The Smile Trousers

I've been listening to some sewing podcasts lately and people often comment that they love blogging because they can share in more detail about what they made and how they made it, both for their own memory and to help others who might be making the same pattern. I thought I would give it another go since I made possibly my favourite thing yet in the form of some trousers for Sam!

I bought some leggings for World Book Day and one of the pairs in the pack was bright yellow, with smiles and rainbows on it. Sam LOVED them and wore them every time they were clean, until they started to look like tights around his big nappy bum and developed a few holes. I had to hide them and tell him they were "broken" to get them out of circulation.

I had some old black joggers that I bought from Primark and had steadily shrunk so that they were now ankle-grazers... Not the look I was going for.

They were destined to become one.

I wanted to keep the spirit of the smile trousers alive so as well as the smile, I used this fun appliqué alphabet from shiny happy stitches:

One day I'm determined to make one of Wendi's quilts, but it might end up being for my grandchildren! I shrunk the letters a little as the trouser pattern has quite a narrow leg, then used fusible web to stabilise the fabric before I cut it out. Basically you trace the pattern onto the stabiliser, iron it into your fabric and then cut it out. There's a peel-off layer so then you can iron it onto the main fabric before sewing. I just used a plain straight stitch because I figured it shouldn't stretch with that in place anyway, and there's an article here that told me I didn't need to worry about the edges fraying.

Then I sewed the trousers! I love making children's clothes because they sew up so quickly. I used the Patterns for Pirates "baby bear joggers" pattern- nearly all the PDF patterns I've ever bought are from Patterns for Pirates and I find them really easy to follow, I'm not sure why they never get mentioned in the "Indie sewing world".

The pockets are my favourite detail:

And I even upcycled the waistband, though I'm not sure that was the best idea.

I'm really pleased with the finished product, and (more importantly) so is Sam! They are still a bit too big as he's between sizes at the minute, and we're in the throes of potty training so I can't just tie the drawstring tight to hold them up. Once he's grown a little I will get a model shot too but for now I'm happy to admire them on display!

Has anyone else personalised something old to keep it's spirit when the original item is worn out?