Monkey Pants!

Oh look! It's Taco in monkey pants.

Taco is a slim little dude. By the time he grows into pants at the waist, they are too short. So, I suppose it was just a matter of time before I sewed some up for him.  

Taco has one pair of knit pants that do fit very well. So I did a very quick rub off of them, added seam, waist and hem allowances and called it a pattern.  When I went to cut fabric, I realized that the side seams of the pants were straight and on grain, so I decided to overlap the two pattern pieces and cut the pants as a one seam pant.

With only one seam and my serger, the pants sewed up in no time. I used a twin needle for the hems. But when we went to try them on, the pants were really rather large.  Either I was sloppy with my tracing or I added seam allowances more than once. I'm not sure which.

So, I added what I will call a design feature for toddler-wear - a 1/2 inch fake seam (really it is a tuck) down the sides of pants where the outseams would be.  Now, when Taco grows, I can simply let out these fake seams and have a wider pant.

Taco really seemed to like these pants. Throughout the day he intermittently would point at the monkeys and laugh. The fabric is a cotton jersey that I bought online at Fabric.com.  Of all the things that I can find in the NY Garment District, novelty, kid-friendly knits is often not one of them. 

Ipad - The only time he is ever still. 

An additional reason I'm happy to sew these for Taco is that little boy clothing is very gendered (girls' too). Sports, vehicles, sharks and dinosaurs are just about the only motifs available in mainstream childrenswear retailers for boys.  Oh, and licenced gear (Disney, superheros, etc.) It's limiting and I can do better starting from scratch.

Anyway, Taco usually likes to put on his pajamas at bedtime, but he was reluctant to take these off. So, I'll call that a win for monkey pants.

Fini!