I gave these to Caitlyn last night to check the fit.
"Oh, Mama! You made pockets!"
I feel a bit like I missed the memo. Pockets? Since when was she excited about pockets? There are pockets on her other clothes (although not many of the ones I've made) and she doesn't use them (although, to be fair, the pockets are tiny and practically useless). I thought the critical thing was the purple color, since these aren't covered with a bold print or glitter.
But these shorts have pockets. She inspected them thoroughly, checking out the lining fabric (hot pink) and the size, before putting on the shorts and stuffing her hands into both pockets. I think I must have asked three times, "Please, hands out of the pockets while I check the fit of these!"
Which is pretty good, although there's no real room to grow. These sit right above her hip bones, where they should, and the leg length is good. I'm a little worried that they are too snug in the bum, but she says they are comfortable. If I make these again in a fabric that doesn't have stretch (which this strange purple stuff does), I might add just a little bit of room. Although I haven't the slightest idea how to to that in the back without getting all gappy and saggy in the front.
The pattern came from CraftPassion, and I didn't have any trouble with the instructions. I didn't put the knit band at the hem, opting for a regular hem.
I did look up how to do a blind hem for these. I'm not super thrilled with how it came out, since I think if I'd done the hem by hand the stitches would be less noticeable. I'll need to try the blind hem thing on different fabric, though, before I give up on it entirely. It could be that the technique is not well-suited to this fabric weight.
When is comes to sewing clothing, I've kept pretty much to tops, skirts and dresses. Pants and shorts kinda scare me. But I've got ideas about sewing pants for me, so perhaps starting off with shorts and pants for Caitlyn is a nice, gentle way to get started. After all, she's ok with elastic waistbands and she doesn't have any curves yet!
Pockets made by Mom have special cachet. I must admit that I used the appliqued tulip pocket on the front of my favorite white dirdle skirt to carry a mouse (a real-live mouse!) in my pocket all through recess in the 5th grade. Why there was a mouse available on campus to do this I cannot for the life of me remember, but I was the only one with a suitable pocket for a mouse so I was queen for a recess, thanks to Mom's creative tulip pocket. The mouse slept through the whole thing.
ReplyDeleteThose pockets of Caitlyn's are bound to come in mighty handy!
Have you tried any Burda pants patterns? I liked the way they fit my growing girl better than the big 4 American patterns back when she was Caitlyn's size and approximate shape (skinny and tall and then even taller and still skinny). They seem to fit me better also. Don't know if it's still true.
I haven't tried Burda. I'll keep them in mind for future projects.
DeleteLove the mouse story. Although I sincerely hope Caitlyn doesn't try to bring home a mouse in any of hers!