Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Treasure Pocket Pants


For my first Celebrate the BOY 2013 project I made a pair of Treasure Pocket Pants from Sewing for Boys. I know I say this frequently, but I've been wanting to make a pair of TP Pants for quite some time - since my sweet husband bought me the book after we learned Eli was a boy (this is more indicative of how many future projects I have swimming in my head than of my own procrastination - I'm certain I'm not alone here). The limiting factor with these pants was that the pattern starts at 12-18 months, so I had to be a bit patient. Now that our boy is officially a toddler (and toddling all over the house to prove it) I thought it was the perfect project to kick off these two weeks.




At some point along the road to motherhood I inherited a pair of size one maternity jeans. Elastic cinch-waisted, size one, stretch maternity jeans, to be exact. Now don't get me wrong - a well-fitting, comfortable pair of maternity jeans should be cherished, lived in, then passed on and on to other mamas, because we all know how hard they are to come by. But size one, cinch waist maternity jeans? In my opinion, 'size one' and 'maternity' should never be used in the same sentence, let alone in a pair of jeans. So I had no qualms at all about sacrificing (ahem, transforming) this pair into a new pair of pants for my boy.

For the contrasting fabric I used Oh Deer! by MoMo for Moda Fabrics. My sweet and exceedingly patient (at times) children helped me pick this one out at Crafty Planet, perhaps the best fabric store ever. It is a bit of a drive from our house and as we pulled up I realized I had forgotten the Ergo back at home. Perusing fabrics with a 1 and 3 year old is not usually the kind of torture I would ever wish upon anyone, especially without a baby carrier. So I was grateful for that baggie of cheese (local raw milk gouda for my tiniest of cheese snobs) I had tucked away in my pocket, which I used to lure my son back towards me every time he tried to lunge in a kamikaze dive out of my grip. Somehow we actually made it out with several cute fabrics in tow and without any major tantrums.


While I was working on this project I felt they were taking a long time, especially for a pair of toddler pants. This made me laugh at how much more instantly gratifying sewing is compared to knitting, in which projects can take months to complete. But they are seriously well made. I particularly love the faux-fly and the contrasting fabric hems, which make them look cute and finished whether they are rolled or unrolled. And, of course, I love the pockets, which are true to their name - really perfect for storing little treasures and easy for little hands to access with their elastic openings. In the future I might opt to make them just a little bit deeper.

This project was not without it's problems. Firstly, I didn't go online to download the errata for the pattern prior to cutting out my pieces and was quite puzzled when one of the side panels just didn't seem to be the right size. This was easily remedied when I downloaded a pdf of the revised pattern for that piece. Also, the hem facings in the pattern did not even closely fit my pant legs. I am still confused as to whether this was my mistake or a mistake in the pattern, but I had to remeasure and cut my own hem facings to fit the pants. Again, not a huge deal, but another waste of time and fabric. Has anyone else encountered this? 


And finally, there's the size issue. These pants are HUGE on my boy. I made the 12-18 month size and my 13 month old will probably wear them by the time he goes to college. True, he's just a tad on the smaller size, but really? Again, has me scratching my head wondering where I made a mistake. 

All in all, the pants (assuming Eli grows big enough to wear them at some point) turned out well and are so very cute. I would use the pattern again once I've had some distance from it and my frustrations with it. For now, I'm looking forward to getting started on my next project for Celebrate the BOY!


8 comments:

  1. Your experience making your first pair of Treasure Pocket pants sounds exactly like mine!! I stared at those side panels for longer than I care to admit...not realizing that there was a new pattern piece! And, I had the same issue with the hem facing...and to be honest...I just ended up skipping it in the end and hemmed them. I felt like it was taking waaay longer than it should have to make a pair of toddler pants also...But you are right, they are very very well made pants!! I love the way yours turned out, that deer fabric is just so "deer" (pun obviously intended!) This pair reminds me of the first pair I made way back in october 2011!!! And, yes, while they are big at first, and look a bit silly at first it gives them plenty of room to grow! Henry's first pair were made almost a year and a half ago and after letting the hem out last spring, he is still wearing them! You will love this pattern and make them again and again, I've used it so far to make 7 pairs, some shorts and some without the side pockets...Super cute! Have a great day!

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    1. Jane, I can't tell you how glad I am to hear that I'm not the only one who had these issues! Thanks so much for your thoughts. Do you have a link to those first pants you made? I'd love to see them. I think you're right - these pants will last the boy a long time (and since they are so well made, I do think they will stay robust for as long as he fits them - once he does fit them). And I do think I will use the pattern again. It will go SO much smoother now that I know what to expect.

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  2. the deer print is really cute, even if the pants are gigantic. and, better too big than too small! what's up with this pattern?! aren't they required to pattern test every size before publishing? so sweet that will bought the book for you...i don't think david is aware patterns even come from books.

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    1. Yup, I got a sweet one! They're all sweet in their own ways, you know. Not sure what to say about the pattern, but as Jane commented above, once you know what you're doing it does make a great pair of pants.

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  3. Thanks for the heads up about the pattern problems. I have the book and have been wanting to make some of them as well, but as I'm sure you can relate, with small children I only have so much time to spend on one article of clothing. They sure are cute though.

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    1. Hi mamabyrd - I would take my comments about the pattern more as a forewarning of snags in the pattern that you can avoid. If you're tempted to make the pants, go for it. Just download the new pattern piece first and don't bother cutting out the hem facings - you will either make your own or hem the pants without a facing. There are certainly quicker pants to make out there, but if you do invest the time in these you'll be rewarded with a pair of pants that are cute and will last a long time. Keep in mind they run big!

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