Sunday, January 26, 2014

Why You Need To Follow A Pattern

Ok, it should say Why I Need To Follow A Pattern.

Sometimes, I  make very pretty things.

This is not one of those times.  In fact, it gets wildly out of control  by the end.

K-ster's pajama pants have been through the mill and back and it's time for some new ones.  Nothing I have found is quite as stretchy or comfortable as this old pair he has.  Oh and did I mention the price?

These pants were like $15 back when Bradlees was still around.  Bradlees was a cheaper version of Target and was the epitome of "uncool" clothes when we were in school.  But, things like pajama pant were fine to buy there.  The price was good and they lasted well over a decade.

I really miss Bradlees, actually.  It was higher quality than Kmart and some of the t-shirts and basics like that still exist in my closet and I wear them today.  I think I've seen some Prides Landing (their brand) t-shirts in his drawer recently.

Let's pause while we remember Bradlees.

Anyway.

I've had it in my head that I need to learn how to sew stretch fabric, so I bought a multipack of sewing machine needles that included a stretch needle.

There was a great sale for teachers at Joann fabrics over the long weekend, so I got some material and saved crazy  money and thought this was the way to go.  The fabric was super stretchy.

I figured I could use the old pants as a rough guide and if I cut slightly larger, it would surely give me room to play. And when it was a major hit, I'd make a bunch and get rid of the tatter remnants of pajama pants he has now.

My first victory was that I sewed the pants correctly.  Pajama pants have very few seams, but when I made some for myself a long time ago, I did it wrong every single time.  I would sew the crotch wrong and have two long columns for legs instead of real pants, connected at the waist.

This time, I did it totally right on the first shot.

I didn't hem them or put in the elastic because I wanted k-ster to try them first.

I realized very quickly that I had the stretch going the wrong way.  Instead of the side to side stretch that would make sense for elastic waist pants, I had it going up and down.

I guess I envisioned him doing lots of high climbing or low squatting while wearing them.

And the leaves got me all confused.  If I had cut them the other way, the leaves and trees wouldn't have gone in the right direction.

This wrong way stretch might pose a problem at the waist, I realized.

So, k-ster gave them a try and just above his knees, they were no longer fun pajama pants.  They quickly became spandex.

I thought about it for a while.  I knew I didn't have enough material to start over with the stretch going the right way.

But I thought I could improvise.  I'd add a panel on each leg and that would give him plenty of room in the thighs and then the elastic at the waist would suck it all in.

But I might have gone a bit too far.  What do you think?  The elastic waist will take care of that, right?

I might have made my first big mistake when I added panels on each leg that were the width of the toaster.  I didn't use my toaster as the measuring device.  That would be silly.  It just happened that when I was taking pictures, I noticed that the width was the same.

Don't worry, I tapered them.


But, see, there was the problem that the panels weren't as long as the legs to begin with.  But I figured I could just take them in at the bottom.  I'd just have to taper them more.

They're pajama pants, never to be worn out of the house.  Who would care?

So, again without elastic or hems, k-ster tried them on.  He was very insulted that the waist was that big.
I put it in again so you would remember.

I explained that I was going to put in elastic at the waist and all that material would give him so much room and comfort.

And then I discovered my biggest mistake of all.  The crotch is too short.  Even if I didn't roll down the waist for a covered elastic, it would be too short.

It's a tragedy, really.

I hate the material so I can't even make them for myself.  It acts like microfiber and just catches on my skin.  Plus, I don't like camo.

If I had bought a pattern, this never would have happened, right?

Linking here:
http://threemangoseeds.blogspot.com/
http://www.gingersnapcrafts.com/2014/01/wow-me-wednesday-139.html
http://www.flamingotoes.com/
http://www.adornedfromabove.com/2014/01/wednesdays-adorned-from-above-link_28.htm
http://sewmanyways.blogspot.com/2014/01/sew-darn-crafty-linky-party_26.html
http://icetrail.blogspot.com/2013/08/blog-linky-party-list-hop-tools.html
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2014/01/clever-chicks-blog-hop-71-with.html
http://www.cherishedhandmadetreasures.com/2014/01/creative-corner-blog-hop-98.html
http://www.skiptomylou.org
http://www.sewcando.com
http://www.thesitsgirls.com/diy/valentine-crafts-to-love/
http://www.myturnforus.com/2014/01/freedom-fridays-with-all-my-bloggy_30.html
http://www.glitterglueandpaint.com/throwback-thursday-22/

6 comments:

  1. OMG, My mother always used to drag us to Bradlees and I remember once I ran into a girl from school in there and I couldn't look her in the eye for like a year. We were both beyond mortified.

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  2. Oh I miss Bradlee's too. And those pants are hysterical. I knew that in the end you'd say the crotch was too short. Just add the inches you had to take off of the ones I made you haha.

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    Replies
    1. I think that's a sign we should not make pants for a living.

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  3. This post almost had my spitting my hot chocolate! This was great!

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  4. well now some of the first things come from that not planned in your case the old saying try and try again would better fit
    come see us at http://shopannies.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. I thought I stumbled on an infomercial for weight loss. Those do look comfy!

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