summer pants

Today while a couple of the kids napped and the other ones read, I found myself ignoring the pile of laundry and looking for something equally productive but a bit more enjoyable to work on during the quiet hours of the afternoon.

Fingering a few fabrics remnants from my stash, I decided to make Finn a pair of summer pants similar to his favorite babe-a-gogo pants, which you can see in yesterday's post. I was able to cut and assemble them, completing everything while he napped except sewing the elastic, since I always like to try that on little waists before sewing the last of the elastic casing.

Of course, when he woke up with his usual post-nap, crankypants attitude, he was not in the mood to model pants for me.

Miraculously, he had a change of heart when I brought out some mini-pops, Peach Party from Ice Pop Joy. (More on our love for that book to come soon!)

Originally, I intended to make the pants out of the black and white seersucker with the Rat Race fabric as the bottom trim and pockets on the front of the pants.

The Rat Race fabric was leftover from Finn's car quilt, and I quickly realized that I didn't have enough left to make pockets as well as a wide bottom trim.

I did have enough to make the elastic casing out of the Rat Race fabric though so I settled on using the last bits there. The overall effect has a bit of a "Hammertime" vibe, but they work pretty well on a 4 year old. He has plenty of leg movement room, and the seersucker is thin and cool for the summer heat.

I essentially traced a current pair of Finn's pants adding an extra 1/2 inch to each side for the seams but I did not add the extra 2 inches that I normally add to the top for the elastic casing, since I would be adding the elastic casing out of the contrasting fabric. I also cut the pants about 3 inches short to add the wide trim at the bottom.

The cuffs were originally a 7 inch band that I folded over, ironed, then I ironed a 3/8 inch turn-under on the pants and topstitched the band into place. I essentially did the elastic casing the same way. The casing was 4 inches wide which I folded and ironed then folded and ironed a 3/8 inch of the waist of the pants and attached the casing leaving the ends open so I could slide the elastic into the casing.

Voila! Summer pants to kick around in while he stays cool and enjoys eating mini ice pops.