It's a marvelous night for a Moondance

You all remember the Nani Iro side pocket bag I made from a translated pattern and gave away on my last giveaway, right? Well, I printed a Nani Iro gusseted pants pattern last night (it only came in 110 cm so that's what I made, kind of) and decided to try making them for my oldest son out of a pair of my husband's jeans that were torn at the knees.

Uhhh, the idea for these pants is awesome. The concept is great. For me? The finished product leaves a lot to be desired. That being said, it's highly possible I didn't exactly get the pattern right because there are no pieces, I simply drafted the legs from measurements on the translated directions.

Honestly, they do look a lot like the pants in the pattern as a finished product. And I think maybe I just don't like it?

I'm going to make them again, except this time I'm going to reverse the sizing strategy and make them much slimmer around the hips and bum with a much wider, shorter leg.

They should end up being something like gusseted drawstring skater pants. Jams. Board shorts (longer than the knee). Capris for he's! I hope to find the time to make a new prototype in the next week or so, and if I do I'll post up the pattern and tute.

Believe me, you don't want to see a picture of these on my son. It's kinda hideous.

But you know what isn't hideous? This awesome rock star shirt I'm making for my little guy! His name is Griffin. I knew I wanted to make a slim-cut collared rock star shirt that snaps up the front. And I wanted to work on my free-hand machine stitching. So I decided to trace a griffin and stitch over it, outlining the wings and feathers so you can see what it is.

I stopped by one of my local quilt/fabric shops that's closing and their fabrics were 50% off. I picked up six or seven prints that would be good for boy's clothes (a rarity for me), including this Moondance print by Free Spirit. I used an old camo poplin for the griffin.

What do you think? Can you tell it's a griffin? I can tell but I made it so I'm not impartial.

I can't wait to work on his brother's shirt. It's going to have an applique in the same technique of the back of a 56 Caddy. Winged fender, taillights, wheels. I have a clip-art picture that's perfect for this kind of project. By the way, the model in this last picture is the older brother, not the younger one.

While I'm talking about sewing for my sons, check it out - Cooper's Halloween costume (he's the ninja in the second set, top row) made it to Rae's front page! I feel so honored.

Thanks for letting me share ~

Don't forget to go to this post and enter the giveaway to win either Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross or the March/Spring issue of Knipmode magazine!