Skinny pants

I’ve had pants on the brain lately.  I know pants are not as interesting as cute little dresses with ruffles.  Maybe I’ll eventually get around to that.  Right now, though, I’ve been really into pants.  I used to think pants would be hard to make, but you know, they’re pretty easy.  You just cut out two pattern pieces and sew it up in a few lines.  I’ve been experimenting with some leggings for the baby girl.  And I made these skinny pants from this pattern by Leila and Ben.

The best part was I made them from a pair of my Bermuda shorts that my mom had given me.  A friend hers had given them to her.  Anyway, they never really fit me right, so I’d only worn them a couple times.  But they were so nice, I kept them around.  Making them into pants for the baby girl just seemed better than getting rid of them altogether.  Putting a new use to something old.  Upcycling can be very fulfilling.

 
I like the fit of these pants.  They have that skinny pants silhouette but they’re not so tight, baby girl can still crawl around in them.

 

Skinny pants on babies kind of crack me up.

Cutting up towels on a Saturday night

It’s seriously la vida loca over here.

Until recently, our bedtime routine was brush teeth, bath, pjs, story books and bed.  About six months ago, my son decided it was “backwards day” and he wanted to take a bath first.  Now everyday is "backwards day."  Which means we’d wrap him up in his towel to brush his teeth after his bath, but the towel was always falling off.  So, I wanted to get him a bathrobe.  I looked around for a plain, white bathrobe.  I have a big, plush white bathrobe that I love putting on after a shower, and I wanted the exact thing in miniature for him.  But kids’ bathrobes always seem to be embellished with something kid-ish, like a duck, a frog or a bear.  And they are either pink, blue or yellow.  Am I totally boring that I just want a plain, white bathrobe?

So, I never did get him a bathrobe.  But when I started sewing, I saw this pattern for toddler bathrobes.

Apparently, they make patterns for everything!  So, I thought I'd give it a try.  I got one of those big, plush towels from Ikea and went to work, cutting it up, on a Saturday night.  A hot date with my Brother.  haha.  (Apologies to my real brother, with a small b.) 

The pattern was really easy to follow.  I liked that it was easy to put together but also had these details that made it look like a real bathrobe, like the pockets and the belt loop.  The first part of the bathrobe I sewed up was the pocket.  And, yes, I did get excited when I saw how cute the pocket turned out.  I mean, who wouldn’t?!  I made a pocket!

 
Problems:  I chose a towel instead of the terry cloth fabric you can buy in the fabric store, because I liked how plush the towel was, and I really wanted a plush bathrobe.  Well, that might not have been the best idea, because I think plush means that the towel has larger loops, so when I started to cut it up, all the loops started falling out and started shedding everywhere.  I sew in the kitchen, so the kitchen floor was COVERED with “towel droppings.”  I also got towel droppings on the bottom of my socks, so I carried towel droppings all over the house.  It took a while to get the house completely towel dropping free.

 
I’m pretty happy with how it turned out, though.  I was afraid it might fall apart after one washing, but it’s been through a few washings, and it still looks like a bathrobe.  I did the unlined version, and the edges look ok, but I think the lined version would look more finished.  Next time, I’d probably do the lined version, with terry cloth and maybe white flannel as the outside fabric.  Or maybe two layers of terry cloth?

 
My little guy loves his new bathrobe.  He insists on wearing it everyday when he comes out of the bath.  Once when I had put it in the wash, he got upset that he couldn’t wear it after his bath.  Ah, it totally warms a mommy’s heart.