Monday, October 10, 2011

Robot Jammie Pants (& Some Knitting)

I spent much of last week with a cold that left me even less enthusiastic than usual about sewing at night, but over the weekend I managed to finish the casing and hem my son's new jammie pants. Really, that doesn't take a lot of time. But I've realized that my favorite part of sewing pants is having sewn the pants. They have lots of seam allowances that need finishing. I don't like any part of making or sewing a casing. There's always a point at which I'm sure I've sewn them together the wrong way even though I've followed the directions--pants make my head hurt a little. And even the hems--leg cuffs are narrow enough that it's more slow-going than usual through the machine for me. But look--happy kid in new jammie pants:

What's not to love with robot jammie pants? I sewed these from a bought pattern, and if anyone is really interested I can look up which one. And truly, they're not difficult. I tried to get a little cute with how to tell the front from back and made a label by stamping my salamander stamp on some twill tape. I ended up hand-sewing it on, after I ironed the casing but before I sewed it.

It's crooked. By the time I realized it, I was ready to sew the casing. It takes me a really long time to iron and pin a casing and, well. I decided it was fine. They're jammie pants. Nobody outside of this house is going to see them, my son thinks it's really cool that he has a salamander tag on his pants, and I seem to be much more forgiving about my sewing mistakes than I am about my knitting errors. So the crooked tag stayed. I'll get better at it. This was my second try--I wanted to do this with my daughter's pants, too, but tried sewing it on by machine by zig-zagging over the edges, and the twill tape frayed and it fell off. (I settled for sewing some ribbon into the inside of the casing when I sewed up the hole for the elastic.) So by my third or fourth try I figure I'll get it just right.

I also finished my up-sized kerchief. (The first one I made went to my daughter.)

That looks much better. My 7yo (he of the new jammie pants) took the picture for me. I used the same pattern, just made the tie as long as I wanted it and picked up stitches along a longer bit of the tie, so I started with a wider base of the triangle. This was nice, mindless knitting, and when I was done with it (and the jammie pants), I popped onto Ravelry to find my next easy knit: Hitchhiker. (A symptom of this cold virus seems to be absolute, ridiculous fatigue. Garter stitch seemed about right.)

I plan to be back in a couple days with some progress shots of birthday doings--my daughter is turning three soon. We're having a small party, but there will be a little bit of craftiness involved.

7 comments:

lamina@do a bit said...

I think they look great and I especially love the fabric.. yep gotta love robot fabric :)

Michelle said...

Glad you got some time to finish them both. I really need to make some pajama shorts for Ella. I think I have some extra knit . . . or . . . hmmm . . . old t-shirts? I'll have to think on it a bit. But I still have to sew the wretched costume first.

Olivia said...

I would totally leave the tag crooked too - and they look fantastic!

Rose Red said...

Cute pj pants! I really need to make some shorts for Connor ... I hadn't thought about the narrowness of the cuffs. Maybe I'll sew the seams before I sew them together (heh! Sacrilege!)

And three! Soon! Wow!

MadMad said...

Very cute! And I'm with you on the sewing... except I like starting, too. It's all the in-between details - including ironing, what's up with ironing so much?! - that I'm not too fond of. BTW: New avatar? I feel like I keep missing your posts because I didn't even know that was you!

amy said...

Thanks! And @MadMad, there are other things that I enjoy sewing more. Jammie pants are about as creative as churning out mittens--but I'll keep making them. The bought alternatives for children are either sweat pants (too hot), icky polyester (also too hot, and, well, icky), or cotton dunked in nonflammable chemicals. I'd rather sew them out of cute, breathable robot cotton. ;)

Bells said...

so great! I put Bellsknits labels on the shorts I sew for my nephew too and he is so proud. I think he likes that better than the shorts really - which he wears as PJs.

I'm with you on the breathable cotton too. I love choosing fun quilting fabrics and making stuff for him. So different to the icky shop bought stuff.