Tia in Gingham

Current Notes: Gingham always says 'Spring' !

It got quiet early last night at Chez Insanity – Beloved Hubby headed back to work today, so he turned in early, and Dearest Son wasn’t long behind him, evidently having picked up the headache I shed earlier in the day. Not sure if it was due to the gunk we all breathed in while getting the first part of the kitchen floor repairs underway, or spring pollen, or it’s just my semi-annual ‘can’t breathe’ week, but we were all tired and mildly ill. I’d taken a nap earlier – if you wanna call falling asleep in my desk chair a nap – otherwise, I’d have hit the hay with my guys.

Dug around until I found the still-stained fabric in the laundry baskets and grabbed the Crissy elastic-waist pants pattern I printed from CrissyAndBeth.com last week. It’s a shame about the fabric, it’s nice ivory cotton (I think) with a lovely linen texture to it, but it got dusty then a bit icky (have I mentioned my ILs survive mostly on fried foods ?), and unfortunately, a hot wash didn’t quite erase it all. But the slightly off-color spots remaining still made nice test fabric, and not all of it was damaged. Without even planning it, the biggest spot ended up on the pants seat, which worked out pretty well !

I used McCall’s 2182, View C, medium size. It’s possible Tia could even fit the small size, but as it was, the only adjustment I had to make was length and elastic. Pattern called for a ten-inch strip of elastic, I only used 6 ½, since I’d only used six inches on the panties. A bit snug with the thicker pants fabric, so next time I may use 6 ¾ or 7 inches, not a big deal either way. The pants slid on easily, crotched well, and had a nice wide straight leg without being bell-bottom dated, but were waaay too long. Even eliminating the half inch hem, I had to take off another half inch, which still included a half-inch hem. So, all in all, I took off about an inch and a half, and left a half-inch hem for the next trial. They’re actually still a bit long, so I may end up taking another quarter or half inch off then.  When I finally thought to read the pattern envelope, it turned out to be a general, non-specific one for dolls between 17 and 21 inches tall, so I shouldn’t be at all surprised I had length problems !

Still, I’m pleased. I could easily turn these into waistband pants with either gathering or darts, and only having to make the simplest alteration possible means I’ll be using this pattern again. I also have the coordinating karate gi-style jacket printed up – no telling where or when you’ll see that one stitched ! And now I want to try a pattern for slacks made *just* for Crissy, see if those fit as well.

Darn, it felt good to create again. So glad I didn’t go to the thrift – I’d have had to spend the time cleaning or otherwise focused on whatever new thing I bought instead of sewing !

As for today, I spent most of it cleaning. But Beloved and Dearest should be turning in early again tonight…