Kids Cargo Pants & Top

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A friend recently introduced me to Threadsmitten, a small online business based local to me in Fairfax, Virginia specializing in European fabrics, notions, and non-Euro indie paper sewing patterns. The owner, Rachel, sent me some of her fabrics to try out and share – and I am just so in love with them!

She gave me a couple of choices, so I picked the panda print from Elvelyckan Designs  (1/2 yard – which I had seen a while ago in an Ottobre magazine and have always wanted some of it!). When my package arrived, I was surprised to discover a half yard of See You At Six “Growing Ideas” in French Terry as well!

Since I had two regular half yards rather than fat halves, I quickly realized that I needed to be creative if I wanted my vision to come together.

Moto Pants

To make the pants I had to mash up 3 different patterns! I started with the Jalie Henri pants, since I knew they fit my son well. From there I took the moto patch from the girls legging pattern in Ottobre 1/2019, modifying it to fit the width of the Jalie pant. I then folded up the tracing paper to determine the finished length of that section, removing it from the leg pattern. I divided up the back leg using the same diagonal design.

From Ottobre 4/2019 I used the cargo pocket from the woven pants.

I did a faux drawstring, though I didn’t make my elastic quite tight enough for my kid, so they’re a little loose on him.

I just love how these pants turned out!!

Fabrics: See You At Six “Growing Ideas” in French Terry (from Threadsmitten), Gray melange Euro French Terry (my stash), Black & White Grids (Rockerbye Destash).

Long Sleeved Top

I never make basic tops for my son with custom knits – I’m always making hoodies. And so I almost did that here too, but the problem with always making hoodies is that he never gets new tops! So A fast easy sew for this one and with just a little hack.

For this shirt (Ottobre 1/2019 #9 Simple Basic) he measured a size 98 chest, but given that it is a fitted style, I could have easily sized up. Because I had just a 1/2 yard to work with, I didn’t have quite enough to provide enough length for this shirt, so I decided to add a faux second layer underneath. I love how it turned out!

All the binding was done with my coverstitch binder attachment. I love how the Rockerbye Black & White Grids look with the Elvelyckan Pandas!

Overall, I really love this whole outfit and loved the creative challenge of creating it! I hope you do check out Threadsmitten – her store is on Etsy and you get free shipping on orders of $35+. Her collection of fabrics is just gorgeous!

Oh and photography… it has been cold and dreary here, so I’ve been stuck with shooting indoors with crummy lighting. I took most of these against my solid white backdrop and then decided to channel Ottobre and try photoshopping a pattern into the background. I do love how these turned out (just don’t look too closely haha)!