My first pants. Er...skirt.

Behold, my first pair of pants.

What, does this NOT look like a pair of pants to you??? What's wrong with your eyes?? Ha ha...yeah. So...last night, I was in need of some creative time, and decided to have some fun with some new fabric I had received...from Sandi Henderson's Famer's Market line. I intended to make some cute pants for the girls, using this free pattern. So I set about piecing together my printed pattern, and cut my fabric.

Um...somehow, my brain missed the part where you have to put the two pieces of fabric RIGHT SIDE TOGETHER when you cut 2 of the same piece at the same time. Oops. Okay...no problem...managed to fix it...the legs will just be a bit narrower than originally intended.

Started sewing...ah, now we're moving. Uh...something's not quite right here...um...yeah...my brain just didn't quite grasp the concept that each piece I had cut was one LEG, and that they needed to be sewn to themselves, not to each other!! RIP the seam apart. Unfortunately, one thing I have learned how to do well is reinforce the beginnings and ends of my seams. Yeah...makes for lots of fun when ripping seams.

So I take one leg, put the sides together and start sewing...finally, a sigh of relief, we're on the right track. But wait...something's still not quite right. Yep...I've just sewn the crotch seam instead of the leg seam. And I realize at this point that because I looked at the pattern wrong, I've also CUT the fabric upside down, so there's just no way to fix it at this point.

And this is where it turns into a skirt!! I had no pattern for a skirt, however. At least, not the kind I wanted. But I was determined to have SOMETHING to show for my hours spent being "creative," and wanted to have a completed project before I went to bed. Finally, by 1:00 a.m., the skirt was finished. I thought about trying to add a ruffle to the hem, and I still may decide to do so, but I was just too tired last night, and didn't want to press my luck!! Besides, I kind of like the simplicity of it just as it is.

I do think I might try to do an apple applique on a white onesie, using the apple fabric, in the shape of an apple, using green thread with a zig-zag stitch. If I can figure that out. We'll see.

I think the waist is stretchy enough that both girls will be able to wear it for a while...don't know for sure, b/c Makayla's still sleeping, so I haven't tried it on her yet.

In addition to the lessons I learned above, I learned several other lessons...

• Rotary cutters are wonderful!! Much easier to use than scissors for cutting large pieces!!
  
• Always, always, always use the blade cover on your rotary cover. Even if you're just setting it down for a second.
  
• Scotch tape works well in absence of a bandaid for preventing blood from getting on your pretty fabrics when you've cut your pinky finger on your rotary cutter and you don't want to stop working to run upstairs and get a bandaid.
• Ironing seams is much easier than pinning them before sewing.
• A bright yellow post-it note works GREAT as a seam guide - much better than the built-in seam guides on the sewing machine!!

Lemons to lemonade, right?! I wanted a skirt, anyway...that was actually what I wanted to make in the first place, but I thought pants would be more practical...should have gone with my heart to begin with!!