Jalie 3243 - Shorts

I’m quickly trying to get ready for my trip down south. While it is warm in Alaska, I don’t need more than a couple of pairs of shorts for the whole summer. Hot in Anchorage is 70 or 75. Because I’ll be in the sweltering heat for two full weeks, I figured I’d better make a couple more pairs of shorts. I’ve used Jalie 3243 several times for kids pull-on pajama pants but thought I’d try out the shorts too.

 

And no surprise, I love them. They are made for wovens and I used a sweatshirt knit (you may recognize it from here) with very little stretch. They fit really well with not much bulk at the elastic waist. One of the great things about this pattern, is the waist facing is shaped to make it fit on the body; it’s not just a rectangle of fabric. I made my normal size for these. The recommendation for elastic was 24.5”. I used 26” on mine because I hate tight things around my waist.

 

Not too high, not too low.

 

Pockets!

 

Good butt coverage. Not too short and not too long.

 

Then I made them again. Do you ever get stuck in a color rut? For me, for a while, I was pretty much only making purple things. Now it seems I’m stuck in a print rut. These are crazy print and I’m not sure I love them. Actually I think I do love them, but shouldn’t. I used two different double knit fabrics for the main and pocket fabric. Maybe that was a no-no.

 

You may recognize this top here.

 

They may have been better with either perfectly matched pockets or no pockets. I think I’m stuck with the current pockets since they are sewn in. Oh well, like I said, I kinda secretly love them. Maybe with a different top though.

 

Hee hee, do you love them? OR hate them?

Jalie 3243 - Pull-on Pants Alaskan Style

This is one of the Jalie patterns I bought the other day in my Jalie haul. I love the simple pattern and I love the fit of Jalie. My kids are always asking me to make them pajama pants and this is the perfect pattern for that. Of course, I could draft one from my trusty KS3234 but this is so much easier and it’s all the sizes! So far, I’ve made the size M (for size 9) and H (for a 4T). Both seem to fit well. I have my size traced out but I have not made any pants out of them.

 

So, I’m sort of embarrassed to post about these pants. I made them in one hour. Like, really, one hour. From tracing to hem. There are no pockets or nice stitching. Here’s how it went down.

Husband: Oh, hey, we are going clamming. Did you know kids’ rain gear was so expensive?

Me: Oh?

H: Yea, these pants were $40 and I’m not sure she’ll be able to wear them until the end of summer. They only had this size. Do you think you could whip up some rain pants that she could wear?

Me: Oh, gosh. Probably. When are you guys leaving?

H: Oh, I think the guys are getting here in about an hour.

Me: Blink, blink. Uuuuuuh.Do you mean you want a pair of pants in an hour?

H: Blink, blink. Uh, yea?

Me: [Thump, thump, thump as I run down the stairs to the basement]

 

The $40 pair is on the left and my pair is on the right. I didn’t have elastic that was wide enough but I made due with the 3/4” elastic I had. The pattern went together easily and I really like the contoured waist band. It seems less bulky than the waistbands you just fold under and sew.

 

I made them out of this fantastic Polartec fabric. I’ve used it many times and it’s freaking awesome. It has a slight amount of stretch but it’s also wind and water proof. I used it to make this vest also.

 

Here she is on the beach with the pants and the raincoat I made her last summer (also a Jalie pattern). I’m happy to report is was warm and dry and cozy even with the 40 degree weather and wind.

 

They didn’t get many clams but they did get some big ones!! And no, she didn’t really bite it. These are razor clams and yummy. I’m hoping they get a whole bucket load for me.

 

 

While the men (and cute daughter #3) went clamming, we went to the zoo and watched all the wildlife. Oh look, here’s a snow leopard. Oh wait, that’s just one of my cute daughters.

 

Mangy little guy.

 

Lots of fowl coming in the last few days.

 

And in other news, little girls got new cute glam haircuts and grandma’s in town so they steal her glasses.

I actually have more to show you. I have made a top and I think you’ll like it.

Summer Round Up

We did our annual summer commercial fishing/camping trip this summer. How pretty is this place? I’m so bone-weary over all the fun we’ve had this summer, I haven’t really been up to blogging so much. I have several things to show you guys. I have been sewing things here and there, just not posting. Be prepared to see several posts in the next few days!



People are always asking me where the fishing is located. This is a close-up of Cook Inlet. We live in Anchorage (on the right). The fishing site is just above Tyonek to the North in the Beluga coal region. We there by boating or flying.


