I finished my first pair of gift pajama pants just now. If you want an idea for some very quick-and-easy handmade gift-giving, consider pajama pants. I'm going to purchase matching t-shirts to go with the ones I make, so no complicated pajama tops to make.
I hate elastic inserted into waistbands; it always rolls. I also didn't want to do drawstrings because, well, I just didn't--I wanted elastic. So I found this Youtube video that gives a very easy way of sewing in elastic that won't ever roll. I sewed it down in just a few minutes. Easy peasy, and looks great.
In closing, I want to show you what could happen if a cat owner leaves her sewing room door open.
I'm thinking maybe I can tape it back together enough to use to make some more pants. But if I find I have to buy a whole new pattern, I'm taking it out of Taco's allowance.
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On 12/06/2014, Barbara Anne said ...
Love the pj pants and applaud you for posting the You-tube video for sewing in the elastic so it cannot roll. Brilliant!!
Hope the pattern is easy to tape back together and I hear you on the dangers of cat claws to interesting fabrics and papers. Rob made a screen door to fit my sewing room doorway so I could latch it to keep cats out but still see and hear what is happening in the house. I recommend that you get someone to make one for you but, of course, you can still close the door you have.
I've mostly machine quilted the red Scottie table runner and going around each dog, then around the tops of all the pickets in the fence (pictured behind the dogs) and the two wreaths. Oh, my screaming shoulders. Today will do the simple straight line and wavy stitching in the two borders. The bad thing is that the green Scottie table runner needs the same quilting so that's no fun to anticipate. I may be certifiable by the time that one is finished.
Christmas cards have been started ...
Hugs!
On 12/07/2014, Debra said ...
Ha! That Taco is surely a curious kitty. Love the pajama pants.
On 12/08/2014, Sandy said ...
thanks for the tip on the elastic. Going to give that a try. Susan, when you do get your pattern put back together, I'd like to share a tip with you that I recently learned. Make a cloth pattern out of fabric you don't like or maybe have lots of and use that instead of the tissue paper pattern. It sticks to your fabric and you don't even have to use pins. Plus it lasts forever! Hope you give it a try. Works like a charm.
On 12/09/2014, Ellen in Oregon said ...
Your P.J. pants turned out so darn cute that you have inspired me to make a few pair for quick gifts. I even had enough flannel to make a matching pillow case that I will use to wrap the pants in. I might actually make a pair or two for moi. I already had the pattern & fabric so it was just a matter of sweat equity to make 5 sets. It goes pretty fast if you do all the cutting first & then just do all the sewing assembly line fashion the next. Thanks for the video on the no roll waistband. The video showed the exact way my Mom taught me to do an elastic waistband more than 45 years ago when I first started learning to sew. Only difference is there was no "sports" elastic and so you only had to sew 2 rows for 3/4" elastic. I actually like a drawstring for myself, but I have learned to line the drawstring channel with some slick polyester so the flannel or fleece string glides smoothly through the waistband & doesn't created any friction with the pant fabric itself. What is it about cats & pattern paper? They can't resist shredding it. Must be the crinkly sound it makes when they rustle it with their paws. When I had several cats, I would often find my pattern in so many tiny pieces, it looked like confetti. I agree with Sandy, that if you really like a pattern or want it to hold up to multiple uses, trace a copy onto muslin or ugly fabric. Even cutting a master pattern out of a paper bag would be an improvement over the ultra-thin fragile paper pattern companies are using now. The would think that for the outragrous price they charge for some patterns, that the paper would be of a better quality, but it isn't. Taco seems to get his nose into everything, but then that is a cat's job to be a snoop isn't it. When we were kids & one of our cats was MIA, we would call & call for it to come home. I think it drove my Mom batty. She used to say there was no sense calling the cat because a cat only comes home when it is good & ready to come home and not a minute before. She proved this philosophy to be right time after time. Taco was lucky he found such a comfy linen closet to sneak into for a nap. If you hadn't remembered to look there for him, he would have made himself known when he got hungry.
I ordered a copy of Revival on Sunday from ebay. I hope it turns out to be as good a story as some reviews have stated. I have been a fan of Mr. King's writing from the beginning, but after his accident years ago, he reappeared a few years later and wrote one bad novel after another. I'm not sure why junk like Gerald's Game & other's of that time period were even published other than contract obligations & everyone wanting to make money from the deal.somewhere in the middle of his career when he, in my opinion, wrote a number of duds not worth the paper they were printed on. They all struck me as being written by someone on a lot of drugs & there seemed to be no editor or agent willing to point out to Mr. King that these stories were not worthy of being published as they were mostly incoherent & made little sense when it came to story lines & plot twists. made for terrible reading. I guess everyone just wanted to make money, so those novels probably got published for the sake of making money for everyone. It could have ruined King's career if fans had not remained loyal & refused to give up on him. I think King's fanbase stuck with him in hopes he would somehow begin writing like the writer they had originally gotten hooked on. It would be years before I would learn about King's near-fatal accident after being hit by a truck as he walked along the shoulder of a road near his home in Maine. After being struck at high speed, King broke just about every bone in his body along with a severe brain injury. Then it made perfect sense to me why those novels were so terribly written & incoherent. They were written by someone who's brain was damaged & was seriously addicted to narcotics when they were written. King became addicted to narcotics as a result of his injuries & repeated orthopedic surgeries & years after the accident he went into treatment for his addiction problem. It wasn't until he was sober for some time that his writing begin to resemble his earlier works. I don't think Mr. King will ever be able to write novels equal to The Shining or Salem's Lot, because he is a different person than he was 30+ years ago, but also because a severely injured brain never returns to an undamaged brain. I know that from 30 years of counseling people with disabilities including many with head injuries. I am quite amazed at how much brain function he recovered & how well he adjusted to all the changes he went through. I just hope he puts out the occasional novel to keep me entertained while I am here on Earth. Purely selfish motives, but I'm just keepin' it real. My copy of Revival should be here by the end of this week, so I am looking forward to a couple of long nights reading. I also look forward to reading your review of the book & hope we both find it to have been a good read. I look forward to reading your review of Rivival.
Thanks of another year of great posting.
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