Buzzmills

KCWC: Day four, more treasure pocket pants...

I've been chugging away a little bit each day on these pants this week.  It's definitely easier to work on two pair at the same time (although, I totally forgot to top-stitch one part on Henry's pair because of the back and forth) but it definitely takes a lot longer too!  

When Brad saw me tracing pattern pieces and cutting out fabric, etc. he asked me what it was for.  When I told him that I was making the kids some treasure pocket pants ("you know the ones with the stripe down the side and pockets?"...).  His response was something like...you're making more of those?!  Well, in fact, yes!  When I asked Violet if she wanted a pair of pants similar to Henry's or a pair that were similar to her beachcomber shorts, she emphatically said, like Henry's!  I have been promising her a pair of treasure pocket pants for about a year now.  So I finally made her a pair!

I used some green corduroy that I got from yet another lovely freecycler (a whole bag of unwanted corduroy!  I definitely snatched that up!).  And, inspired by Rae and Kristin I cut into some of my Heather Ross Snow White fabric.

 It was important to me to make these pretty gender neutral.  I will certainly still keep making Violet some cute skirts and dresses, etc, but if I am making her some pants or shorts they will most likely be gender neutral so Henry can wear them someday too!  

I made the size 4 for Violet after following the measurements, etc, but they feel so big!  I was a little disappointed in the way they turned out actually.  But then, Violet came downstairs wearing them and they look too darn cute!  And she really likes them too!

Especially the pockets.  Those pockets! I mean running with hands in your pockets?!

I added some little pockets on the back (inspired by Gail).  I used the same technique as I did with Violet's little apples skirt.  And, I figured, while they are a bit girly, I can always pick their seams and take them off when it's Henry's turn to wear them...

And then we've got the dwarves...

And snow white...

One happy camper down, one to go...

Henry continues to add to his treasure pocket pants collection!  And more squirrels too!  What can I say, we have a thing for squirrels around here, or rather, they have a thing for us.  There are squirrels jumping from tree to tree, racing across our yard playing tag, burying acorns in our garden or nibbling up in a tree all the time around here.

The corduroy is from my freecycled bag.  I can't remember the squirrel fabric right now, sorry :(  The squirrel fabric is Squirrels and nuts in Sea by David Walker.  I bought it earlier in the summer loving it and thinking about making these pants way back then...

He exclaimed "Pockets!" the first moment he put them on.  And that, Brad, is the reason I make so many TPP!  It's the pockets! It's really about the pockets!  They are at the perfect spot for little hands to find.

I was a bit disappointed in the "biggness" of these at first also.  After taking Henry's measurements I knew he would still best fit the 18month size, but I couldn't bring myself to make him those since he already had two pair, so I went with the size 2.  But, I'm remembering that last year the first pair felt big too, but we got used to them...and they do look cute on of course!

And now my "obligatory" treasure pocket pants are complete.

Kid's Clothing Week Challenge (KCWC) one, mending and amending...

Today is the first day of the Kid's Clothing Week Challenge (KCWC) that Elsie Marley holds twice a year.  

It's fun stuff, exhausting, but fun, and at the end...you have all these awesome new clothes for the kiddos! 

What's the challenge?  Set aside at least an hour each day for the week and work on sewing kid's clothes.  Last fall was the first time I participated...well, I sort of participated, I sewed a couple of things (I'll show you down further...).  In the spring I got much more into it and planned ahead, cut patterns ahead of time and got a lot done, YAY! Here's what I did in the Spring.

Day one, Day two, Day three, Day four, Day five, Day six, Day seven

I remember being so tired (of sewing) by the end of that week that I think I took a sewing break for over a week...but then, I think, that if I didn't do it...then we wouldn't have some many awesome clothes to wear!  Between Henry's shorts from that week and his Beachcomber shorts...he was set for the summer!

Anyway...so I'm doing it again...because the end really does justify all of the fatigue.  Last week and over the weekend I prepared patterns, washed fabric, cut fabric out and picked seems...Picked seems?  Yes, well, that's where I decided I would start...Getting all of those clothes that I made last fall, last spring or a couple of years ago to fit again.  It's the darndest thing isn't it?...Kids growing!  Shame on them ;)   Here's what used to fit...
I had always intended on letting the hems out of the pants that I made for Henry (one, two, three), so, as tedious as it was...I picked out the hems and redid them.  I also loosened the elastic.  As I was doing it, I wondered if it was all worth it really, but then when he put his first pair of Treasure Pocket pants on after they had been adjusted I was glad I did.  They still fit him so well!  So what if the bottoms have a little fade line from the previous hem.

(Oh, by the way, the owl shirt is one of my DIY appliques you can find it here in my etsy shop if you are interested.)

His Easter pants had already gotten too short too!

And another pair got a tear in the knee, of course next to the patch that I put in initially...so I added a kitty cat patch as well as fixing the hem and waistband...
Violet has been wearing a skirt from her third birthday for forever but it's finally gotten too short and too tight, so I added a strip of coordinating flannel to the bottom and loosened the elastic.   (Unfortunately I don't think the pictures are doing the skirt justice)

I am in LOVE with this new version!!!

And, just the other day Violet put this shirt on and we realized it was way too short
so I added a strip of pink linen (the same as in her croquet dress) to the bottom and now it's more like a tunic...

So all in all, it was a pretty successful day, I'd say.  No new clothes, but new/old clothes...which is almost just as good, no waste, and who doesn't love hanging on to clothes a little bit longer.  Truthfully if I thought I'd be passing clothes along I probably wouldn't have done it, but it is unlikely that there will be any more little boys or girls running around here, so might as well hang on to wearing those mama mades as long as possible!

