A while back I mentioned scoring a McCall’s pattern for $1.00 at a sale and was excited to whip up some pants for my Little Guy.

After searching for appropriate spring fabric for a boy I finally came across a pale green seersucker cotton and decided it was time to attempt this pattern.  I knew going in to this process that I would be eliminating several elements right away.  I wanted my son to be able to wear these on Easter Sunday to church and dinner, so I thought it would be best that they not be too casual.  The first details to go were the side pockets and then I also nixed the tabs and buttons for holding up the rolled legs.  So, I was left with a simple pair of pants that had flap topped back pockets, side waist pockets and an elastic waist band.  It made the fabric purchase a little less expensive and lucky for me I already had the elastic, thread and a button for the waist detail on hand.

The pattern was easy to follow and I moved right through it very quickly.  But, just as with the PJ pattern that I followed a while back, the sizing was all off.  Although the measurements listed for size 2T matched up to his measurements the pants ended up being enormous!  The entire time I was working on the pants I kept thinking they were going to swallow him alive, but I kept going because so often things end up considerably smaller once the seams are all finished.  I will admit my child is extra skinny, however I was not prepared for how much too big these ended up being.  I did a fit check and made some more measurements before proceeding to rework the entire pattern.

In the end I removed about 10 inches from the waist and about 3 inches from the length of the hem.  Since the waist came in so much I decided to remove the back pockets and flaps because they were just too large once everything was cinched up.  I also added a waistband made from the same seersucker fabric (the pattern called for a knit waist line from contrasting fabric with elastic or a drawstring), overlapping it with the faux zipper flap and stitching a button in place after threading the elastic through.  Once all these changes were finished I cut the back pockets down and stitched a smaller, patch pocket in place minus the flap tops.  The finished product had a much tighter fit along the top portion with wide, straight legs.

I had hoped to use some of the extra fabric to create a matching necktie, but I ran out of time.  Plus, it ended up being a chilly morning which necessitated a sweater, so the tie would have just been lost behind the zipper anyway.  My Little Guy really liked them and he received lots of compliments.  When I picked him up at Sunday School after Easter Service I smiled at how all the kids in the room matched in their pastel Easter clothes.  They were like little Easter eggs running around all hyped up on candy!  Cute!

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend!  Did you make anything special for the big day?

Erika