I'm Trendy!

Fabricland finally re-opened, but I wasn't eager to go. Eventually I had to, to get my membership renewed. I also wanted to get some twill to make Rob shorts.

A few steps inside the door and there was a display with striped linen-cotton fabrics. They were lovely! Greys, pinks, blues. I knew I needed to make pants. I finally picked out a blue stripe. I wish there was a matching solid fabric though!

I got going on these pants right away. I was going to do another pair of Sequoia. I laid it out and quickly panicked. Do you reverse the stripes for the other side? Or keep the pattern going across the center seam? OMG. I questioned everyone, no real answer. I finally opted to keep the pattern going across the center seam.

The next thing was the side pockets. I didn't want to get fussy, I was just going to do the pocket but not the flap. Then I just decided to forget the pocket. I didn't want to fuss with matching the stripes. I did do the straps to roll up the pant legs.

For the waistband, I just did a contoured knit band. Simple. 

Yes, they do kind of have a pajama-ish look in the pictures. In real life though, you can tell they're linen. As I was preparing to make them (or had just finished?), I was at the Great Canadian SuperStore with the girls, and we walked past the Joe Fresh clothes. Wouldn't ya know? They had striped lined wide leg pants!! The girls groaned; they knew they had no opportunity to use the "you're not stylish" card now!!

Rob's Turn

After I had sewn a few things for myself, I decided it was Rob's turn. I had picked up this sprocket pattern cotton lycra from a de-stash (I think). It wasn't quite enough for a full shirt though, darn tall guy. With help from one of the teens, I chose a dark brown for the sleeves. This is the Zesty Tee, from the old Pickle Toes Patterns (now with a new name).

The cotton-lycra was fairly stiff at first, but after a few washings, it's quite soft now. Wish I knew where it was from originally

Looks pretty good. He's not sure of the dark sleeves, but whatever. 

Nice to see him in shirts without big holes and stains!

Then, one night, he says "Can you make me a tank top?". I had been thinking about that! I found that Thread Theory has a free one, the Arrowhead.  I picked out some bright yellow, and the periodic table fabric for the trims.

He was trying to do a muscle man  pose

Yes, it's bright!

Pretty good coverage in the back. Then he says, "I wasn't sucking in. Take it again". So I did LOL

The teens don't want to be seen with him in this. LOL. We do make him untuck it. 

I also made him a mossy green one. The problem is, it's too cold in the house to wear them LOL. Now I'll have to make him a cardigan!!

More Sequoias

Yup, another pair of Sequoia pantss, by Itch to Stitch! And another pair awaiting photos!

The pictures suck. These are black cotton pants that pick up hair like crazy. It's a black cotton from my stash. It's stamped at one end, in gold, 100% Cotton, made in China. I also have it in blue and made some pants from that version. It's light and has decent drape for cotton. 

I do a mock fly and a stretch knit band. The waistband in the pattern is lovely but I just don't need that about of fussiness. 

The snaps for adjusting the strap to roll up the pants

The inside of the pocket flap got some contrasting fabric.

I believe those are Transformer snaps on the pockets. Hard to see in the photo.

Not the greatest picture, LOL. I was wearing them the other day and hubby says "Where'd you get those pants?" (back when not much was open yet and I wasn't going out much). Dude, they took me over a week to make, using the dining table and the sewing machine located near your "office". I guess, to be fair, I did just order some clothes on line with gift cards I got at Christmas. Pretty cool though that even though he knows I sew most of my clothes, he thought these were purchased! 

More Tiny Hats

I wasn't extremely thrilled with the other tiny hats I made on the bulky machine. They're okay, but DK on that machine is not a great fit. So, we pulled out my knitting machine table so I could access the standard gauge. I do have a lot of cone yarn, though I am seriously just about out of suitable DK yarn! A lot of the cone yarn I have though, is not baby colours. Not even in a non-traditional way. Like, grey, dark burgundy, tan...

But I had this pretty teal, and purple. One of these tiny hats takes about 12gr. The teal ones are single strand, one or two of the purple ones are single strands, but then I decided to double strand it. For the single strand ones, I believe I did 60-60 in K1 P1 rib, 75 rows, T1, then bring the RB stitches up to the MB, doubling with the stitches there. Knit two rows, double up again, do that again.  

The cream one was from my box of finished items that never sold. The bottom purpley one was actually from the last batch, but when I washed them, it got hidden in a sheet and I missed it. 

For the double strand, I cast on 50-50 in K1 P1 rib. I started at T0 then moved up every row one notch on the tension till I got to T5 (the first one was T3, the second was T4, then I decided to try T5 on the 3rd hat and I liked it the best). Did 75 rows, moved the RB stitches up and place them on the needles with stitches already. Knit a row, moved over as many stitches as I could before I got bored, knit another row. Doubled up again, knit 2 rows, doubled up again, knit a row and take off. 

Even though they were all done differently, they stretch so much so they will all fit. However, I will do the 75 rows, move the stitches up and doubled, knit a row, and then take off on a knitting needle. I will finish the last couple rows by hand knitting. I need more hand knititng projects and I just wasn't thrilled with finishing on the  machine. We'll see how many hats I end up making!

Yarn In:  3344gr
Yarn Out:  6453gr + 178gr = 6631gr
Balance: 3287 gr more OUT than in!
Costs: $42.35/191 days = $0.22 per day

More Sunset Loungers

I've had this cotton lycra fabric for a while. It was rather "stiff", the print seemed too thick. I had washed it initially, but it was still thick feeling. It sat around for awhile. I knew I wouldn't like it as a shirt, but what else could it be? I decided to wash it again, just to see what might happen. It was definitely softer and less stiff, but still not shirt material. On the spur of the moment, I thought "Sunset Loungers"! There are times that being short is awesome!

One yard of fabric is enough, when I'm doing a different waist band! Which I did. I just did it in black cotton-lycra, using the curved waistband add-on for the Patterns for Pirates "Peg Legs" leggings.

It's such a nice pattern, and I even managed to make sure both legs had the pattern going the right way!

 Not too bad for the rear view!!

 So comfy. Great to through on to run Lucy to work, and for lounging around the house. I can't have enough of these pants. Do you think these ones are work friendly? I work as a substitute teacher. I see a lot of teachers in yoga pants! Maybe with something nicer than a plain t-shirt?