Adventure Pants!

I did it! I finished my assignment by today.  They’re not perfect but I don’t really care.  They’re done.  And that is enough for me.  And enough for my 7 year old who put them on before they were completely finished and has refused to take them off since. 

Here's the sketch I was going off of:

Here are some action shots (as that’s all you get when you can’t remove shorts from a 7 year old’s person)

My kid is beyond skinny and I was lazy and didn't fit them as I went, so they’re big on him.  But if he ever breaks the 40 lb mark, at least he’ll still be able to wear these.

I left most of the edges raw: around the pockets and at the hems.  It just added a little bit of detail, which is hard to come by on boys’ clothing.   The fabric is a basic cotton rip stop.  I did a thick stitch around all raw edges to keep the fraying in check, then went at it with my seam ripper to get things started.  After a few washes, the edges should look pretty sweet. 

I based my pockets off of Dana of Made and her flat-front pockets.  I just wrapped mine around to the back, stitching up the middle along the seams of the pant legs.

This is my favorite feature.  Instead of doing a button closure, I used a plastic clippy-buckle-thing (I’m sure there is a better name for this?) and webbing. 

 In spite of *knowing* I have grey somewhere around here, the only webbing I could find was some sweet rainbow yardage.  My son protested and I ended up cannibalizing this white webbing from the safety belt for my toddler’s changing table.  We never even used the belt once for it’s intended purpose anyway.  Shhh, don’t tell the baby-changing-station police.

I love this feature.  So, so much.  As I said, my son is super skinny.  If pants don’t have adjustable waists, they won’t work around here.  I threaded the webbing through the casing that is the waistband, then attached the buckle.  Adjustable AND easy for small hands to work.  Awesome.

Oh, I’m sorry, did you want to see a better shot of that FLY-FRONT ZIPPER?

 

POW!

 

I know, awesome all around. 

And speaking of awesome, my kid is…weird.  But I love him.

 

I have another pair in the works for my 4 year old, sans zipper (not that I’m afraid of them any more.  because I’m not.  I just think the shorts would work better without a zipper, that’s all).  Now that I know better what I’m doing, I should be able to make them look a bit nicer than these first pair.  My plan is to have a working pattern up for the enjoyment of you and yours sometime in the near future. 

Until then, I’m off to figure out what my next sewing adventure will be.  Patch pocket…something.  Stay tuned.