Sunday, October 30, 2016

Sweatpants for Tyler: Jalie 3355 size 8

Tyler is in desperate need for sweatpants. He has outgrown all of his sweats and the ones we have left all have holes in the knees, big surprise! I just can't bring myself to pay $30 for a pair of kid's sweatpants. Plus all the ones that are good for his length are too wide in the waist. So to my pattern stash to find a straight leg pattern for boys.

Jalie Sweatshirt, Hoodie and Sweat Pants 3355Now, if you sew for boys you will also know that there are not too many styles out there for boys. If you have 3 patterns you are good. You need sweats, pull on pants and a pants with a fly. You can add pockets, make a cargo style, etc. The availability of boy's styles is really lacking.

That is where Jalie 3355 comes into play. OK, so the picture shows a girl on the front. I think they really should show a boy and a girl as this pattern is unisex. I have made the sweaters for both Simon and Sam, now for the sweatpants.

Tyler is slender so I do not want a wide leg. And he LOVES pockets. What little boy doesn't? Plus adding topstitching adds details to make it look less homemade. This pattern is the perfect one for a straight leg sweatpants.

Simon decided to make this pattern. This is his first pair of pants. I am letting him fly on his own. I am sure they will turn out fabulous. There is one error in the pattern. On the pants assembly where is says fig. 21 they mean fig. 31 and the fig. 22 they mean fig. 32


I am familiar with how to assemble pants, so it did not throw me off. But someone was new they may be confused for a moment.

I had a nice thick charcoal grey stretch material. They are heavy and thick. Because I took the size 8 pattern and he wears a size 8, the fit is perfect in the stretch material. I will use a size 9 for real sweatpants material with no stretch in them.

Simon had no issues following the pattern. He was able to put them together without any issues. 













The pants fit very well. The fit is perfect, no modifications needed.  The topstitching details on the pockets add some nice details. Simon did an excellent job on the stitching.


He had to redo the waistband elastic. The first time he did not make the elastic tight enough. Easy fix, undo the stitches and re-stitch. He learned to pin together, try on, then sew. 

The hem is perfect. We now have sweatpants for gym class that fit, with no holes in them. Let's see how long the no holes lasts!

Monday, October 10, 2016

Scouts Campfire Blanket


I am a Scout Leader for Beavers. Now Beavers don't normally go camping, but I love camping, so the Beavers are going camping. This past mid-September I brought my group camping, outside, in tents! Now you may say, what's the big deal? You go camping all the time. Well, Beavers starts at the tender age of 5 to 7! Many of the Beavers never slept in a tent, let alone away from their parents, let alone SLEPT OUTSIDE!

Well, my Beavers were AMAZING! Not one was afraid, not one had an accident, and we were all snug as a bug in a rug. And it was COLD! Now I wanted to have my campfire blanket ready, to show off, but my timing was off. They are now ready for our winter camping trips.

Last year we bought some nice wool and fleece to sew our Scouts campfire blankets. I started the project, but like many other things in life, I ran out of time. So I started the project again before my Beaver camping weekend a few weeks ago. I was rushed and I did not like the results.We decided to scrap the idea of having fleece sewn on the wool. It will be too bulky with the fleece.

Now you just cut up the middle to form a poncho. We serge the edges, then we sew on the badges.

 The campfire blanket is a record of your adventures in Scouting. When you swim up from Beavers to Cubs you remove your badges and sew them on to your blanket. Any awards, Beaver tails, crest etc... you sew on.
It is also a means to keep you warm by the campfire and on those cold nights where you sleeping bag just isn't warm enough.
 I had to sew everything all at once, which I don't recommend! It took forever. I had to baste all the badges on as the blanket is heavy and cumbersome to manoeuvre. The badges kept falling off.
Plus you have to change your thread for each different colored badge.
But going forward it will be a quick process to sew them on. The only hard part is deciding where to put sew it on!
Now on to Tyler's blanket! He has a LOT of badges, Beaver tails, and activity crests. I may leave it to next weekend!