Sewing

In some ways, I love the "title" feature, and in other ways, I just find it a burden. I feel obligated to come up with something catchy. And while I generally think of myself as a witty person, apparently when it comes to titles, I am not. Sigh.

Anyway, the subject of today's post is accurate, if boring. I finally got to sew, for the first time in ages. (And I mean, really sew, by the way. I've hemmed a few things in the last couple months, but that doesn't count as far as I'm concerned.) Ryan watched Darren this morning so I could get some things done at home. Of course, I left my camera in the diaper bag at Ryan's, so you'll have to take my word for it.

First, I blended up some baby food for Darren. Nothing fancy, just carrots, peas, green beans, oranges, and pears. Unfortunately, the oranges came out far soup-ier than I intended. Those will almost certainly be getting mixed with cereal!

Then, the fun started--I sewed a pair of pants for Darren. Actually, it was only mostly fun. The denim I used was SO stiff. I'm not exaggerating when I say the pants can stand alone. They will definately be getting washed before they are worn. I had one heck of a time cutting out the fabric (good thing I didn't try to cut out two pairs at once, as I had originally planned!), then, when I sewed the crotch seam, I really had to struggle to get the fabric arranged in a sewable way. That was nothing, though, compared to the time I had trying to thread the elastic thru the casing. The fabric did not want to gather. And after I did get the elastic in, I had a very difficult time spreading the gathers evenly.

Overall, I loved this pattern (if not the fabric). I haven't tied them on Darren, yet, but they look like they'll fit. Assuming they fit, I do still plan on doing a couple things differently:
1.) I'll add on to the top of the pattern and allow for a larger waistband casing. The pattern allows for a 5/8" casing, and 3/8" elastic, which, frankly, looks a bit silly. It also does not allow for the raw edge to be folded under in the casing; I just have to hope my zig-zagging is an effective fray deterent. I'd like to allow enough to roll under the raw edge and for 1" elastic.
2.) I don't think I'm going to have quite so much hem. I added on 4" to allow for growth. This made it problematic to get the hem to lay without puckers (this is hard to explain; I'll try to take a picture of it tomorrow). Since what was done was done (though why I didn't just cut off some of the hem is beyond me; clearly that didn't cross my mind), I just made sure the pucker on each leg was at the inside seam. It's barely noticeable, even to me, but it is there.

I also loved the immediate gratification of sewing baby clothes. From start to finish, even with the difficult fabric I was done in only little more than an hour.

Sorry for the lack of pictures (I hate blogs without pictures, so I really am a bit disappointed in myself!), but I'll attempt to make up for it tomorrow!