Good morning! Everyone knows about K’s love of animal prints. And most people know that I make all her clothes, so of course, she received two yards of animal print fabric for her birthday.
“Pants!” she said without an iota of hesitation when I asked her what she’d like me to make with her special fabric. Pants it is.
I used the “slim pants” pattern from this great book, but made a few mods in addition to lengthening the pant legs by 1cm. I changed the front pockets (the original design has front patch pockets) and skinnified the legs, which were easy modifications — I’ll show you what I did in more detail on Wednesday!
K is very, very happy with these. Her one complaint was that she wanted them to be skin tight, but despite having a little bit of stretch, making them any tighter would not have allowed her to have the range of movement she so loves.
Rockstar pants, don’t you think? The shirt is a hand-me-down from her slightly older neighbor friend, and K inherited a huge bag full of bright and colorful clothes. It almost made me toss out my plans to sew school clothes for K. Almost, but not quite. Sewing back-to-school clothes is a ritual I consider sacred.
We tried the pants with the black stripey tee for a different look. That tee gets worn a ton.
I’ve been meaning to make these pants for years but the zip fly had me cowed, as many zipper projects tend to do. I took the plunge, though, and I’m glad I did because it really wasn’t all that bad. I also had it in my head that it would be incredibly challenging to add one of those adjustable elastic waistbands, which turned out not to be painful in the least.
The one snafu I ran into was the shortage of waistband width, and rather than cutting out a new waistband, I got creative and folded the fly guard instead. It worked! So much so that I wondered if maybe that’s what I was supposed to do and the instructions just didn’t include it…who knows?
At any rate, these pants resulted in much jubilation! I would like to try the Peekaboo pattern next. [I originally wrote Small Fry, but I’ve already made a pair back in November. See what I mean about my memory? Thank goodness for this blog!]
Look at all these fun denim colors I have — K is going to love them!
What about you? Any fall sewing plans?
Probably no definite plans for Fall sewing. I want to knit and catch up on some late baby gifts! But, these pants are wonderful. And, I love the stripes and print. Just looks fun!
Ah, I keep thinking THIS is the year I’ll start knitting, and I never make it happen. Maybe next year…;-) Thanks, Greta!
Those pants are super awesome!! For fall I am starting on a few quilts to give as holiday gifts. I’d love to make some clothes too, but I don’t have any patterns picked out at this point.
Thanks SarahKeith! Wow, I need to start thinking of holiday gifts too — I can’t believe it’s already September! I’ll be doing some Fall planning features in the next couple of weeks. It’s one of my favorite things to do (the planning, that is. The execution doesn’t happen as quickly as I’d like).
those are awesome… I feel like after doing a few zip flys that they’re not so intimidating any more! I have a few pants patterns on the docket for fall. Mostly Ottobre for the kids and the ones from Sew U for me.
I want to get to that point, Kristi! My poor Ginger jeans have been languishing because I’m still intimidated to do them for adult pants! I just reorganized all my sewing books and found a couple of Ottobre issues, and was thinking, “I really need to try to sew from these…” Thanks!
You can make the Ginger jeans!!! Just keep trying them on while you are sewing the sides and waistband to make sure they are fitting the way you like. that’s the only thing I’ve messed up here and there is not fitting while sewing.
Great advice, thanks Kristi! I did notice that my non-existent butt is making the waistband fit weirdly…I’m just gonna take it slooooow :-).
that’s some serious coolness on Miss K! Love those skinny pants especially paired with the black/white stripe top – an outfit that is sure to be worn often! Sanae, I have been intimidated by installing a fly zip for years as well, especially since my first and last experience was with a poorly written pdf pattern that had me ripping out my hair. Haven’t tried since – perhaps K’s amazing pants will be the push I need! As for that denim fabric pile, I’m kind’ve wishing I could a burnt orange pair myself!
Thanks, Lucinda! I like the stripey with the animal print too. Oof, zipper PTSD is no fun — I hear ya! 🙂 It will probably take me about five years to actually sew up four pairs of skinny jeans, but I’m always optimistic. 🙂
I’m about to sew cheetah pants for my son! If only they could hang out together!
They’re seriously cool pants and fit perfectly.
I was really impressed with the Twisted Trousers from Titchy Threads, so I’m also tempted by the Small Fry Skinny Jeans pattern
I just saw the amazing zebra print dress you made, Shelley, and can’t wait to see the cheetah pants!! So fun!! We’ll have to get the animal kingdom kiddos together at some point :-).
Oooh… Brave Lady 🙂 I have had the Small Fry Skinny Jeans pattern for at least a year and a half and I’ve been to intimidated to try lol! I’ll admit that my real phobia is button holes though. There’s just something evil about having to have your lovely garment all sewn and perfect before starting the button holes
Haha, I have a feeling that I make everything seem much harder than they really are, but you’re right, I’ve had a couple of huge buttonhole fails and those are almost tears-inducing! I’m printing up the Small Fry pattern as I type this so we shall see how it goes…Thanks, Kathryn!
My first question is does K ever take them off? They are very cool. I find pants and especially jeans my least favorite to sew, and in that I need to sew some! I do like to challenge myself but lately I have been in the cutesy baby clothes mode. But as always you inspire me to challenge myself so there are some jeans sewing in my future.
Awesome, we’ll do a virtual jeans sewalong, Karen! And you’d think K would sleep and shower in the pants, but the bling-y hand-me-downs she received from the neighbor friend is trumping my pants!! Oh well, I’m sure they’ll get a lot of wear ;-).