Friday, April 27, 2007

Catching Up: frantic sewing, part 1

Fresh off the victory of making (and liking) my very first pair of pajama pants, I couldn't wait to make more. And because I am a glutton for self-imposed punishment, I set myself a deadline. I wanted, no needed, a second pair for my trip south. I had big plans for several pieces of clothing I was going to make for that trip - 2 pairs of pj pants, a spring top, and some spring pants. This was project #2 towards that end.


pattern: Simplicity 4380, again
fabric: royal blue cotton with light blue stars, from JoAnn
notions: elastic for waistband, lavender lace with tiny rhinestones
modifications: I did the waistband completely different from the pattern, using my handy Sew-U book for reference. This meant adding an inch to the waist so I would have enough to fold over for the elastic casing. In retrospect, I should've added two or three inches, because these pants are too short in the stride. After frantically putting these pants together for the trip, I didn't bring them - they were too uncomfortable. I plan to go back and rip the casing seam, add another couple of inches of fabric, and see if that helps.

Again, my favorite part is the lace cuffs, but this time I put the lace on a bit higher up than I think it should be. So when I redo the waist, I'll redo these too. Of course, without a self-imposed deadline on this project, who knows when I'll get to these again.

Even though these didn't work out in time for my trip, I am glad I made the effort. With each project I sew, I feel like I'm gaining more knowledge and confidence. I am feeling more and more comfortable with modifying patterns, which I think is a great skill to be honing. It's one of the reasons I wanted to learn to sew. My Tiny Dancer is so tiny that pants that fit him length-wise never fit his waist. It will be good for me to know how to alter clothes I buy or make new ones for him with modifications.

In the "lessons I'm not learning" department: still don't know how to accurately gauge the "available time" versus "to-do list" equation.

4 comments:

Dave said...

I had to laugh at your "lessons I'm not learning" -- when you get that one figgered out, you'll share with the rest of us, right? :-)

Sheryl said...

I sew too and have used that pattern for several projects. Not only pajama pants, but I used it for pants for work, used linen and canvas type fabric. Even made a pair of capris' out of the pattern! Glad to see someone else is adventuring with it!

schrodinger said...

Those are cute PJ's, shame they're so uncomfortable - but it's good that you're learning new things though.

Rachel said...

I do love the lace on the cuffs. I think I'm going to cheat and sew some lace onto my store-bought pajama pants. :)