Completed at last (!!), age 5 fur backed joggers and sweatshirts

 

These took far longer to make than anticipated and I lost and found my hex screws for my needles during the making. 

Finally though, and with much hassle from breaking needles, breaking threads etc they finally got finished. I ended up giving up on using either overlocker for these. 

I ended up with 2 pairs of joggers and 3 tops. I could probably get another top or some patchwork trousers from the remnants but the fabric is sheer hell to sew, so I do not expect I will be bothering. Or at the least not for a year or so until I can recover from this long winded tortuous episode.

There are enough garments here for any UK winter to boost a play clothes wardrobe aimed at outdoor playgroups. These are all made from fur backed sweatshirting so not your usual sweatshirting and the fabric is very thick. Its really not ( probably) worth the time and effort it will take to make another garment from the offcuts though there is enough fabric left and I hate to waste money. I will never be buying more of this particular fabric again. I knew it was hard to sew when I made the Unicorn dress but I forgot just HOW hard!

The Brother overlocker just bent and broke needles and broke the threads ( thats besides my losing a hex screw episode!) and the Janome just got the fabric stuck and refused to feed it and I thought one pair of trousers would be trashed. I did manage to save them, though they are slightly smaller than the other pair. Thats Ok, because the child they are for is a large aged 3 years and yes these trousers already fit.  I decided not to add the bands on the trouser leg hems though, thinking I can add them next year to make them longer, because he does not have the height yet of a 5 year old, though is not far off! The size is BTrendy 116cm. I am not sure I will be doing that though after all this hassle. They may just stay as they are. He can wear them with rolled hems until he grows and then just gradually unroll them. Its a style I bought actually but thought why not copy because it works well just having bits to unroll to make them longer. 

So anyway, after all the problems sewing this fabric, I have ended up with a mix of sewing techniques to get them finished.  

The green hoody is zigzagged round the neck to get the hood attached without problems.

For the blue trousers, I sewed the ribbed waistband to the trousers, added the elastic to the ribbed band then over locked the edge and sewed down using a zigzag. 

Not at all 100% perfect but should stand up to play including outside play. Certainly not saleable (though I never have tried) so not quite up to the RTW standards of most shops. Child won't care. Neither does Mum.

The green pair I added too short a waistband. Because its so hard to sew I did not want to do what I normally would, and unpick the waistband and change it. It was firmly attached and thats so hard with this stuff. So I had the idea to add a contrast lining to it and its turned out really well. I may do this in future to something just for looks. Its a nice twist. This pair have a normally made ( for me) elastic attached to the top edge of waistband, folded over twice and then sewn down. No issues with this because other than attaching to the trousers in the first step I was just sewing the normal fabric not this extra thick fur backed stuff. 

This was twin needle stitched. I can't actually decide whether its best using a zigzag or a twin needle but either works better than the overlockers which just cannot handle more than 2 thicknesses of fabric so won't sew for example over the pocket area or where the overlap is on the front of the hood neck. I suppose the front neck has a hemmed piece on both sides as well as the top fabric so has 5 thicknesses of fabric. Normally my Brother wouldn't balk at this with your standard type of sweatshirting or with wools etc. But this is really thick and so of course also really warm which is why I wanted to use it for a certain small person who likes playing outside even in the rain and snow. 

He was making icey mud pies not so long ago. It was scary to see his little hands almost blue in a  bucket of muddey icey water to be honest, but its just what he seems to enjoy. Anyway very warm clothing layered with thermals and outer fleeces and waterproofs is really the order of the day for this particular small person.

I am not sure you can tell from the photo but the backing is seriously like fur. I think though it would be easier in future if I make something like this, to make it with a lining rather than use this stuff. That would work just as well and be much easier to sew.

So this is my final photo of this lot. I have had a few lighting issues - it being deep darkest winter. Its also a problem with seeing to sew after 2pm (14.00) so I need some better lighting. I have not yet investigated that. I might just need a daylight bulb. Its just too dark to do anything right now. I do have a lamp which is great for sitting knitting but it does not light the sewing area very well so I need something better. 

I also ( today) need to pay a visit to the Winwick Mum website to see whats happening with this years Knit along - the Winter Haven KAL which is starting this week so I shall be taking part again in that.

 Just not sure what to knit as yet. Either the new free pattern or the easy lacey sock pattern I have been considering for ages. Lacey socks would be nice for spring and summer don't you think?

Thanks for popping by. I hope you are keeping well and if in the North hemisphere keep warm won't you. Its so very cold right now, and if the UK is cold, I am sure much of Europe is colder so keep well and safe. Have a great week,

Bracken