Cayenne Pants

 The previous post mentioned buying two Walmart mill end pre-cuts that were different colors of the same fabric, and here are the pants made from the other color

 

 

Charcoal Pants

 We walked past the aisle where the Walmart mill end pre-cuts are, and I glanced over, not expecting to see anything--and saw that the bins were once again full.  I detoured over and poked quickly through everything, choosing a piece of hounds tooth double knit for me and two rolls of what was obviously the same knit in different colors to make more things for the kiddo.

I started with another pair of sweatpants, this time in charcoal

Green Pants

 Continuing to use New Look 6766 and mill end precuts from Walmart to make pants for the kiddo, I made these

Test Pants

 It's almost time for the kiddo to have to leave the house for end of the year standardized testing.  As a remote learning student, he has gladly adopted the "pajama pants all day" lifestyle, and, as a teenager, he also has significantly longer legs than he had the last time I made him a pair of "wear out of the house" pants.  So! Time to make a quick pair of pants.

I probably could have used kid-sized KwikSew 2544 again, or even KwikSew 1650, since his waist measurement is still very slim, but I decided to go ahead and use the view B pants from New Look 6766

  as long as possible, and with suitably small amounts of elastic

(the elastic is actually fairly stretched to fit the hanger there)

They're not pajamas if they have pockets, right? right?

The kiddo has a dentist appointment soon.  Like...tomorrow.  And the only pair of pants he has that fits is this pair of sweatpants of dubious style I made for him a month ago.  Which is what he wore to the dentist appointment last week. (That was the regular check up. He has some baby teeth that should have fallen out a while ago, so he's going back to get those taken care of.)  I have suddenly gotten self-conscious and absolutely can't have him wear the Same Weird Pants to the dentist again. (especially since the rest of his outfit was the coordinating cat print stew shirt and the hoodie jacket made from the same fabric as most of the pants.  So.  It was A Look.)

Yesterday I grabbed Kwik•Sew 1650 and some strangely dense, but relatively muted, thrift store woven yardage (may or may not include synthetic fibers), with the intent to sew the pants very quickly today.  Which, I did, but a lot of the sewing happened during the very concerning events of the day.  But, dentist appointments go on, and there was no way I was going to a store to buy pants that fit him, so I sewed while history was being made (derogatory)

Iron it?  Why would I do that?

I'm sure it'll be fine once it comes out of the dryer.

The Cat's Sweatpants

 ...which probably will be used as pajamas.  Anyway.  In the continuing effort to both use up remnants in the knits stash and to make clothes for the growing tween Child, I, for the first time, used the pants part of Kwik•Sew 1650 and the green knit left over from the last green hoodie I made for him...which was just a bit short of what was needed, so I called in a bit of that Halloween cat print interlock (turned 90° off grain) last seen in the horrible stew shirt and here we are

StripePants

And another KwikSew 2544, this time using some incredibly soft brushed twill that the destashing-for-relative person brought

Not-so-small jeans

The kiddo is at a size where he's right between commercially-made pants sizing, so I decided to make him a pair of jeans, aided greatly by finding a 2 yard mill end precut of heavy (although stretch) denim at Walmart.

Of course I used KwikSew 2544--he'll be in that size range for a few more years, so there's still a lot of that pattern in our future (including the  very next post I'm going to make.)

MadrasPatch Pants

Yesterday, a patchwork pillow.  Today, patchwork pants.

The base fabric is the other piece of ready-made madras patches, which I know is a "traditional" preppy thing, and I was ready to make a pair of shorts for my sarcastic child to wear.  When I double-checked with him that he did want shorts made from it, he asked for pants.

Hmm.

I consulted the measurements listed on good ol' KwikSew 2544, and confirmed that he's currently at size 12 in leg length and somewhere between size 10 and 12 in waist width.  (That pattern goes to size 14, so I think there are a few more years of use coming from that pattern.)  I then laid the pieces roughly on the cloth and confirmed that there was just enough for the main pieces.

Experimentaleggings

Several years ago, I took a disco-era pattern for leggings and fused the front and back pieces into a single unit (and omitted the zipper because zipper?? in leggings???) and made a pair of leggings that fit OK, and a few years after that I made another pair from better cloth and I've worn them a whole lot this winter.  Maybe time to make another pair?

But the weight gain had me second-guessing things--sure, they fit fine, but that's probably because of the wonderful four way stretch of the (mystery, probably from the glory days of the $1/yard Walmart cloth bins) fabric.  So I decided I'd try a different pattern, since I've long since parted with that disco-era pattern, and turned to this relatively recently thrifted combo

Simplicity 8042 from 1992, with leggings meant for two-way stretch, since it's from a more primitive time. (That doesn't mean I wouldn't happily have worn view 1 exactly as-is back then, it just means the leggings wouldn't have had as nice a recovery as what we can get in stores today.)  And I  happened to have several yards of a thrifted red velour I could use to make a pair to get an idea of fit.

