more pants

more Made flat front pants. This time with pockets.... and poorly lit pictures

chevron skirt

Hi SONP-ers! Welcome to my little blog Down Under.

When we moved (nearly a year ago!), I was unable to bring my sewing machine. My darling husband must have been tired of hearing me whine about not being able to sew, b/c I got not ONE, but TWO sewing machines for Christmas. Since it was summer here, I went searching for skirt patterns (my own personal "down with the pants" plan). I stumbled upon Marigold's blog and SONP10. Who'd have thought I'd be contributing to SONP11.

I was trying to think of something new - something not already covered in Marigold's extensive skirt review from last year. That's when I thought about chevrons. I'm seeing them all over blogland. Then my brain started going..."you can't put chevrons on a skirt. a skirt is curvy. it would just look all wonky." Time to prove my brain wrong.

I took my favorite skirt (Lands' End, A-line, side zipper) and drafted a pattern for this project.


For my pattern:
W = waist measurement
A = W/4 (top of yoke)
B = A + 2cm (bottom of yoke and top of skirt)
C = A x 2 (bottom of skirt)
L = length
Cut fabric (I used stretch cotton poplin) - skirt pieces (2) and yoke pieces (4). I couldn't decide if I wanted to use the skirt material or accent material as the waist yoke, so I cut 2 pattern pieces of each fabric.

Don't sew skirt together yet. It is much easier to sew the chevrons on when the pieces are separate. Go ahead and hem both front and back pieces.
Time to start getting the chevrons ready. Using this tutorial as my guide, I made a template (since I don't have a rotarty cutter/ruler). I thought I'd make paper zigzags first since I don't want to mess up with my actual fabric.
Cutting lots of practice zigzags also let me experiment with layouts. Oh the possibilities!!!
Time to get started on the real thing. After a couple goes, I found it easiest to fold my fabric in half and start at the folded edge. This allowed me to cut two layers at once. (Make sure you use the correct side of template - notice one side is not a full pattern).



Now back to sewing the skirt. You can now sew the sides together however you like (I like French seams so there are no raw edges to fray.)
When making the yoke, I would add a layer of interfacing. Not necessary, but it would give the top a little more stability when wearing. (or maybe you don't have a post-baby gut like mine...)


Lots of tutorials out there for zippers. I read a few after my last zipper debacle, then did some trial-and-error.



And now you have a cute, little skirt that is oh so trendy.... My husband said it looked like a Charlie Brown skirt. My co-workers loved it.

ignore my leg jutting out in a weird direction. I promise it's not really that contorted.
And yes, that is how tan I get in the Land of No-Ozone!

COST: $22.35

1.3 m stretch cotton poplin (navy) $15.50

0.2 m David textiles 'linear stripe' $2.60

zipper $1.50

thread $2.75

Thanks for stopping by!

Linked in at:
the stories of a2z
someday crafts

Nurses Day

Today is Nurses Day (Florence Nightengale's birthday).
Thank you to all my fellow nurses out there in blogland!

KCWC day4

I was able to sew another pair of pants today. NOT picture worthy though. I used an old pair of my yoga pants to make a quick pair of pants for DieselBaby to have at daycare as back-up.

I thought using pants that already had seams and elastic and hems would be easy peasy. Not so. I think these pants took me longer than any of my previous pants. And these aren't even cute!

COST: free

all material on hand/repurposed

KCWC day3

Well, day 3 is here and so am I. Can't believe I'm still chugging out clothes for the little guy. Maybe it's the mountain of fabric I have right now.

Big surprise....I did another pair of pants for DieselBaby. This time I added a button-fly. DieselBaby has been working on fine motor skills. He likes doing his zipper on his jacket in the morning.

The pants still have elastic in the waist, so if he has to go RIGHT NOW, he can just pull them off. Although I imagine explaining to a 2 1/2 year old that he doesn't have to do the button is quite tricky.

It was my first time with the button fly, so mental notes for next time.

1. don't need to use interfacing - it made sewing the placket (?) and cutting the buttonhole a little hard
2. make R front a little wider in the center - so the placket can be centered

next time....

COST: $4.00

Happy sewing

Linked in at:
i heart naptime
skip to my lou

KCWC day2

EDITED to add: these much be magic jammies. DieselBaby wore them last night and slept until 7:15am! I can't remember the last time he slept this late. He normally wakes up between 5:30-6:00.
______________________________________
DieselBaby needs new pajamas. All his PJs are from before we moved (read almost a year ago). He is a blanket kicker, so this winter, I want him to wear long pants to keep his legs warm.

Enter super cute, super soft train fabric. I modeled the pants after the previous ones I made him. Only this time, I used a "pattern"...well, at least some forethought.

I haven't decided if I'm going to hem them or leave them long. If the legs are long, then I can tuck them in his sock. This might keep the legs down and his legs warm. But I don't want him to trip on them when he's walking.

Since I had some material left from my 1/2 meter, I decided to make a shirt.

There wasn't that much material left, so I added the gray band on the bottom. (same material from this skirt/recycled top. I have a ton of material due to a mistake in converting yards to meters + over estimating so I would have enough = TONS of fabric).

COST: $5.50

** didn't realize till I was cropping the photos that DieselBaby had used the camera and put little smudgy fingerprints all over the lens...hence the fuzzy nature of the pics.

Linked in at:
Thirty Hand Made Days

KCWC day1

Got up this morning and decided DieselBaby needed some new pants before church (main reason...someone ::DieselDaddy:: forgot to do the laundry). I just so happen to have a lot of fabric lying around, so I whipped up a pair of cool, blue corduroys...

Of course I used the MADE flat front pants (I'm addicted. They look so cute!) Since I started the week out by sewing something for the little guy, thought I might as well join in the Kids Clothes Week Challenge....

COST: $3.85

0.5 m navy corduroy $3.85

elastic - on hand

craft room

I've been sewing a lot recently getting ready for Summer of No Pants. Since we are in a 1-bedroom apartment, I've had search out somewhere to do my crafting. My sewing machine sits on top of DieselBaby's bookshelf. My ironing "board" and cutting area is the kitchen counter.

just a peek at my "craft room":

Given the close quarters and the late nights that I've been sewing (gotta wait until the kiddo is sound asleep or else he'll wake up), my pics are less than stellar. Half the time I've gone to take a picture only to find out that DieselBaby has been taking pictures with my camera and the battery is drained (hence the iPhone pics). On days that I can sneak out of work early, it's been rainy so the natural light shots are non-existent.

Someday I'll have a proper craft room...someday.

pants

I've been sewing recently for Summer of No Pants, so that has taken up most of my sewing time. Gotta make sure my skirt looks awesome (which it does...wore it today and got heaps of compliments).

Here is a recent quick sew for the little man. From MADE pants tutorial. Love these pants b/c I can whip up a pair quicker than it takes me to blog about them. These are just the basic flat front. No extra pockets.

They aren't really uneven. Promise. One leg is just hanging a little flouncier.
I went to Target on Saturday - looking for pant for DieselBaby. $22 for pant for kiddo! I think I threw them back on the rack like they were contaminated. I could not justify spending that much knowing at home I had cheap fabric and a quick pattern.

COST: $1.20

remnant $1.20

elastic - on hand

thread - on hand