how fun it would be to make my own mini capsule-- especially for a vacation! We'll see ;)

xo- Molly