Mama's Flannel Pants

So, enough of making cute things for this tiny being who does not yet have a body to himself!  I made some pants for me, this time!

Don't judge... I haven't taken a shower or finished my first cup of coffee yet today.  

I used the same idea as for Stig's pants, and super-sized it.  My mom had sent me a pair of flannel pajama pants she found at a thrift store (I'm pretty sure they've never been worn, even!  Good find, mom!) that will hopefully keep fitting me as I get bigger this fall.  They are green with pictures of Eeyore all over them.  Not exactly a fashion statement, but they are pajamas, after all, so who really cares.  The only things I wasn't completely thrilled with were the drawstring waist and the fact that they tapered at the ankle (and will probably shrink a bit and be too short for my gargantuanly long legs.

It also so happened that I had about 3 yards of flannel fabric that I've been meaning to make some pajama pants out of, so I decided no time like the present and pulled out the fabric yesterday.  I used the Eeyore pants as a general template, making the legs much wider at the bottom, just eyeballing it.  I really hate to measure, which probably negatively affects my sewing, but I don't really care.  A few LLLLOOOONNNGGG seams, some hems, and some elastic in the waist (yes, I have reams of elastic just laying around my house as well) and we're done!   

And for proof that I really am pregnant, and not just making up this tiny being that has taken over my body and life, a preggo picture:  

Stig's Flannel Pants

 So, I've seen tons of tutorials on making baby pants.  Turns out, since I've made several pairs of pants and understand the basic construction, it's super easy and I don't really need a tutorial!  So, I made some pants for Stiggy today out of an old flannel shirt of my grandma's.  I'm trying to amass flannel shirts to make a baby blanket, but the color on this one didn't really mesh with the other ones I have, thus, pants.  Here is a close up of the flannel pattern.

It's difficult to match that turquoise with other flannels and not have it look totally psychotic.  But it looks super cute at tiny pants!  

I'd like to point out that I almost matched up the lines of flannel perfectly without even trying to do so.  You know that if I had tried, it never would have worked.  Happy accidents lead to adorable pants.  

I was able to whip these out in about 10 minutes.  Because I used an old shirt, I just cut them out on the bottom hem of the shirt, so that I didn't have to hem them myself.  This also meant that I could have a side seam and still only use two pieces of cut fabric. I used a pair of baby pants I had bought on super sale for a quarter at Target as the pattern, so you can pretty much use any pair of pants that fit well to make your pattern.  Just fold in half, place on a fold, trace around leaving about 1/4 inch for the seam allowance and about an inch (or more if you're a messy cutter and ironer like me) for hem allowance at the top. 

Then, basically, place right sides together, sew the crotch pieces together and then sew around the legs.  Iron a top hem, sew it, leaving an opening, and insert elastic (which I happen to have just laying around, because I have problems.).  Sew up the elastic to the appropriate waist length so that it stretches to fit, but won't cut off circulation, and sew the hole closed.  

Easy Peasy, Lemon Squeezy!

Tom Waits for No Baby

I've been slowly... oh, so slowly... trying to clean out our office/craft room to make room for The Stig's new nursery.  So, today I tackled a pile of fabric in a basket that I probably haven't gotten to the bottom of in 2 years, and had no idea what was in it.  Well, apparently at some time, I hid a couple of Paul's grosser t-shirts from him so that they would exit his "wearable" rotation.  One of them, I had originally planned on stretching on canvas stretchers to make into an art piece.  It was an awesome Tom Waits shirt that he was really attached to.  But, I thought, with the babe on the way, maybe I could make it still wearable, just not so much for Paul anymore.  There was a tutorial on This Mama Makes Stuff (I'm obsessed with her blog... it's amazing) for making a baby gown out of an old t-shirt, so I pulled up the tutorial, printed out the pattern, and set to cutting, hemming, and sewing.  The finished result is AWESOME!  

Just so you can see that the image on the shirt was really that cool and totally worth saving:  

Don't get me wrong... I didn't just whip it out without any issues.  I had a mis-sewn piece that led to torn-beyond-use fabric and to cut new sleeves, so needed to find a different shirt to cut those from.  I ripped out and re-sewed multiple times.  My hems were terrible, so had to be fixed, but ultimately, it looks amazing and even has adorable little "pockets" for The Stig's little mitts to tuck away into.  

It's a great tutorial, and I'm extremely pleased with how my first jersey sewing project has turned out.  I have 4 more shirts waiting in the wings to become awesome new baby clothes.  I only regret that I didn't take a picture of the shirt's sorry state prior to hacking it to pieces so you can get a real sense of the amazing accomplishment this re-do was!  

Hydrate!

I finally got around to making something for myself yesterday!  I've been constantly thirsty with the crazy weather and the parasite both demanding all of my hydration.  So, I've been carrying my Klean Kanteen with me everywhere I go.  However, it leaks all over my purse, or it's hard to carry, and I have to put it down to do other things.  Annoying.  So, I made a little sling to carry it in!  Dorky, yes.  Do I care?  No.  

I loosely based the design off of a pattern I found on Ravelry, but I distorted it so much, I had to write down the pattern as I went in order to remember how I changed it.  I think I must have a very different water bottle... the initial one I made using the exact specs of the pattern was GIANT!

But, after some trial and error, I think it looks awesome, and it's super functional.  I used two strands held together of Lion Cotton yarn.  It used up almost all of the skeins.  The colors were Orchid and Espresso.  It also uses a size I crochet hook.  If the pattern is too big for your water bottle, as well, let me know, and I'm happy to type up my changes to the pattern.    

Bonus:  It doubles as a weapon in case of zombie attack!  That sucker is heavy and could definitely take off some zombie head if swung properly!