I hesitate to call it a wearable muslin, because...red velour.  I'm not sure if I'll be able to see anything made from it as anything but some sort of Santa costume. 

ho ho ho.

Why do we all have to wear these ridiculous ties?

The kiddo currently has an unexpected affinity for older video games, and the absolute favorite is the Half Life series, and his favorite characters in that series are the scientists. ("They have the best memes," he says.)

So, when it was time to choose a Halloween costume, Half Life Scientist it was, no hesitation.  I had been prepared for it to be a HEV suit, which...I'm stubborn enough that I would have figured it out, but, in terms of knowing I can make it, scientist was a relief.  If you don't know how a Half Life scientist looks, here's the pertinent wiki page  http://half-life.wikia.com/wiki/Black_Mesa_Science_Team (which has a note, as I type this, that it'll be migrating to another domain soon, so apologies if the link is bad.)

I'm sure all the pieces could be purchased commercially--there are places to order lab coats for kids, and the price is surprisingly low, but, y'know...I sew.

"I love them," he said

So this week the kiddo's school rewarded the students for having perfect attendance; the reward was dress up days.  Monday was Labor day, so no school; Tuesday: Hat Day (kiddo didn't care); Wednesday: Sport Jersey Day (kiddo didn't care, and, furthermore, nothing could've stopped him from wearing the t-shirt I freezer-stenciled a Half Life lambda on for him on Tuesday anyway); Thursday: Pajama Day--dingdingding pajama days are his favorites.  He wears pajamas pretty much every day he doesn't have to leave the house (a trait he 100% did not get from me.  I don't even like staying in pajamas when I'm sick.)

The constant pajama wearing was especially hard on the pajama pants I made for him (for the last school pajama day) and that I seem not to have blogged.  They were made from a penguin and snowflake print flannel that someone sent to me, and I had more than enough to make that first pair...and I thought there was enough left to make another pair, a reassurance I stuck to when the pajama pants in question blew out at the knees and ripped in all directions from there.  Which he thought was hilarious.

Not gonna let him wear those to school pajama day, though.

So!  Time to make another pair--this time with reinforced knees, an option already in good ol' KwikSew 2544

I've been using the faux fly from view A for years, but this was the first time using the knee patches from that view.  I also decided to eliminate any hint of the fly completely, as well as extend the top to make a fold over waistband, with elastic all around, instead of the flat front with elastic only in the back as the pattern is designed.  Oh, and, eliminate the pockets. (And also eliminate the cuff elastic, which my brain kinda refuses to even acknowledge is there in the picture.)

But it's basically the same pattern.  Also cut on the size 14 width lines but size 10 leg and size 12 waist rise.  Still the same pattern.

And then of course I discovered that there was not enough of the penguin print left to make an entire pair of pants.

Now...OK...see...

I don't like flannel.

But I do like cloth and bargains and ridiculous prints, so I had a few yards of an eyeglasses print flannel, plus that yard of Pokémon print flannel that the kiddo picked out a few months ago.  He's since lost some enthusiasm for Pokémon and shifted over to Half Life, so I tried selling him on the eyeglasses print as being a very vague reference to the glasses on Gordon Freeman and the other scientists of the game.  He said yeah sure but he also really wanted another pair of penguin pants.  I changed the angle and suggested mixing the prints.  That got some enthusiasm, because this kid does love humorously obnoxious combinations of stuff.

So.  Glasses + Penguins.

I cut the entire back out of the glasses print (no effort to print match, so of course it shows how close it was to matching the print)

 and the front was one leg of each, with the knee patches swapped printwise.

 I didn't look at the pattern directions for the knee patches--I just knew that even two layers of flannel probably wouldn't last too long, so I added a layer of a random cotton broadcloth.

I sewed the flannel to the broadcloth right sides together, then flipped them right sides out and  ironed the edges before aligning the patches with the pattern notches and edge stitching and top stitching the patches to the legs.  I hope three layers of cloth will be more durable.

 Edge stitching along the center seams (which I somehow completely forgot to serge?) and double stitching on the elastic channel.

 The cuffs were serged and then folded inward twice.  I know that serging is kind of a waste there, since the raw edge absolutely does not show, but it really helps me get an idea of how much to fold, since, y'know, I can't be bothered to measure.

When I finished and showed him, he smiled and very quietly said, "I love them."

So yay!

Tomorrow is the last day of dress up week--the theme is Mismatched Day.

That should be interesting...

