This week I tried a new to me fabric – board short fabric from Mojo by design! They sent me a fat half of this fabric to sew up as an example of their current preorder:
https://mojobydesign.ca/pages/pre-order
Please note: Mojo By Design is a Canadian company, therefore all prices are in Canadian dollars. This makes for a really great price for those of us in the U.S. due to the favorable exchange rate right now! Their shipping prices are also very fair. You can google a Canadian $ to US $ converter to get an approximate cost in U.S. $ before ordering.
Mojo by design says the following about this fabric:
“This fabric base is 100g 100% woven polyester with a soft-brushed finish. As a woven base this fabric has no stretch, but incredibly fast drying, making it most desirable for swim ware when the swim is not suitable, Such as men’s swimming shorts, or beach bags. It is sold by the yard, which is at least 36” long by 60” wide if more than one yard of this print is ordered it will be cut in one continuous piece up to a maximum of 5 yards. All fabric measurements are before washing. However, we do strongly suggest that you pre-wash your fabric before use. Wash on gentle cycle, permanent press, with warm water. Dry on low or line dry. Avoid contact with abrasive material, bleach, or extreme heat.”
I had never sewn with board short fabric before but was excited to give it a try. When it first arrived I loved how soft it felt. I did not want to make traditional board shorts for Kai since he is so little. I wanted something that covered just a bit more skin as we have rather harsh sun exposure here as we’re a mile above sea level. I also wanted to avoid an elastic waist band for this little guy! I decided to give the traditional jon jon a try in this nontraditional fabric.
I purchased the Jon Jon pattern from OlaJane patterns on Etsy. I modified it slightly to have a lined bodice instead of making it fully lined and reversible. My thought process was that it would dry quicker when wet if not fully lined and also not be as hot as two layers of polyester might be. This worked out really well and I had no problem substituting a lining. I simply cut my front and back lining pieces on the fold on the interfacing lines subtracting my half inch seam allowance first. I also used snaps in lieu of buttons. I used #20 Kam Snaps.
This pattern jumps from 6 months to size 12 months. Kai is wearing 9 months so I went back and forth as to what size to make but I went with the 6 month size in the end and it fit perfectly.
I loved the Jon Jon from the board short fabric! This fabric would be excellent for toddlers visiting the splash pad, etc. as it will dry quickly! It’s all super easy to get on and off little ones compared to wet rash guards. I will definitely be making Kai more jon jons for summer in both woven and board short fabric.
And of course I had to make a matching hat! I love, love, love the Melon Cap pattern by Max & Meena patterns so much! It is just such a cute little boy look and is available in sizes that fit Newborn all the way to adult! There’s even a matching doll size!
Son of the Maker created the vinyl design from one of my embroidery designs as I wasn’t sure how well board short fabric would embroider. He experimented with some of the scraps of the board short fabric to make sure the heat press vinyl would apply well, and was careful with the heat but it did fine!
Board Short fabric is currently on preorder by Mojo by design:
https://mojobydesign.ca/pages/pre-order
Pattern is the Jon Jon pattern from OlaJane Patterns:https://www.etsy.com/listing/75959781/royal-prince-george-type-romper-pattern?ref=shop_home_active_4
Heat Press Vinyl design by Son of the Maker:
Hat pattern is the melon cap by Max & Meena:
Family Of Makers 