Sunday, April 29, 2012

KCWC Days 5 + 6


Whew, still chugging along for KCWC, but I am running out of steam. After all the irritations of the badminton skorts, I moved on to a new pattern, the Oliver + S after school pants. Now that I think of it, every piece I have sewn this week is an O + S pattern, and that is because I love them. I had my first sewing success with their patterns and they haven't steered me wrong yet. I hadn't yet sewn up these up so I was hoping everything would go smoothly, and it did! Pants usually are pretty straightforward, but you never know.



However, these pants are crazy! When I saw this striped corduroy on clearance earlier this fall I thought it would be perfect for these pants, and I was either very right or very wrong.  I cut all the contrasting fabric bits going horizontally, to add some "interest" although I don't think these pants needed anything extra interesting, I still like the effect. I originally planned on doing the girly version with ruffles at both the front pockets and the back seams, but I decided to nix back ruffles as I saw how crazy these things were coming. Other than my interesting fabric choice these really did sew up fast and easy, a great pattern with simple clear directions. 


For some reason these pants remind me of outdoor music festivals and the grungy snowboarders that trickle down from the mountain. I made a size 2 for my 3 1/2 year old, and they fit great in the body but with virtually no growing room in the waist.  She does still have a round little tummy, so it's possible that if she grows an inch or two I can let down the pant hems and these will fit better than ever.  It is impossible to buy anything but stretchy leggings for this girl from the store, everything in 2t is slightly too tight and still too long, and she swims around in 3t. 



For day 6 I sewed up the class picnic shorts, also for Isla. (I sew a lot of bottoms for her, as mentioned above) I definitely put my time in on these as they took me about 3 hours to make, but I think they were worth it! I love the cute retro look to them, and they fit great. The pattern is really straightforward and easy to figure out, but I spent a lot of time trying to get all my white facings perfectly prepared so they would look as awesome as possible. Mission accomplished?  I did get some puckering where I attached the waistband to the shorts, which irritates me, but not enough to unpick and try again. I used the same linen I did for the badminton skort, and it has a looser weave and stretched out a bit while I was sewing it on I think. Someday I will invest in the $175 walking foot for my machine and then maybe I won't have these little issues. We don't really tuck in her shirts so I figure nobody will probably see/care about my little mistake.
  


Not much to say about these shorts, except for that I think they are super cute, especially paired with a blonde cutie in a black sabbath t-shirt of mine I cut up to fit the girls a few years ago. Yes, my girls are awesome, I know.  Only one more day of sewing and then KCWC is over until fall. It has been fun, but I am ready for a break from kids clothes!

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