37. Geometric tracksuit pants

  And now for photos of Rohan in the tracksuit pants.  The waist is still quite high but should allow him to fit them for a while.

The legs bunch up a bit around the crotch which shortens the leg but thankfully the long cuffs mean his little shins aren't exposed.  I am hoping this isn't a problem as he grows. 

Overall I like them and they are very cosy.  Next pair I plan to coverup the back seam and to add knee patches just like the Oishi-m Juxtapose legging:

Image from Oishi-m

Image from Oishi-m

Absolutely LOVE these but they are already sold out :(

36. KCW - Day 7 and beyond

Finally photos of Rohan wearing the elephant pants:

They fit really well and even though they are a bit long in the leg, they are not unwearable now.

I did manage to get the top for Julian cut out of some nice thick green polar fleece from Spotlight.  This is the Ottobre 06/2012 Winter 14. Manni Zipper front top and I cut out size 116cm:

Ottobre 06/2012 Winter 14. Manni Zipper front top

Ottobre 06/2012 Winter 14. Manni Zipper front top.  Green polar fleece.

I also cut out the long sleeve T-shirt for Rohan using Ottobre 4/2013 Autumn 6.David.  Once again I cut out size 68cm:

Ottobre 4/2013 Autumn 6.David long sleeve T-shirt

I chose this pattern as I had the merino wool scraps from my SIL and the lovely Maze and Vale sample packs for the elbow patches.  The sample packs are great as the scraps are a usuable size - good for clothing embelishment or quilting. I see that the next lot is available on August 15 if you are interested:

After a bit of trial and error with the sleeve patches, I eventually chose the teal blue:

I have a little scrap of the print left over and I am thinking of adding a little pocket on the front for interest.

And that is it for Kids Clothes Week July 2014.  I wish I could have done more but there are limitations when there is a baby in the house. In all, I am happy with what I managed to get done.  The best part is that Julian loves his tracksuit pants and he was excited that I was going to make him another top.  Fingers crossed I can keep my sewing mojo :)

35. KCW Day 4, 5 & 6

Sometimes the best laid plans don't work out and unfortunately this was such a time :(  I was too tired to contemplate fixing the overlocker or risk making a mistake cutting out something new, so nothing happened.  Thankfully today was better and I managed to re-thread the overlocker and whip up a pair of tracksuit pants for Julian.

I used the basic sweatpant from the Autumn 04/2013 Ottobre (Love the hoodie too!):

Ottobre 04/2013 27. Ultimate Casual basic Sweatpant

I made the executive decision that a 4 year old does not need pockets, so I omitted them.  Might also have been due to laziness...I used some blue sweatshirt knit from Spotlight that I have also previously used for trackpants.  It wears well and best of all if/when it gets a hole in the knee, only a small ladder is created not a gaping hole.

Ottobre 04/2013 27. Ultimate Casual basic Sweatpant - Front

They are not very exciting but are perfect for childcare and mucking around home.  It is difficult to differentiate between the front and back, so I added a piece of ribbon to help when dressing.

Ottobre 04/2013 27. Ultimate Casual basic Sweatpant-Ribbon detail

As you can see this blue is closer to black, so I should have used black overlocking thread.  Might not have looked so messy if I had done.  Oh well, it is the inside of a pair of tracksuit pants so I am not too stressed about it and Julian wont care either!

Tonight I am going to cut out a polar fleece top for Julian.  This will be my second attempt at this pattern as on my first try I cut to line up the pattern and NOT the stretch on the polar fleece. 

Looks great doesn't it?  However I needed to dislocate Julian's shoulder to get him into it!  Lesson learnt.  I salvaged the zip and turned the jacket into legging for Rohan which he has already grown out of.

  My SIL gave me remnants from a woolen knit top she made herself and I am thinking of using it with a couple of Maze and Vale fabrics to make a top for Rohan.

34. KCW Day 2 & 3

Unfortunately Day 2 was a write off as I was a bit run down.  After the boys were in bed, all I wanted to do was lie on the couch.  So I did. Not the best start but lets not dwell on it...