It’s a kid haven with streams, creeks, sand, mud, and fun. I swear the kids don’t wear shoes for the whole two weeks. There’s no water and no electricity (there is if you start the generator), so it’s pretty rustic. Bonfires, picnics, kites, kid heaven, I tell you.


The Jalie jackets and rain pants (I used Jalie 3243 to make rain pants for the kids) came in handy while we were out there. It never rained during the day, but it was often windy and chilly. The kids wore them pretty much constantly.


There is a creek right next to the cabin, so the kids spent days re-routing the creek and building marinas, docks, and tributaries.


They built their own cottonwood bark boats and some of them included dinghies with princesses (the girls) and pirates (the boy).



There was a lot of Gut Diving and dissections going on when we were processing fish. It was a great year for fish and we caught a ton. We found lots of parasites in the guts too. Nothing like wriggly worms spilling out of a salmon’s stomach to amp the nastiness up to a high level.


I bought my son a Kindle for Christmas. There is the best gift I’ve ever given him. He has read so many books on that thing. Like hundreds. We rent them from the public library. This post is totally random, I realize that. I feel like my brain is fried from too much go-go-go!

This area has a ton of coal and agates. We bring the coal back to the campsite.


We spend hours searching for agates on the beach. Agate Hunting! We bring the agates back in to town and polish them. We have jars of them around the house.


Books, headlamps, mosquito nets? Yup, just another night at camp.


If you want to read more about all this, read this post from 2013 or this one from 2012. I didn’t do a very good job of explaining what’s going on here. For those of you who read my blog regularly, you already know. For anyone that’s new, check out the old posts for more details.

Whew . . . . so . . . . tired . . .

Mini-Capsule Wardrobe for PR Weekend

I love to make Capsule Wardrobes, especially for travel. This time, though, I am cutting it pretty close with other commitments, the end of school, and life. I'm still not done, as of today, but I'm hoping that I'll get my last top done tomorrow. I'm posting it on here, unfinished, because I want to be able to show you these pieces before I have to leave. I get on the plane Sunday night. Yikes!


Here was the plan:

The Rova dress was previously sewn and posted here. 

These are cropped Vanessa pants and they are like the best, secret pajamas, EVER. They are a denim blue Tencel. They look a bit like denim but they are flowy and soft. 

These are the Jalie 3243 pull-on pants in a brown linen. I'm not sure how great these will be in a travel wardrobe since they will wrinkle like a bitch.  

This is Jalie 3130 and it's my favorite button-up top. I especially love this version. The fabric is soft, like a flannel, and it's a dream to sew. 

Isn't it cute with the Rova dress?

 

Then there is this Jalie sweatshirt #3355. By the way, when I started this wardrobe, I didn't set out to make all Jalie patterns. But, when I thought about easy, fast, patterns that fit, they all turned out to be Jalie. I used the sweatshirt pattern to attempt to create a drapey, luxe sweatshirt. I'm not sure I love it. It's a sparkly knit and I created a facing for the bottom and back. 

I folded the facing to the right side and left the edge raw. 

The back is two pieces and overlaps in the back.

I don't think I love it with the Rova dress under it. It looks a bit sloppy. My rule is always that you need something form fitting either on top or bottom. This is a loose on the top and bottom.

Well, that's all I have done so far. I was going to make a tank with a blue fabric, but I might make a t-shirt with sleeves instead. I'm still pondering the last piece . . . 

Jalie 3243–Pull-on Pants

I’ve made this pattern a few times before. It’s an easy pull-on pant. Pretty simple, but wicked awesome. I’ve made my son pajama pants and my littlest daughter a pair of rain pants from this pattern.  I think I’ll be making shorts using this pattern this summer.

 

Here are three more pairs for my man-child. I’m still using size M (size 9) for the waist, but I added two inches to the length so they fit for a while. He’s lean, but growing up like a weed.

 

Nothing too exciting here as far as sewing, but my son loves them and he loves that we had a mom-son outing and he got to pick all the fabric. The angry birds pair was the only annoying pair because I had to match the pattern across the side seams.

 

I love the topstitched pockets. One day I’ll make them a contract fabric so you can really see them.

 

I love the shaped facing that you sew in and fold over to make the waist casing. It goes in so much smoother than other pants like this. I added labels to all the pants. I also put the elastic in, finished the casing, and then stitched through all the layers at CB and CF to make sure the elastic didn’t twist all around.

 

See the pockets? Yea, me neither. Rest assured though, he was excited when he saw them and that’s all that matters to me. <3.

 

I finished my April Burda so I need to take photos and show you!