Parsley Pants Take 3: The Tuxedo Stripe

Posted on April 22, 2013 by oliver's fancy

To kick off Kid’s Clothes Week, I am presenting the third (and my personal favorite) version I made of the parsley pants (Update: Pattern is now available!). This pair was made with some red bottomweight fabric (I think it’s denim) that I picked up a while back in mind for pants for Oliver. The third pair of parsley pants has one main modification from the other two- I took them in an inch on the tuxedo stripe line to make them more slim cut. I believe the final pattern version of this pant will be taken in 3/4 of an inch over the tester version- making them a little less straight cut than this version but not quite as baggy as the pj or linen pinstripe pants.

I also added a chevron tuxedo stripe down the side and some patch pockets on the back. This look was inspired by Rae’s version here. The tuxedo stripe is an option given in the pattern itself, but I improvised the patch pockets. I just think these are the cutest things ever! And the fit is superb!! I have to tell you how excited I am that this pattern has a snug enough waist to stay up, but enough room in the seat to make it fit well with both cloth and disposable diapers! I did the flat front finish with elastic backing again, and I have decided that this is my favorite finish for a more professional-looking pair of pants. The full elastic waist is great for pajamas, but the flat front looks a bit more polished for everyday wear.

um, seriously, what is this model pose, here?

Our photoshoot got rained out so I don’t have a ton of good pictures to share with you, but I did manage to get a few. However I have to pull up a phone picture to really show off the back of these pants…

FYI, we took these pics at the same time we took pics of my maternity shirt and Oliver was copying my pose in this picture…too funny how much they notice at this age!

Now to get started on my KCW list! I bought the flashback skinny tee pattern this weekend and have a bunch of Ian’s old shirts set aside to make some tees for Oliver- hopefully some of them coordinate with his new pants! Here’s a somewhat loosely organized list of what I hope to accomplish this week… aiming high like always:)

Flashback Skinny Tees- going to make regular tees and also attempt some dressier shirts using this pattern as a base
Quick Change Trousers for baby from Handmade Beginnings
Shoes for baby from Handmade Beginnings
Oliver + S Sailboat shirt and pants (if time)

Parsley Pants Take 2: The Summer Church Pant

Posted on April 16, 2013 by oliver's fancy

Back again today to share with you my second version of the parsley pants (UPDATE: Pattern is now available here). For this version, I used some linen pinstripe fabric that I bought quite a while back and have been saving for the perfect pants for Oliver. So glad to finally put it to good use!

I promise the piping is the same length on both pockets. For some reason, they look lopsided in the picture, but I double checked them after taking this picture and they are even!

I wanted to try out the pintucks and pouch pocket variation of the pants this time. BUT I also thought it might be fun to add a little something extra this time around. During Celebrate the Boy, Rae showcased a lot of clothing with piping and I fell in love with that look. I have never made piping for clothing before, but thankfully she has an easy tutorial. I am pretty sure that the piping cord I used is a little thick for clothing, but it’s what I had on hand and I didn’t want to have to run to the store so I made it work (ala Tim Gunn 🙂 ).

The pintucks ended up being super subtle on the pinstriped fabric but I still love them! I also made this version flat front to dress it up a bit. The pouch pockets took me quite a while to construct because I had to make the piping, baste it to the outer pocket fabric, sew the outer fabric to the lining, and then sew the completed pockets to the pants. Whew! It was worth it though because, in my opinion, the little details are what make these pants stand out. I used a Lotta Jansdotter print for the pocket lining and while you only see a peek of it around the pockets, it makes me happy that it’s there. 🙂

I think these make the perfect summer church pants because they are super lightweight yet dressy. In fact he wore them this past Sunday and got quite a few compliments on them. 🙂

Parsley Pants Take 1: the Pajama Version

Posted on April 15, 2013 by oliver's fancy

UPDATE: Pattern is now available here!

Well after that sneak peek on Friday, I am back with more information on these great pants. I thought it would be fun to share them with you one at a time over the next few days. Wait, that means I made more than one pair of pants last week? Oh yes, peeps, I made a total of THREE pairs of pants for the little man! Is he spoiled or what? 🙂 Not only did I want to do a good job as a pattern tester by trying out all the different variations of this pattern, but I must say that once I got started, I just couldn’t stop because I was having too much fun making cool pants!

Pre-hemming picture… we are really into driving cars all over the furniture right now.

As I mentioned last week, I got the opportunity to be a pattern tester for Rae’s new pants pattern: The Parsley Pants. I have been eying all the cool pants Rae has made recently (specifically during her Celebrate the Boy series), and anxiously awaiting the promised release of a basic pants pattern. So when she contacted me to see if I would be interested in testing the pattern for her, of course I jumped at the chance.

This first pair that I made is just the basic, elastic waist pant version of the pant. I figured I would make Oliver some jammie pants, and that way, if the measurements were way off, I wouldn’t have wasted some of my nice fabric on the pants. Let me tell you, this version is FAST! I was taking more care than usual to be exact since I’m testing the pattern measurements and even with that, these just flew together. This pants pattern only has one piece for each leg, unlike many patterns that have two pieces for each leg. That makes the construction really quick and easy. Also let me throw in a word of praise for Rae’s instructions. She offers hints throughout the pattern to help you get through possible trouble spots. I found that so helpful!

Oliver has just grown into size 2 (where this pattern begins in sizing), and he has a skinny backside so I wasn’t sure about the pants staying up. Happy to report that the waist measurements ended up being just fine- both with his cloth and disposable diapers. I did have to cut about 2 inches off the hem but considering that the size 2 runs from 33-36,” and he is only 33,” I kind of expected that. They still look a bit long in some of these pictures but that’s just because the photography model wouldn’t stop jumping and bouncing during the photo shoot. 🙂

Discussion is under way about taking an inch off the bottom of this size anyway because it is ending up a little long on several other tester versions. Another item under discussion is taking a bit of width off the pants because they are a bit baggy. I believe that the finished decision was to take .5″ off at the center of each pant leg to made them a bit slimmer, yet not have them be too slim for all of the options given. Whatever ends up happening, let me tell you that you will want to get this pattern as soon as it becomes available- which I believe will happen either this week or next week. I will be sure to let you know when it is available, and I will be back later to show you my other two versions…each one gets better so you won’t want to miss them. 🙂

Couldn’t resist this picture! He is in love with the doggies on his pants and wants to wear them all day! Makes this mama quite happy when her clothes are appreciated so much 🙂