So today I made up for it.  I made Rohan a pair of footed pants.  These are out of Ottobre Spring 01/2014:

Ottobre 01/2014 - 11. Little Feet footed pants

I made them up in an elephant microfleece that I picked up at spotlight when it was on sale for $6/m.

Baby footed pants - front (no idea why the waistband looks crooked as it isn't)

Baby footed pants - back

I cut a size 68cm and didn't alter a thing.  I have previously made him a 62cm pair which he is nearly out of, so I knew that the crotch depth was high but not silly-high so I left it as drafted. Everything except the feet and waistband were done on the overlocker, so they were super-speedy.  Ottobre instructions are scant at best but with something as simple as these you really don't need anything too detailed.  It is Burdastyle magazine for children :)

I tried them on Rohan and they were a tad too long and the crotch length was a little high on him.  Thankfully babies grow so quickly they will fit him perfectly in a couple of weeks!

As I was on a roll and had a sleeping baby, I also unpicked the waistband of the tracksuit pants that I made on Monday and reduced the crotch depth by 1".  They are now SO much better!

Baby tracksuit pants - front

Baby tracksuit pants - back

I am now happy with them.  My pattern matching is OK but I wish I had lined up the centre front.  I was lucky it turned out as good as this - pure chance!  The coral fleece is very warm which will be perfect for our up coming trip to New Zealand.

Hopefully I will get photos of Rohan wearing them tomorrow, weather permitting.

Frustratingly, Rohan had a really long midday sleep today and I spent over half of it threading and re-threading my overlocker and it still isn't working.  I decided to change threads to start on Julian's tracksuit pants and I pull through the threads as normal but one broke and that was it.  I am up to re-threading attempt number 5...grrr...

33. KCW - Day 1

I have got off to a good start with Kids Clothes Week.  I have cut out Julian's tracksuit pants, Rohan's footed pants and a pair of tracksuit pants.

As I had white thread in the overlocker, I decided to start sewing Rohan's tracksuit pants.  The fabric is a coral - fleece lined sweatshirting which was left over from a top I made for Julian in my second KCW.  There is a niffy crotch insert and the front/back are cut in one piece with a centre back seam.  The pattern is from Ottobre 04/2013: 

Ottobre 01/2013 6. Tiikeri Sweatpants

I cut out size 68cm as that is how long Rohan is.

 The fit was surprisingly good considering that Rohan is quite slim (for a baby).  My biggest problem is that they are VERY high waisted.  I am tempted to leave it as is, however I know that it will annoy me.

The above photo is after I rolled down the waistband and it looks much better.  So I will need to take off approx 1"/2.5cm to make it look OK.  With Ottobre I have found that the baby pants are too high waisted and yet the child pants always need extra depth to accommodate the nappy.

32. Kids Clothes Week - July 2014. I have signed up!

So I had a baby boy in January.  We named him Rohan and he is lovely :) By pure coincidence,  one of the people I was in the handmade fabric swap Craftykitty has a free hoodie pattern called Rohan, which I will obviously have to make:


ANYWAY,  as I now have 2 boys and a stack of Ottobre magazines with possible patterns marked,

I thought that I had better sign up for the Kids Clothes Week July 2014!

I have done this before and I found it quite motivating. This year it has a theme - Kid Art - which is a great idea but I don't think I am up for it.  I may change my mind...

I have a plan of sorts - Julian needs tracksuit pants and Rohan could do with a few more pairs of leggings.  I am also considering making jeans/cords for Julian.  He isn't 4 yet but he is in size 5 pants (he is 111cm tall).  I am now finding that he is too skinny for size 5 skinny jeans even with the button elastic waist. I would like to make Julian a polar fleece jumper as I have traced the pattern and I need to get it made better he is too big and I have to trace the next size up!

Hopefully you will see more of me around these parts from now on.  I have been sewing but mainly quilting and home dec projects.  See you tomorrow!