Art Museum Trousers twice straight up

Almost two years ago I made the kid two pairs of Oliver + S Art Museum trousers and they have been in constant rotation ever since. Yes, he LOVED those cheetah pants and wore them all the time. They have held up really well to wear, somewhat surprisingly given the fabric is just a cotton sateen, but they are definitely too short now. The denim pair have worn through at the knees as well as being outgrown. Time to double up on Art Museum pants again.

 

First up is the plain black denim pair. This is a small part of a great denim that I scored from Rathdowne Fabrics for only $5/metre due to flood damage. I think the bottom of the fabric roll may have been wet but it's washed up perfectly and even on the wrong side there's no stains or marks.

I love the welt pockets on these pants. They're largely decorative as I don't think I've ever seen him use them for holding anything. For practical sewing purposes they could be left off or switched for patch pockets, but they just look so cool and I always find myself sewing them anyway.

I got a bit scissor happy and snipped too close to one corner. On any other fabric it would have been barely noticeable, but of course denim has those really obvious white warp threads that will pop out and scream "hole pending here!". So I added some decorative and very functional topstitching!

The 2015 pants were straight size 7, this year they're straight size 8. How's that for easy fitting. His body measurements fit the size 8 perfectly but height is closer to size 9 or even 10. However this is one pants pattern with plenty of leg length. I stuck to the straight size 8.

To lighten things up a bit, the waistband facing and the pocket bags were sewn in a quilting cotton.

I'll take whatever modelling I can get these days. Sigh.

Back when I was first searching for fabric to make the Cheetah outfit, I came across some grey on grey big cat print denim. I happily snapped it up only to be told by the kid that it was Jaguar not Cheetah and therefore would. not. do.

A year and a half later I figured the jaguar jeans could be made to replace the cheetah trousers.

These are a fair bit easier on the eye than those cheetah pants - which curiously no one seems to want as hand me downs. ;)

They've already become the favourite pants and are first ones out of the drawer whenever they're clean. That's driving me nuts as there are two perfectly good pair of jeans (these and these) that are in that same drawer and never get an outing.

He was momentarily disappointed to discover the Jaguar jeans weren't lined like the cheetah pants had been. It appears the boy has developed a fondness for fully lined trousers. I've created two fashion monsters it would seem!

And another dab pose, of course.

Details:
Pattern: Oliver + S Art Museum Trousers
Size: 8 (no modifications)
Fabric: Black denim from Rathdowne Fabrics. Jaguar grey denim for The Fabric Store. Various quilting cottons for facings/pocket bags from the stash

Carnival of the Animals: Part II - The Cheetah

Mean mum that I am, I vetoed my son's suggestion of a fake fur animal onesie to wear to the theatre tonight. But, for opening night of the Carnival of the Animals he was allowed to choose any animal for his clothes. He chose the cheetah.

 The original plan was for a pair of cheetah jeans. I'd hoped they'd be subtle enough to double for everyday wear. Scouring the interwebs I found endless cheetah print fabrics that were silks or chiffons but nothing that would be hard wearing enough for boys pants.

At The Fabric Store I found a great light grey / dark grey denim and bought some, but he declared it was very obviously jaguar, not cheetah - and then gave me a lecture on the difference. OK, stash the jaguar print and get back to searching for proper cheetah fabric.

I found this cotton sateen at Spotlight and thought if he could wear bold cheetah print then why not cheetah print with a slight sheen!

The pants are the Art Museum Trousers by Oliver + S. I threw in black topstitching everywhere I could to try and make them look more like jeans and less like Hugh Hefner's pyjama pants.

I didn't think to focus on them for a photo, but you can just see on the edge of the picture above that I put little pyramid rivets at the base of the slant pockets.

The welt pockets were initially almost invisible and so I stitched around them to give them some definition. This takes a little bit of thought to prevent yourself accidentally stitching the pocket closed. The stitching needs to be done in two sections: the top horizontal line first with maybe one stitch taken into the vertical line. Tie those threads off, then start again with the pocket lifted upwards and out of the way. Now you can topstitch the sides and the bottom of the welt.

The pattern suggests just one belt loop at the back slightly offset from the centre. There is enough of the belt loop tube to create two, so I always do.

The only other modification was to line the trousers:

It would be possible to sew the lining to the waistband facing, but I didn't think of that. I basted the lining to the trousers before attaching the waistband, then finished the waistband facing with some left over bias binding that was just the right rust colour.

On a city street the pants look pretty loud and out there, but up a tree they almost do look camouflaged!

They're a straight size 7 and this is one pants pattern that definitely does not need length added, they are very generous in the leg length.

Don't ask me about the modelling. He was working it! :)

The top is the Parachute Polo again which I'd made here as part of my practice run for this outfit. Same size, same extra sleeve length.

I thought I'd done a great job turning the collar and rolling it so that the upper collar was slightly over the under collar, but then when I topstitched it it all seemed to want to curl back up. The perfect collar really does need two separate pattern pieces for the under and upper collars but I would hardly be bothered with that for a kid's polo.

