April 25, 2013 by Cate

Girly Sewing: Ruffled Hem Pants

You know how everyone always says that little girls have their fathers wrapped around their finger? Well, I think this applies equally to mothers, because I’m beginning to think my little girl pretty much has me all wrapped up too. Pants with ruffled hems are just not the sort of thing I ever imagined in my child’s wardrobe, let alone did I imagine they’d be something I would actually sew for her wardrobe. And yet somehow these pants came to be. It was as though once I started imagining her baby-chub legs adorned in something so girly-cute, I couldn’t hold back.

This past weekend I scored some fun fabrics by Lisette during the Jo-Anns “daffodil dash” sale. The fabrics were on the red tag shelves, and all red tag fabrics were an additional 50% off — bonus! Despite the fact that I left the house telling my husband it would be a quick trip because I wasn’t shopping for fabric, I came home with a generous amount of yardage in very cute prints. I swear I was only going to pick up some trim and thread. But really, how could I pass up such a deal! And since I’ve already put some of my finds to use, I think the purchases are completely justified.

I drew my pattern based on an existing pattern I made for a recent pair of pants for Eli, and then modified for Daisy’s measurements. The most obvious modification was to make the pant leg shorter than usual to accommodate the length of the ruffled hem. I cut my hem pieces 3.75 inches tall by 1.5 times the pant leg opening. The leg opening here was approximately 12 inches, so I cut the hem pieces 18″ long; you could certainly cut a longer piece if you desire a more tightly gathered look for the hem.

I didn’t take photos of the process but it was very straightforward. To create the ruffled hems, I did the following for each leg: (1) sewed the short ends of the hem fabric together, right sides facing, to create a big loop of fabric, (2) hemmed one long edge of the fabric (fold over 1/4″ and press, then fold over another 1/4″, press and sew hem), (3) machine gathered the other long edge to create the ruffles (using basting stitch, highest tension, and slightly holding the top thread between my thumb and pointer finger to add further tension), (4) evened out the gathers and made sure the gathered hem piece was the same size as the leg opening, (5) placed the gathered hem piece around the outside of the leg opening, right sides of fabric together, raw edges aligned and side seam of the hem piece aligned with inside leg seam (note: the hemmed edge of your ruffled piece should be positioned toward the waistband of the pants), and then (6) using a regular straight stitch, sewed the ruffled fabric to the leg opening, using a seam allowance that placed my new stitches closer to the waistband of the pant than the gathering stitch line on the ruffled piece (so the gathering seam doesn’t show once the ruffled hem is attached). I then serged the seam where I added the ruffled piece to the leg to create a cleaner look and eliminate fraying, but you can finish the seam according to your preference.

If you have a pair of pants that still fit your little one everywhere except in the length, adding a ruffled hem could definitely give you the length you need to extend the life of the pants. I imagine a pair of too-short jeans would look adorable with a cute ruffled hem attached. Of course, my daughter is on the shorter end of the height spectrum, so she has yet to outgrow the length of any pants prior to outgrowing the waist! I think this would also be such a cute look for a pair of pajamas — maybe ruffled hems on the pant legs and the arms! Oh dear, I have definitely been bitten by the girly-clothes bug.

This week is the Spring 2013 Kids Clothes Week Challenge — one of my favorite sewing times of the year. Created by elsie marley, the KCWC is a challenge to spend at least one hour a day for the week sewing kids’ clothes. It always manages to focus me on wardrobe needs for my children, so I appreciate the challenge. I tackled a few more items in addition to these pants, which I’ll be posting about soon. Check out the new kids clothes week blog and the related flikr pool for a peek at the kids clothes awesomeness that is being sewn up this week! And on her own blog, Meg from elsie marley is documenting how she is using each of her hours of sewing during the KCWC to create a great dress for her daughter. It’s so fun to watch it all come together – hour by hour, post by post.

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Okay, enough about time spent indoors sewing, I’m off to enjoy the outdoors on the gorgeous spring day. Hope you can, too!

March 4, 2013 by Cate

Seeing Red Shorts: CTB Day #8

I can only wish that it was shorts weather already! Nope, just getting a leg up on summer wardrobe needs. Originally my plan was for red pants. Red is Eli’s favorite color and the red pants I made him last winter received lots of wear. But then I decided that red shorts would be more fun this time around.

