The photo above is of me in Branson, MO, wearing the pants I show how to alter below.
If you got the title reference, you know that I watch American Idol. I enjoy music reality TV. It often results in goosebumps. It’s full of feeling and movement and unexpectedly special moments. Know Pentatonix? We saw them first on the Sing Off, a show where acapella groups competed, nauseatingly hosted by Nick Lachey.
I was excited when I saw Idol was coming back. In fact, while I don’t know Katy Perry’s (the new token female judge) music well, I really like her. As a fellow PK (BOTH her parents were pastors), I feel like I “get” her. And she has such a great spirit.
Even though it had been two years since Idol last aired, the Chaplain or I would make a Randy Jackson reference almost weekly. His “For me, for you, Dawg,” just doesn’t have a better translation in American English. Also, “I don’t know, Dawg.” or “That was pitchy.”
To get back to the Sing Off, we enjoyed that show so much that when they went on tour, we bought tickets and went to the concert. I am almost embarrassed to admit it. But it was such an adventure. I was fascinated to see who else watched the show (a whole theater-full of people, as it turns out). The concert was fantastic, and sticks out as one of my favorite date nights.
Where am I going with this? *grin* Stick with me.
In 2015, we upgraded from a full size mattress to a queen. Our Ikea bed frame, which pre-dated our marriage, was no longer able to hold our mattress. I had a good idea of what I wanted to replace it, but I couldn’t find anything that I was willing to pay for that looked like what I wanted. I looked for plans to build a frame, but I didn’t really like any of them, either, so I decided to do it on my own.
Here are my original plans.
I built my frame out of 2×4’s, 1×10’s, 1×4’s, and some scrap wood.
I based the 2×4 frame’s measurements on the dimensions of the mattress, with a little added width and length (1-2 inches) so that we could change the sheets without too much of a struggle.
Everyone helped.
I’ve talked about trying to fill spiritual holes with physical items. I’ve talked about knowing something in one moment, and trying to stay firm when I no longer feel sure.
I posted about that infernal raincoat, and suggested considering not purchasing any clothes for a year. In fact, I was doing a trial run of it. Then I realized the new pants I got when I was doing the Curated Closet process, I unwittingly purchased before I was done losing the baby weight.
There aren’t a lot of tween and teen sized patterns out there compared to adult and kid patterns. It’s easy to find patterns with sizes that will fit your kids from baby age through age 10, but after that, the options dwindle. Plus, who wants to buy a pattern and make clothes only to have your moody tween stick up their nose at your efforts?
After my firstborn outgrew my kids’ shorts pattern, I drafted a bigger size for him for a couple of years, but then he stopped wearing them, so I stopped making them.
My ten and a half year old daughter recently outgrew the kids’ pattern, but she still likes the handmade shorts, so I decided to use the free women’s shorts pattern I use for my own shorts to make something that would work for her.
One of my favorite sewing projects is making a pair of shorts. They come together fairly quickly, use a relatively small amount of fabric, are super comfortable, and fit my summer uniform, which is typically shorts and a tank.
I use the free pattern from Melly Sews, which fits S-M. (You can purchase her pattern for the full range of sizes, or use her slash and spread tutorial to increase the size of the free pattern.) I find the shorts fit well, but are too short for my taste, with just a couple of inches to the inseam.
