kcwc day 4: upcycled mom to kid pants

these two pairs of pants have been lingering in my wardrobe for six years or so, at least two thirds of which in their current condition--wrinkled on the closet floor.  i wouldn't call either impulse buys.  the yellow linen enjoyed heavy summer rotations in fact for a few years before downsizing our closet space in chicago and transferring many clothes to our storage unit.  the green pants were well intentioned but never really took off.  the fit was unflattering and they are hopelessly wrinkled whenever they get cleaned.


when we moved, i rediscovered both pairs, and thought i might revive them after all this time (while everything else we unearthed down there easily went to goodwill since i could clearly live without it).  then i made a few visits to the gap outlet (i never buy any clothing for myself, including these pants, at full price) and the pants again became obsolete.  so they've been resigned again to the closet floor for me to give away when i get around to it.

and then i started sewing.  and i realized my goodwill pile is actually an AWESOME FABRIC STASH.  i did love something about all of these things at one time, and i'm excited to modify them again into something wearable by somebody else.  and so, i present to you, mom to kid pants!


reese gets the awesome green color, since the wrinkled look is more appropriate on little boys than grown women.  i made my own patterns for these pants off of their shorts (again, no pants yet this season), and i wanted to use as many already existing hems and seams as possible.  this created some problems in diaper-butt sizing since i have to sew when the kids are sleeping and can't check fit.  so, these pants are of the low rise variety.

















check out this stud.


















































for bean, the light yellow.  somehow, these fit perfectly today.  not sure about next week.  i added a few simple embellishments and am really happy with how they turned out.

                                              
simple topstiching in different colors on the hem.  truly, sewing in a straight line is the hardest part of sewing, in my opinion.






























buttons and a cute little twill tape tag.  i have been trying to figure out what kind of tags to make to put on some of my items, and i really like making each of them individually with the twill tape.  time consuming, but super personalized.  otherwise how do you get them to match?


































and, today's toddler photo shoot...outfit by mom, props by bean.  "mom, i'm taking the plane in the photo shoot!"































































































action shot!  they move!

i, like many others, have trouble making cool stuff for little boys :(  i just totally lack any vision.  but i had to buy a notebook to jot down all my ideas for little girl clothes because they crowd my brain.  they the rest of this challenge might be devoted to bean simply out of abundance of [fast] ideas.  sorry little guy--i promise i will knit you something handsome when this madness is over!

but for today, a new technique on a blouse for bean.  now stop reading and go make something!