Jacket Into Pants

We got a late start on Halloween this year, deciding on kid costumes at the end of AUGUST. Fortunately, they don’t involve too many details and projects. Mr C decided on a Minecraft Creeper.

Last month our community had a multi-congregation free clothing exchange, with which Grandma Teri Porter, Aunt Niki, and many others helped immensely. Aunt Niki found a Creeper jacket for Mr C in his current, but nearly outgrown size, and a fantastic Pikachu hat/scarf/mitten combination. With the Mario pajama pants I found, he could fully outfit his fandoms.

We stopped as a family at the thrift store. (The other one in town had to close.😔) We wanted to find green pants to go with his jacket. Green pants we did not find, but another creeper jacket we did. This one was even the next size up, which is ideal for wearing more than a few months. I decided to go for it, and convert the jacket into pants.

Mr C gets attached to items very quickly, and was upset that I wanted to disassemble his first jacket. He thinks one of the boys from class donated it, so it was a special item. As the cuffs were already hitting above his wrists, though, it was worth being the mean mom and consoling my teary-eyed boy.

He brought me pairs of his sweatpants and and thermal pants as guides. I own thrifted patterns for boy pants, but since I kept the sleeves intact, I figured using a complete item would be an easier pattern this time.

I had a seam-ripping party at Grandma Porter’s house while Zak and Uncle Cohen built a shed roof. I made sure my travel sewing pouch contained a seam-ripper, but then used it. Thus, I carefully seam-ripped with my fabric scissors. Zipper salvaged and hood removed. I did wait to finish removing the jacket pouch pockets until I got home, because they had been seriously reinforced. Even with a seam ripper, they were still my downfall, and left a few holes in the fabric. I patched those by zigzagging over them. The ones in front I could hide behind the relocated pockets, but the ones in back are now intentional statement pieces.

The arms became the lower legs, with a bit of extra fabric added around the ankles. The back torso became one thigh piece, with a slice partway down the side for the pocket. The front got stitched up where the zipper had been after I placed the pocket. I should have compared the torso pieces a little better before this point, because I had to add a strip to one side to even them.

Besides the waistband being flipped and slightly shortened to add to the ankles, the remaining piece would be the wonky inner thigh pieces. The hood came into play. I chose to do it in two separate pieces so I could get the right crotch angle and curve. No sewing job is complete without stitching something incorrectly and unpicking it, so this was accomplished when I stitched the wonky bit in the former neck opening instead of the former shoulder opening. The pieces still didn't fit exactly. I distractedly watched movies on my phone while attempting to get them to fit right, before realizing first, I should switch to music, and second, that the straight flow of the leg on the outside was more important than perfectly fitting the wonky shape around its edges on the inside. It continues to be wonky, but works.

I did the one-leg-inside-of-the-other trick to stitch the two together. I added thick elastic and twill tape to the waistband so it could be tied and tightened if the elastic were not enough. The twill tape that shows is actually from the shoulders and neck of the jacket, with some sparkly blue twill tape lengthening it from the inside. I added buttonholes, made sure everything was inside the wide waistband, pinned, and stitched.

Scraps form a creepy bunny.

Mr C tried on one leg partway through the process, which is when I found out the waist was super high, and I could use part of that height for the side and ankles. It took me about a week, working mostly after the kiddos went to bed. I finished after they slept, and had to wait until morning to see if my completed project actually worked. Smiles. I don’t think he’s upset about it anymore. Thanks for trusting me, Mr C.

Bowling Birthday

As this is our first year with a middle-schooler, I wasn’t sure if they would do anything special for Miss V's birthday. We tied a ribbon in her hair in hopes that someone might recognize it was a day to celebrate. They sang to her in three classes, and the Principal even took a picture and sent a personalized message. Zak and I were quite pleased and impressed with how much effort the teachers and faculty put into each student's birthday. 

I didn't do much to decorate, but had fun making a little poster and hanging several copies throughout the house.

Last school year, Miss V earned a coupon for a free game of bowling. We’ve had the coupon magnetized onto our door ever since. The time had come.

She’s always enjoyed baking, so we made chocolate cake from mixes, found a delicious whipped Oreo frosting recipe, and went to work. Miss V decorated it all by herself, using the spinning cake stand from Aunt Niki.

Responsible parent that I am, we ate the cake and ice cream first, then bowled, and lastly filled up on dinner.

None of us has honed our athletic abilities lately, so it was a bit of a rough start in the first game. We had lots of fun cheering for one another. We noticed our neighbor’s name on some high score boards. We all improved by the second game, getting multiple spares and strikes. Zak and Miss V each got a bonus roll at the end. Mr C kept us laughing with his dances and fake bowling ball vomit whenever the machine would return the balls. Overall, I think she had a pretty good birthday, and our family had lots of fun together.