It may not be very noticeable in my blog content and IG feed most of the time, however, a lot of my brain space these days is occupied by the topics of waste reduction and the consumption of stuff. But the trouble is: when it comes to my sewing-related consumption, I really can't seem to stop myself from buying some lovely new fabric now and again. So I've set myself two rules by way of compromise, until I finally manage a bigger, better commitment. Firstly: I am only allowed to buy some new fabric if I know EXACTLY what I'm going to make from it, and that that item will definitely receive a decent amount of wear from whoever I'm making it for. And my second, more recent rule, is to alternate my sewing projects between those that use new fabric (either stuff I've bought recently, or that has been languishing in my stash for a while) and those that use fabric that's leftover from previous projects, or that use fabric that has been harvested from unwanted garments. In reality, that has actually manifested as a couple of projects in a row that use unused fabric (category A), followed by a run of items made from the reclaimed section (category B).
I don't always share the category B projects, because often they are repeats of basics for my kids (like yet more leggings), but I will make more of an effort to share them in the hope that it sparks some thought and/or discussion about fabric consumption, even though I'm not exactly a shining example of fabric consumption habits myself at the moment.
So on to these two new garments. Having wee people about the place is a freaking gift to a newly emboldened stash-and-scrap buster, such as myself. The pattern pieces are small, and the need for clothes in the next size and season seems insatiable. The summer is taking it's time to kick in, plus I've got laundry issues at the moment, so a couple of extra pairs of trousers for Frankie would come in VERY handy. I'm also vaguely aware that potty training is on the horizon, and lord knows we're going to get through a lot of bottoms as soon as that begins.
Pattern:
Most of the time, I prefer to put Frankie in knit garments so that he has complete freedom to move, hurl himself around and do funny little dances. So I turned to my trusty stash of increasingly dilapidated Ottobre magazines, and had a hunt for a joggers pattern that I hadn't tried before. The gem of an issue that is Spring 1/2014 (pictured above) threw up this sporty looking option called the 'Relaxed Fit Sweatpants' (pictured below) that included his current size, so out came the tracing wheel.
I really liked the overall shape, plus all the additional details that would make them both a more fun project to tackle, and hopefully a more 'elevated' garment when finished. The details include a faux-fly front, and front and back pockets with visible coverstitch (or in my case, faux-coverstitch) stitching. Frankie is mad into pockets at the moment, so I knew they would appeal to him. I found the waistband design interesting: it's pretty deep, but you only insert elastic in the top half, and topstitching around the centre to keep the elastic from roaming around in there. I decided to omit the waist tie, plus I chose not to include the coverstitch stitching along the waist and ankle cuff seams because I knew my machine would be unlikely to cooperate through those bulky layers. I also swapped the overly complicated front pocket mouth bias finishing for a self-band overlocked on. Oh, and I altered the order of construction by applying the ankle cuffs as a band to the bottom of the legs, rather than stitched on flat to the bottom of the legs after the side seams had been stitched but before stitching the inside leg seams. If that last sentence didn't make sense, then don't worry, you didn't miss anything interesting.
Fabric:
My first version were the lightning flash French terry pair (pictured above and below). There are no prizes for noticing that I used the leftovers from his dad's Apollon sweatshirt for this pair. I also used up the rest of the matching cotton ribbing so this double-scrap-bust was extra satisfying. This fabric is very soft with quite a loose knit (I really struggled not to type 'weave' then), so scored high for comfort and movability.
Fabric:
My first version were the lightning flash French terry pair (pictured above and below). There are no prizes for noticing that I used the leftovers from his dad's Apollon sweatshirt for this pair. I also used up the rest of the matching cotton ribbing so this double-scrap-bust was extra satisfying. This fabric is very soft with quite a loose knit (I really struggled not to type 'weave' then), so scored high for comfort and movability.
Once I knew that this pattern was a pretty good bet, I felt emboldened to use it as the basis for a refashion/upcycle project, and finally cut into Pat's unwanted hoodie that I'd been storing for a year or so. He's decided he no longer suits hoodies (something about turning 40 apparently), but this one's zip had broken so we couldn't send it to a charity shop in the hope that someone else could get some use from it. I'd always really liked the colour, plus the fabric was still in good nick, so I decided to hang on to it knowing that I could weave some magic with it somewhere down the line.
Harvesting its fabric wasn't too tricky, I just had to unpick the front pockets and cut along the seam lines. I lengthened the legs on the pattern because the cuffs from the original sweatshirt were narrower than the ankle cuff pattern piece required, and I didn't want to lose overall length. As you can see I managed to include the little metal Fenchurch logo on the front of the final trousers. The placement isn't ideal, but the hoodie was a small size so I didn't have much width to work with. I also included the little side seam tab from the original hoodie, positioning it at the side of one of the back pockets. Anyways, these joggers totally fooled my friend Joe who commented on Frankie's Fenchurch trousers when he saw him recently!
Thoughts:
Despite the issue of Ottobre being over five years old, I think the shape and proportions of these joggers look fresh and modern, and definitely a bit Scandie-cool. All the extra topstitching and details meant these took a lot longer to make than the very basic joggers I usually rustle up for Frankie, but I really think it was worth it and I'm happy he has some nice new bottoms. I am going to go back to my super-fast, down-and-dirty basic joggers pattern though to make more in preparation for potty-training, but I imagine I'll definitely trace out bigger sizes of this Relaxed Fit Sweatpants pattern to make more in the years to come.