Repantsenating

So I made a probably misguided (and probably, eventually, desperate) decision to sew through the pile of cloth from those last two thrift store fabric grab bags.  This is the source of the cloth for the border of the cat face quilt (and very likely will provide the back), the outside and inside of the Roblox bag, the dubiously tasteful flocked leopard cloth for the patch jacket, and this pair of pants I made for the kiddo yesterday

I've accepted the fact that pats are hard to photograph (and there's a Very Lovey Chippykitty on the desk right now, so typing is extra challenging--forgive any typos I don't catch.)  It's Kwik Sew 2544 again

with the same combination of most of view B with the faux fly of view A.  I tried making the legs a bit narrower, too.  I haven't yet convinced him to try the freshly-made pants on yet, though.

Even if they fit, I'm not sure if he'll accept them, because they're...double knit polyester.  With a fake twill texture to boot.

 (and lots of cat hair.)

I didn't even think of ironing this--my experience with pressing double knit polyester is that it's either scaldingly damp but otherwise unchanged, or it melts.  The lack of pressing was nothing that copious amounts of topstitching couldn't rectify.  Most of the topstitching was even called for in the pattern directions.

I did decide not to topstitch around the upper edge of the waistband (which, along with the pocket flaps, was interfaced with the tropical print used for the Roblox bag and seen in the background.)

I did order this thread specifically for this project--weird for me, yeah, but it's probably better that I have some dark-blue-no-it's-not-navy thread, anyway.  I wasn't so persnickety about the completely unnecessary (but aesthetically gratifying) serging inside

(hey.  cat hair.)

The part that suffered most from the refusal to iron was definitely the cargo pockets

(oh look more cat hair)  I probably should have sewn the center, below the fold, completely closed--I know my kid, there's never going to be anything in these pockets, they could be completely flat, there would be no problems.  Now, omitting them wasn't an option, because these already look dangerously close to school uniform pants I like the visual detail they add.

Instead of making button holes or hook and loop  tape closures, I just stitched down the edges of the flaps

Which worked out better than I thought it would.

Now, to see if he'll actually wear them...and...if so, there's a length of dark red double knit that could be empantsenated, too...

Sing the praises of pants

Or, at least, of Kwik Sew 2544, revisited in denim with lime green top stitching and vague memories of what needed to be corrected from the last time I made this pattern.

Action Child!

I wanted pictures of him wearing the eye jacket and the gray pants, and he was happy to pose...and pose...and pose...

(Yep, I made the kitty, years ago, using the NunoDoll Ragdoll Kitten pattern/instructions, enlarged to 150%--this pattern works amazingly with knit faux fur...not so much with woven cottons...  The kiddo doesn't see any problems with it.)

Pants!

...for the kiddo

Thrifted pattern, smallest size is still too big, but, hey, it's a pattern for boys kids that isn't designed like an afterthought.  It's also from 1997, and, I'll be honest: I can't really tell if it's a truly timeless design, or if the fact that I remember fashion in 1997 is interfering with my ability to judge how out of date this might be.  (I would make a comment about Zubaz, but no-one would've been caught dead wearing loud patterns or eye-searing colors in 1997, pfft.) ((So  also won't make a comment about how it's entirely possible the Big 3 pattern companies may have been offering Zubaz-approximate patterns in 1997.  Nope.  Not gonna make that comment.))

Whoever had owned this before had used it, but...as a base for adult-size pants?  The pieces that were cut were cut beyond the largest size lines, with notebook paper extensions.  I trimmed the pieces down to the largest size, and cut the fabric in smallest.

I also combined views, using the false fly of view A with the cargo pockets of view B--not because I have any problems with zippers, or because I lacked appropriate zippers, but because the kiddo never uses the zippers in the jeans he has, instead choosing to shimmy in and out of them while they're completely closed.

Also, the pants legs really are the same length.  Really.

My curves need work, although the topstitching isn't as dire as I expected.  (...do..do I have a topstitching addiction?  I...might.)  I happened to have a perfect match thread (gifted) for this cloth (thrifted), but not a lot of it left, so I used black thread in the bobbin for the topstitching and black thread in both for the plain seams.  I didn't run out of the gray, so that was good! (Will probably use the rest for gray and black doll clothes.)

Decided to use Velcro instead of buttons on the pockets because I had the idea that it wouldn't use as much thread as button holes.  Not sure, in retrospect, if that's true, but I also didn't have any buttons that seemed appropriate for this, so I stand by this decision.

Since he's smaller than the pattern, I increased the sizes of a few seam allowances (which...it's KwikSew, so the seam allowances are only ¼" anyway), and used a smaller length of elastic in the back. The kiddo hasn't tried these on yet, because it's Saturday and it takes a lot to get him out of his pajamas on a Saturday.  We'll find out eventually if these fit...