KCWC: Day six...shorts...

Hi there!!  If you are stopping by via Pinterest or from another link, thanks so much for coming!  And, while you're at it, take a look around...there's lots of fun stuff to see! 

Day six...and we have some shorts...

First up...shorts for Violet...she's not a big shorts fan...mostly because she doesn't like them too short and too tight...skirts are way more comfy as far as she's concerned.  I totally agree with her on that one!  But, when I was going through some of the old clothes in my fabric stash and suggested I make her a skirt out of this old skirt of mine

She said, "No, shorts!"...alright then...good idea...some nice, loose and long shorts...

I loved this skirt...Unfortunately it got splattered by a paint brush while we were painting when we first moved in...I want to say that that is the only reason it was in the salvage pile...but, it was also there because it was from my teeny tiny days which are a long way behind me now :(  Anywho, it was a lovely linen skirt from J.Crew...

I used a pair of shorts that I knew fit Violet to figure out the inseam, etc.  And then I used this paper bag pants tutorial as a sort of guide to finish off the top of the shorts.  Success! 

I love the way they turned out...

And, she does too.  Perfect for running, jumping, playing...

And, another pair of shorts for Henry...well, surprise surprise...Treasure Pocket...SHORTS!!!  I know I know I really need to branch out!  But, seriously, if you could see how much this boy loves to find those Treasure Pockets...you would understand!  It's adorable to watch him walk around with his hands pockets all crouched over :)  

I really wanted to make these shorts quintessentially summery...therefore...seersucker!!

(Oh, and elephants...)   

It was a bit strange making these shorts because the fabric was so lightweight and it's been so cool...but then I remembered how HOT it gets!!  

Anyway...he loves them!  Of course :)

One more project to go...I have to be honest...I worked most of the afternoon today...so, that project is done all but a button...I need tomorrow off....Phew!  It's been a long week! ;)

KCWC: Day four, Big to little cargo shorts...

Hi there!!  If you are stopping by via Pinterest or from another link, thanks so much for coming!  And, while you're at it, take a look around...there's lots of fun stuff to see! 

 

So, it seems that I have a bit of a theme going on here this week...reuse/repurpose.  I guess I'm still feeling Earth Dayish after my week of earth friendly projects last week...

Anywho, today, was a bit of snip, snip, sew, sew of the boy variety...

I started with these shorts

They might not have been worn since shortly after this trip

This was taken on our trip to Alaska where we ran our first marathon...Hmmm, that was two years before Violet was born...I'm not sure why Brad was still hanging on to them.  Oh wait, I can't blame HIM...I have been hoarding too small/too big clothes to use again for a long time ;)

So, these shorts were in great condition, just too small...I thought the pockets were awesome!! And, how much Henry would love to have a load of pockets at his disposal!  So, a little snip, snip, sew, sew...

I, again, loosely used the Treasure Pocket Pants pattern from Sewing for Boys, mostly just for sizing, and the waistband, because I love that waistband so much, it's so simple and comfy for a little one!   (In case you are interested there is a whole category on my side bar for these pants now since I feel like I've made them so many times...) 

These shorts are awesome!  In my humble opinion ;)  

And there's that waistband! They are a bit long which was necessary to keep the pockets in tact, but the length makes them even better for hiking and climbing!

And, yes, he did fall in shortly after this...See...

Anyway, some perfect hiking shorts...Goodness...how is it that he is almost two?!!!

Quick pocket pants...

Okay, okay, I promise, this is the last of the Easter clothes posts ;)  It just seemed too long to post them all at once...And, unintentionally it ended up being a lot of making!  Phew, I hope I still have enough energy to make some more kid's clothes for KCWC!!  

Anyway, so the pants...Darn, they are cute and super simple!  
It's not new news that I love the "Sewing for Boys" Treasure pocket pants...you can see a pair here and here.  The pockets, oh the pockets, what's not to love?  But, alas for the sake of time and because I wanted a pair of pants that were a bit dressier I decided to do without the big cargo-like pockets.  

I still used the pattern for the Treasure pocket pants but I added about two inches (I think) to the side of each leg to account for the side panels.  Before I put the pants together I drew a simple curved pocket and traced that pattern onto my accent fabric and the outside fabric.  Then I sewed them right sides together, turned them right side out and pressed them.  Before I attached the pockets to the pant fronts I edge stitched along the part of the pocket that was going to be the opening.  Next, I pinned the pockets onto the pant fronts.  I used the inseam as my guide of sorts and lined the curved part of the pocket up with the bottom of the faux fly.  After the pockets were in place I edge stitched the pockets onto the fronts of the pants except for the bottom outside straight edge,  that was sewn into the seam between the front and back panels.  

Here's a peek at the inside of the pockets...
After the pockets were added to the front I finished stitching the pants up the same way as before with the contrast waistband and all and added some sewn cuffs.  

I love these pants!  They look so snazzy, yes, I did just say snazzy.  
I think it's part the fabric which is some fabulously cheap fabric i got a while back and part the shape and part those pockets.  

It did not take Henry long to find those pockets...

And use them...

And, the shape...The fullness of these pants and the Treasure Pocket pants is what gets me!  They look tailored but also oh so comfy and wearable for all of the running around that kids like to do!

And, the contrast waistband is just too cute!  
Okay, okay I think I'm a bit jealous (I know Brad is)!  Maybe I should just make myself a pair ;)

Oh, and ps...the bow tie is one leftover from Violet's Fancy Nancy party.  I used Delia's tutorial and love it!

And, the daffodils...were made for the whole family using my tutorial!  Both kids (not necessarily husband) loved their flowers!