Like I said, don't ask, I just don't know! :)

I really like this polo as the placket can be mostly hidden which is a nice point of difference to my own polo experiment. I'm happy to say that both the trousers and the shirt have been worn on their own and are really not that hard to bear when mixed with other everyday clothes.

His mask was from the local party shop and I used fabric glue to cover it. Nice and easy!

Ready for some cheetah action?

I'm a bit of a culture snob when it comes to attending the theatre. It's definitely a nice dress or shirt with a collar type of place. I think my little cheetah is sufficiently well dressed and plenty animal enough!

Of course the cheetah had to chase the zebra a bit, but luckily just for hugs, not to eat her...

And then it all got a bit confusing as the cheetah was still giving the camera Blue Steel while the zebra started roaring too

We're off to the theatre in a few hours and tomorrow I'll share what I wore.... See you then

Parachuting into the Art Museum

Some time ago, Sarvi (who's dress I just made) made the suggestion that those of us who sew Oliver + S patterns should endeavour to photograph our kids wearing the garment and doing the activity that the pattern is named for.

And then Liesl, with delicious humour, went and released a pattern called the Parachute Polo and Sweatpants. I've already made the pants here, but today I'm teeming the Parachute Polo shirt with the Art Museum Trousers. That would make for a hilarious Mission Impossible style photoshoot at the gallery. Or we could just ham it up at home instead...

Let's talk trousers first.

I've made the trousers only once before and they're still in rotation as school pants. The old ones were a lengthened size 4 and are getting pretty slim fitting. These are a straight size 7. No, there's no sound reasoning behind my jumping 3 sizes. I almost never get around to measuring the kids and apart from sleeve length I know they're pretty much smack on the age sizing in Oliver + S patterns.

The trousers are generously long and kind of an old fashioned trouser fit. By that I mean there's room in the crotch and hips but they're relatively narrow in the upper thigh. Exactly the kind of pants that I can't wear but that small boys wear very well!

I used some of my little iron on faux rivets and a single line of edgestitching on the pockets and seams. Sewn in a stretch denim they've come out as a halfway between casual jeans and more dressy trousers.

The great part of this pattern is the instructions for sewing welt pockets. I didn't sew the world's neatest welts here but they're not too bad and they really aren't half as hard as they seem.

Barely visible in the photo above are the belt loops which P loves. Completely unseen are the pocket bags and waistband facing which I cut from a light tan coloured cotton that formerly was a pudding cloth. Even though it had been washed, as I was ironing the seams the pants began to smell slightly Christmassy and very delicious!

 The Parachute Polo shirt is designed to be made in knit with a woven collar and placket, but it works perfectly well if use the knit all round!

This is a pretty stable knit and behaved quite well, although trying to neatly edgestitch a knit collar is not quite as easy as woven collar. I failed for the record. But couldn't be bothered making it any neater.

If your sewing machine doesn't like knit buttonholes then you'd certainly want to leave off the one that's right near the edge of the band portion of the collar. Otherwise you can do it exactly as per the pattern. Or can you?...

It was only as I was finishing the placket and was unsure about the length of my placket (the very next step said to trim any overhanging length) that I checked the forum and pattern for errata. There was quite a bit of discussion about how the collar fitted and an errata was issued to help with any trouble.  Too late for me as I'd already cut everything, but the errata finished by saying that if you follow the pattern it still works anyway.

I couldn't really understand what the problem had been and so the remedy didn't make a lot of sense and it worked perfectly when I did it as per the instructions. I'm still none the wiser. I've already cut another one and it will also be done as per the original pattern.

Nailed that sleeve length! The shirt is size 7 with 2&3/4" added to the sleeves. They probably don't run short but this kid has ultra long arms.

The only thing I do want to change for the next one I've cut out is where the interfacing on the back of the placket is positioned. It was very visible on the inside of the underneath placket. I've peeled it back and trimmed it right close to the edge of the placket, but if he was to wear it completely unbuttoned there'd be an ugly, visible strip of white interfacing on show. Is that what the errata was about?

I hadn't intended for these to be worn together, but he's chosen to do it that way each time they've been worn, and I'm kind of digging the autumnal colours. Honestly, it's almost springtime here and I should probably be getting excited about other colours but I just love these earthy tones all year round!

Both of these garments were needed, but were also test runs before making some others. That will be a more mad fabric that could prove to be quite an eyeful.

A fairy attempted to photobomb the shoot and was mostly smothered. Another will visit tonight to pay out on the first ever lost tooth! Last ever photo with a full complement of baby teeth:

School sewing

I was never going to sew school uniforms but when I took P to buy his uniform and he tried on the pants I did my best to stifle my giggles. He wasn't meant to be going to clown school! We bought some polo shirts, the bag, school hat and then left and went straight to Spotlight.

For about the same price as two of their baggy track pants I bought some fleece for winter tracksuit pants, some navy drill for shorts and trousers and some athletic knit for sports shorts.

Then I went on a navy sewing bender in January.

You've already seen the Art Museum pants I made as part of his "good" outfit.

For another pair of long trousers I revived my pattern mash pants and made another pair with a bit extra length. Those Kenzo jeans are already looking a bit short. He's a weed I tell you!