The shorts are based on Dana‘s tutorial for Kid Pants, and I just shortened them to shorts. Long shorts, actually. I kind of like boy shorts on the longer side, and NOT because they’re being worn below the butt! I used Dana’s tutorial for pockets, too. (Um, perhaps I should just turn this whole post over to Dana? Thank you!!)

I used a medium weight twill for the shorts, so they’re pretty substantial feeling. The pockets have a fun contrast lining with a street view print in cream and red (by Creative Thursday, The Red Thread collection).

The problem viagra australia cost of impotence is no more an imagination. All you need to maintain your health and fitness to begin cialis without prescription with. But as men search for various answers for viagra sales india find content now what to do in case they are diagnosed with prostate cancer. Even purchase viagra from canada pdxcommercial.com the blood appears again after the period. Perhaps it’s a good thing this is the last week of the Celebrate the Boy series. I think my model has become a bit tired of the spotlight. I had to barter an episode of Dinosaur Train for this photo shoot, and even then I couldn’t convince him to leave his room for a few shots! Gosh, I hope he doesn’t complain to his agent about his working conditions; she likely won’t be too sympathetic.

And what does Daisy think about what’s going on around her? She is content pulling books from the bookcase and ignoring the photo snapping. I think she’s pretty confident that after two weeks of boys-only sewing there will be a new dress for her in the near future.

February 28, 2013 by Cate

Are You Blue? CTB Day #4

Electric blue pants! Wowza! It’s Celebrate the BOY 2013 Day #4 and for me it’s all about color — and pockets! Rae posted (twice!) on Monday about color — More Color! and Saffron Pants — and it was definitely inspirational. And since it seems Eli is growing out of his pants on a daily basis lately, what better way to embrace color than a new pair of boy pants! These pants are kind of like a bear hug of color, I think.

It feels like it’s been a long winter and the past couple days here have been either rainy or overcast. I guess “gloomy” seems like an accurate description for the weather. Let’s just say, it’s a good thing there’s no chocolate in my house right now, because it feels like the kind of day that’s perfect for sitting on the couch, watching crappy television shows and eating chocolate. A shot of color is the perfect mood-booster for days like this.

This was my first time making box pleat pockets – inspired by Rae’s Saffron Pants post. I love them, although I wished I’d cut them wider (next time!). Eli, of course, loves the animal pattern pocket flaps. “Thank you, Mommy, for making these cool pockets for me. Thank you, Mommy, for making these pants for me.” Followed by a hug. I’m telling you, he knows how to work it.

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I’m taking tomorrow off from posting. Have a great, colorful weekend!

February 27, 2013 by Cate

Barefoot Chef: CTB Day #3

Woo hoo, guess who is making dinner tonight! My little barefoot chef.

I guess that means mac ‘n cheese is on the menu. And ketchup. Definitely lots of ketchup. Heck, if it means a night off from dinner duty, I’m game for pretty much whatever he’s serving.

It’s Celebrate the Boy series day #3. Admittedly I did not sew this apron this week. It was my Christmas gift to Eli, but I realized I never shared pictures. Last year I decided it would be great to give each of my children something handmade for every Christmas, and since Eli loves helping in the kitchen and loves trucks, this apron was the perfect fit this past year. It was also warmly welcomed by my husband who had grown weary of seeing Eli in my pink, floral aprons. Ha!

You can include bananas, eggs, spinach, fish, broccoli, oysters and watermelon in your daily diet. deeprootsmag.org buy cialis online This erectile dysfunction may also keep a woman away from deeprootsmag.org cialis generika enjoying intercourse. Saturday, Feb. 19, the eve sildenafil professional of NASCAR’s Daytona 500. Such medicines http://deeprootsmag.org/2013/12/19/this-american-yule/ order cheap cialis mostly include- drugs used for curing heart, lungs, or kidney related diseases; and drugs that include nitrates. This apron was easy-peasy to make, especially since I used a continuous run of bias tape to create the ties and neck trim. It means the neck loop isn’t adjustable, but that’s not a detail to sweat in this situation. I only had one yard of this fabric, which I’d purchased for Eli’s truck-themed birthday party to use as a table cover for the dessert table, and it was plenty. If anything, I could have made the apron shorter. I used an old t-shirt to make the pocket because the color reminded me of road work signs. I was hoping to find bias tape in a matching yellow, but this orange was the closest I could find.

Eat well!