KCWC Day 7: Camo Skulls Cargo Pants

It rained all weekend, and yesterday I really just wanted to sit around and read or something equally lazy.  I might have if I'd been planning on making something for E.  Since all my sewing had been for her so far, it was time to make something for the boy.

We decided on some cargo pants from a print that's been in my stash for 5+ years.  I used the Hot Scott pattern again, even though I'm not that crazy about it.   I am, however, crazy about not having to trace another pattern when I have one that fits fairly well.  Lazy.   Now that I have the sizing figured out, my biggest complaint is the directions, but since this was my third time, that didn't matter so much.

I do like the details: topstitching, eyelets on the cargo pockets, etc. This was my first time setting eyelets in fabric.  I loved to use eyelets when I was in my card-making phase.  It was just as easy on fabric.

It is probably silly to put so much time into pants made from quilting cotton for a seven-year-old,  though. I imagine he'll rip through a knee in short order.  I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that it'll be below the cargo pockets, so I can cut them off into shorts.

This was the first time I did the faux fly correctly!  After the last pair, I realized I had done it completely wrong on both pairs of shorts.

Patch pockets on the back this time, instead of pockets with flaps.  I made them longer to compensate, but I think they may be up a little too high.  It doesn't look too bad when they're on, though.  Plus his shirts are always untucked.

I was going to say that's it for KCWC sewing, but I still have my Day 1 gift item to show you!

Faux Tie & Linen Shorts

When we started discussing wedding attire, O was adamant than he wanted to wear a long-sleeved button-down with a tie. Since it was going to be an outside wedding on a hot and humid day, I tried to persuade him to wear a polo or a short-sleeved shirt, but he apparently has strong opinions about appropriate clothing for nuptials. 

Initially he wanted a tie from the Star Wars fabric, but there wasn't enough left and he wasn't going for the bow tie idea. We then went fabric shopping together, but nothing caught his eye (there wasn't any more of that comic print at Joann's), so he decided on the scale-esque print he'd chosen for his teacher's gift. He ended up coordinating with the wedding party too! The boy has good taste.

I used this pattern, but changed it so that there was no hand sewing involved. Woo-hoo! (I did take pictures of the process, so if anyone would be interested in a tutorial, let me know.)

Next time I would also have a tube of fabric covering the elastic for a few inches on either side of the "knot." Once he had it on, the elastic showed. Not a huge deal for a seven-year-old, but I'd prefer it to look more like a real tie. He didn't have the top button done up, though, which may have affected the fit, or I may have cut the elastic a bit too long.

I had free reign over the pants decision and decided to make longer shorts out of some linen blend that I had in my stash from the Jedi costume.  Love stash-busting!

Since I already had the Hot Scott pattern traced, I used it again, but with the recommended 5/8" seam allowance.  That helped the fit of the 5T pattern for my 7X boy.  Much better, though still generous.  To make the shorts a bit dressier, I left off the cargo pockets and replaced the back pockets with the flaps from the Linus Shorts in Ottobre 3/08. Then I agonized over the buttons, which was pointless, since his shirt was untucked the whole time.

Post-wedding wrinkles! 

"What, this old thing?"

He received many, many compliments, which he seemed to enjoy immensely.  He did, however, turn down all dance requests from the ladies.  Except Mom.

Star Wars Cargo Shorts & Pool Noodle Lightsabers

In addition to his Captain Rex tee, O asked me to make him cargo shorts with crossed lightsabers on the pockets to wear to his birthday party.  So I did.

I used the Hot Scott Cargo Shorts pattern.  Honestly, I wasn't crazy about it.  She notes that the sizes run big, which I found unusual for an independent pattern company.  I measured O and found that he was just slightly bigger than the 5T (he wears a 7 or 7X in RTW), but there was a huge jump in sizing for the 6, so I made the 5T with a 3/8" seam allowance instead of 5/8".  This proved to be unnecessary.  The shorts are big.  Very, very big.  Hopefully he'll still be a fan of Star Wars for several more years.  I also thought the directions could have been more clearly written and that using plaid fabric for the black & white instructional photos was a poor choice.

That being said, O liked the shorts.  I used leftover fabric from his swim bag for the hip pockets.  It amuses me to have Vader peeking out of the one.

I intended to sew down the lightsabers on the cargo pockets, but when I realized how tiny I'd made them  and just how late at night it had gotten to be by that point, I decided to take my chances with Steam-A-Seam 2's claim of a permanent bond.

Back

In action

I also made some of the ubiquitous pool noodle lightsabers for the guests.  I was pleasantly surprised by how quick and easy it was to make them.  Usually the projects that I think will be fast take the longest!  A serrated knife cut the pool noodles in half easily, then I used shiny silver duct tape cut in half lengthwise to cover the bottoms (in Xs, kwim?) and clipped the ends of the tape so it'd curve nicely.  Then covered about 7" up the length with the silver for the handles, added two stripes with black electrical tape and drew on a power button with a red Sharpie.  While I was doing that, O was cutting out an assortment of masks from here and here that we'd printed onto cardstock.

The lightsabers were a huge hit, and most importantly, were painless when you got whacked with one!  They also made a cool -- loud! -- noise if two of them were banged together.