I threw on some topstitching and so these pants have a bit more of a casual feel than the Art Museum trousers.

 

For hotter weather, and gee have we had some, there are two pairs of Sketchbook shorts.

Finally , the sporty shorts were made using the Nature Walk pattern (did you guess it would be another Oliver + S?)

If I'm ever asked to pick a favourite from the Oliver + S patterns (hint hint) this could be it. The pants are such a quick sew and have the cutest backside fit of any kids trackpants I've ever seen, while the top is much more involved and gives you that "gee I'm clever" feeling that Oliver + S is famous for. Mostly though I love this pattern for all the costumes and variations it's spawned. Seriously, from Michael Jackson, Octonauts, Pirates, Evel Knievel, Robots and Mermaids the Nature Walk has been the basis of them all. Best pattern to play with ever (Flickr search for you)

Today was his first day of Prep and he woke up super early, super excited, dressed himself and then couldn't wait to get going! He literally sang the whole bike ride to school (and back again!)

I added some cotton twill tape labels to make his pants identifiable (should any school activities involve removing, then losing them)

I thought I was superbly prepared; 4 pairs shorts, 2 pairs long pants, all sewn up and labelled. School hat and bag labelled. Lunch made. At least until I got to school and realised I forgot about his teacher interview last week. Ah well, at least I've started the school year as I shall probably continue (bad mummy)

What he (mostly) did not wear.

With her pink wallpaper-esque dress A was all set for the theatre, but what would P wear to see Angelina Ballerina?....

Not this outfit is the answer. We've had a pretty cool start to summer so I was happily imagining making the Art Museum trousers and vest and a new long sleeved Sketchbook shirt so that P would have some formal duds that didn't show too much wrist or ankle. He is growing like a weed!

I'd made the vest and was almost finished on the shirt when the heatwave hit. I finished making the trousers knowing that it would be cruelty to force this outfit on a child in this weather. To be honest we've mostly been in the nuddy when we've been indoors at home lately so I don't even have any modelled photos.

But for cute-ness' sake, here's a photo of P from two years ago when he went to see Angelina Ballerina:

He wore those mouse ears all the way into the city on the train with his dad.

That shirt was a Burda pattern which I'm about to revisit but I far prefer the Oliver + S Sketchbook shirt.

The fabric is a quilting cotton which I found in the country town quilting shop near my folk's place. When you're in a country town and it's hot and the quilting shop has air conditioning and a toy bucket why wouldn't you hang out there?

My one stuff-up (there always has to be one, right?) was to put the buttonhole placement template on upside down and mark the buttonholes wrongly. The bottom-most button definitely looks too low, but since I'd never button higher than the one that's done up in the picture above it doesn't really seem to matter.

I stole (from someone, I forget who) the idea of cutting the back yoke crossways so that the stripes didn't have to match.

 

Obviously I idolise the Oliver + S patterns but here's why. The instructions for bits like these sleeve plackets are awesome. Liesl includes tips that are missing from other patterns (hello Burda shirt) that makes it so much easier to get a great finish.

 

And that's why, once I'd worked out what a welt pocket was (which I learned from this discussion thread on the Oliver + S forum), I knew there could only be one pattern designer to teach me how to sew them. Enter the Art Museum pattern.

 

 

I had a sneaking suspicion this vest could end up as an exercise-in-sewing-for-me kind of thing. That is, it might get flatly rejected. So I used a very cheap linen and some left over shirting for the lining. I was amazed to find linen on sale at $3/metre, but the more I look at it I'm not surprised. It has a slightly knobbly curtain like texture up close and turns vaguely purple when ironed with heat. I'm doubting the veracity of it's linen-ness.

 

However it behaved well and my first ever welt pockets were sewn.

 

 

It's incredibly cute on, and when P tried it on over a T-shirt I told Flipper that I might start a new trend with kid's waistcoats. He shot me down by saying that the hipsters who dress their kids in straw Panama hats were already onto the waistcoat trend. Damn those hipsters, first they stole our single speed bikes and made them ridiculous and now our kiddy couture...

 

Anyway, on to the trousers. Yep these are not pants, these are trousers. To the British that might seem obvious and I apologise to them for having said a rude word (ooh-er) but to me it's a line between casual and a bit more dressy.

 

 

Hanging them up like that I can't believe how long they look! I cut a size 5 in width lengthened to size 6 at the hem and they're perfect. They are quite a slim fitting trouser so I imagine a straight size 6 would have looked OK as well, but I'd measured my kid so thought I'd do it right for once.

 

And, again, you can add welt pockets to the rear

 

 

We're up to our fourth consecutive day of temperatures over 42degC (105degF) so all these garments are in the wardrobe. But I quickly made a pair of navy Sketchbook shorts and here's what the kids wore to see Angelina Ballerina after all. (apologies for crappy phone photo)

 

thats' some serious sunshine coming in left of picture!

In weather like this there's nothing nicer than surfing the net and looking at northern hemisphere blogs and all that lovely snow! Stay cool everyone.