Alex Jogger Pants

Yep. More rust coloured clothing. Although I've rebranded these as 'orange' because, as Frankie reminds me daily, orange is one of his two favourite colours. The other is red, FYI. Anyways, although the colour of this new creation may not surprise you, what may come as a shock is that I shelled out actual money for a kid's sewing pattern!

Pattern:

It goes to show that offering up sewing patterns for free really is a good way to get potential customers to appreciate your products, and eventually part with money for something. Misusu Patterns have a generous array of free downloadable sewing patterns. You can read my reviews of the Rowan tee pattern here and Olli shorts/pants pattern here. 

I'd liked the look of the Alex jogger pants pattern for a while, and when the pattern recently got an update and re-release (plus a discounted early bird price), I bought it. I'm a fan of the unique design of the kangaroo pockets (there are two versions of the kangaroo pocket plus a more regular hip pockets style), and the gusset to provide ease of movement. 

(image source: Misusu Patterns)

For this, my first go with this pattern, I made the version with the kangaroo pocket that extends up into the waistband, and omitted the optional waist tie to make them quicker to get on and off. If memory serves, I made the size 98 which is a bit bigger than he currently wears to give them a long lifespan, which is why they are gathering around his ankles a bit. 

I've made many a pair of leggings and joggers in my six years of parenthood so far, and I think this is the first pair I've made with a gusset. I stuck closely to the instructions and used my regular machine to insert it accurately as the instructions had you do it. Next time, however, I think I'll fudge it a little and insert it with my overlocker so there's less switching back and forth between machines, although this strategy may be a little less accurate.  

The instructions for this pattern are fantastic. The step-by-step diagrams are incredibly clear and easy to follow. Plus there's all manner of additional info on blending sizes, sewing with knits and such. 

Fabric:

I've got a sizeable stack of knit fabric leftover from previous projects that I've earmarked for the kids when they could do with something new. This speckle sweatshirt fabric in rust was originally from Fabric Godmother (they still it have it in other colourways) and was leftover from Pat's much-used Apollon sweatshirt. The contrasting forest green pieces were cut from more leftovers, this time some Ponte Roma given to me by my lovely colleague Linda. The combo came from playing about with my stash, it's not a colour combo I would have come up with in my head, but I'm very much enjoying it.

Thoughts:

I'm very pleased to have this pattern in my arsenal, not least because it goes up to approx. age 14. It's ripe for all manner of scrap busting and colour blocking, and I'm excited to play around with further possibilities in the future. However, it is a bit more complicated, and therefore time consuming, than the jogger patterns I usually use. So truth be told, I'll probably use the Alex pattern for my kids only and turn to more simple styles when making gifts. I'm already hatching plans for Frankie's next version...