Fancy Pants

Here are some pants I made for Louie today. I'm going to applique a patch of the fishy fabric on a $2.50 t-shirt when it comes out of the dryer. Lou is a big Nemo fan, especially after our trip to the Baltimore Aquarium a few weeks ago. He actually enjoys getting new clothes, so I know these will be a hit.


I used my old standby Easy Fit Pants pattern, but made some modifications to make them REVERSIBLE! The technique involves taking a bit off the top, lengthening the bottom, and finishing off the cuffs in a most impeccable way. I'd be happy to publish a "tute" if anyone is interested :) . Anyways, I just love this style for rapidly growing kids. Louie always outgrows pants in length rather than girth. Since the cuffs are adjustable, I can get so much more life out of pants made this way. For example...

Here is my "sweet pea" - barely two and enjoying a cold, wet mud puddle in Cleveland.

Fast forward to age 3. He was a big hit at the 2007 Celebration of CT Farms. Now he is 4 and the pea pants are still in his drawer. They fit more like board shorts now, but I just can't bear to part with them!

Using the same technique, I also made a pair of grown-up pants for a dear friend of ours. Her name is Julie Jordan, and she is an incredible vegetarian chef and cookbook author. I just adore her - she is so intelligent, funny, caring...I could just go on and on. Her food is unbelievable, too (ask anyone from Ithaca, NY about her "Wings of Life" salads).

I actually bought these fabrics about two years ago with her in mind. I wanted to make her a pair of snazzy chef pants that she could flip over and wear out on the town. I used the same one piece pattern (meaning no side seams) that I use to make Del's pajamas. I just added a few extra inches to account for the cuff and the fact that she is several inches taller than he is :) . That is another nice feature of reversible, cuffed pants - you don't need to have exact measurements to get a perfect fit!