{"id":7628,"date":"2016-06-22T16:07:51","date_gmt":"2016-06-22T21:07:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/?p=7628"},"modified":"2016-06-23T08:18:16","modified_gmt":"2016-06-23T13:18:16","slug":"monkeyboots-ironman-jim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/2016\/06\/monkeyboots-ironman-jim\/","title":{"rendered":"MonkeyBoots IronMan Jim"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/sock-monkey.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-7629\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7629\" src=\"https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/sock-monkey.jpg\" alt=\"sock monkey\" width=\"328\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/sock-monkey.jpg 328w, https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/sock-monkey-219x300.jpg 219w, https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/sock-monkey-109x150.jpg 109w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 328px) 100vw, 328px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m going to start this post with the good news.\u00a0 My grandson had told his mom on several occasions that he wished he had a sock monkey.\u00a0 As it so happened, I had 1 pair of sock monkey socks in my craft trunk so made it for him.\u00a0 For the record, I don&#8217;t like making sock monkeys.\u00a0 The sock fabric is too stretchy to be fun to work with, and heaven help you if you need to take a seam out.\u00a0 That being said, Jack thought he was the nuts (a little monkey humor there). It was all I could do to keep Jack away from the monkey while I was sewing and then while we waited for the little boy to come and get him.<\/p>\n<p>Well, the almost-five-year-old boy LOVED the monkey!\u00a0 Way more than I could have hoped for.\u00a0 So much that he gave him 3 names, just like the boy has 3 names.\u00a0 The monkey&#8217;s name is MonkeyBoots IronMan Jim.\u00a0 Quite the monkier for a little simian, don&#8217;t you think?\u00a0 I liked the humor in making this monkey a vest with another monkey (Julius Junior) on it.<\/p>\n<p>On to other sewing adventures&#8230;.<\/p>\n<p>I took both my courage and my scissors in hand and cut out the pattern pieces for my pants.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/pattern-cut-out.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-7630\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7630\" src=\"https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/pattern-cut-out.jpg\" alt=\"pattern pieces cut out\" width=\"338\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/pattern-cut-out.jpg 338w, https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/pattern-cut-out-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/pattern-cut-out-113x150.jpg 113w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 338px) 100vw, 338px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nI spent several hours yesterday sewing.\u00a0 Lessons learned or remembered quickly:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The handwoven definitely frays more than commercial fabric, so needed some type of seam treatment.<\/li>\n<li>French seams are tedious and time consuming, not something I was willing to do on these pants.<\/li>\n<li>Zigzag stitching was ok, but looked pretty ugly.<\/li>\n<li>Overlock stitch looked better than zigzag, but was better still when I sewed both raw edges together rather than doing them individually.<\/li>\n<li>I will not sew for money.\u00a0 Just like I won&#8217;t knit for money.\u00a0 I&#8217;ll do it as gifts or for myself, but that&#8217;s all.\u00a0 It&#8217;s not one of my favorite activities and I&#8217;m not interested in investing the kind of time and attention it needs to have a\u00a0 professional-looking finished product inside &amp; out.\u00a0 Don&#8217;t think I could get my money back on that kind of time commitment, either.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Ok, so this morning I sewed on the waistband, made the ties, and then could try the pants on for the first time. Lessons learned the hard way:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Although I&#8217;ve never done it and doubt that I&#8217;ll start now, it makes a lot of sense to make the pattern out of muslin (or similar) first so you have an idea of fit and can make adjustments as needed.<\/li>\n<li>Before getting this far, stop and think.  Do I own anything similar I can lay on the bed so I can compare shapes and sizes?<\/li>\n<li>Don&#8217;t believe either the measurements or the pictures on the pattern.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>When I sewed that <a href=\"https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/2016\/03\/bit-the-bullet\/\">vest <\/a>from my handwoven fabric I made a size medium.\u00a0 It&#8217;s really too small.\u00a0 You can fudge a bit with a vest, but I sure didn&#8217;t want to make that mistake again with the pants.\u00a0 Plus my actual body measurements were what the pattern called large, so I made the pants large.\u00a0 Big mistake.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/front-view.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-7631\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7631\" src=\"https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/front-view.jpg\" alt=\"pants, front view\" width=\"223\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/front-view.jpg 223w, https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/front-view-149x300.jpg 149w, https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/front-view-74x150.jpg 74w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 223px) 100vw, 223px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>They are SO big that it&#8217;s way too much fabric bunched up at my waist, and it sticks out very unattractively in both front and back.\u00a0 Only at this point did I realize I had been wearing a pair of drawstring waist cotton shorts, so I laid them on the bed to compare sizes.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/shorts-vs.-pants.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-7632\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7632\" src=\"https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/shorts-vs.-pants.jpg\" alt=\"comparing shorts &amp; pants waistlines\" width=\"450\" height=\"193\" srcset=\"https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/shorts-vs.-pants.jpg 450w, https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/shorts-vs.-pants-300x129.jpg 300w, https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/shorts-vs.-pants-150x64.jpg 150w, https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/shorts-vs.-pants-400x172.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Those pants are A LOT bigger.<\/p>\n<p>So I went back to the pattern and looked at the photo on the front again.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/pants-pattern.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-7633\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7633\" src=\"https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/pants-pattern.jpg\" alt=\"pants pattern\" width=\"332\" height=\"450\" \/><\/a>I realize that model&#8217;s probably an extra small, but there&#8217;s NO WAY that her pants fit the way mine are cut.\u00a0 Even if I&#8217;d made a medium instead of the large, the legs of my pants are WAY wider than hers, and the drawstring is gathered only slightly at her waist, too.\u00a0 False advertising!<\/p>\n<p>Now I know I <em>could<\/em> remove the waistband, take out the side seam pockets, re-cut the fabric, and re-sew.\u00a0 However I also know that taking out the waistband and the pockets will cause lots of fraying.\u00a0 While I have enough fabric to cut a whole new waistband, that&#8217;s not true for the pockets, and in reality, even it it were true, I know myself well enough to know I wouldn&#8217;t do it, and even if I did, I&#8217;d end up hating the pants for what they put me through and never wearing them anyway.<\/p>\n<p>So I pinned in some pleats on one side.\u00a0 Would I like that better?<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/side-with-pleats.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-7634\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7634\" src=\"https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/side-with-pleats.jpg\" alt=\"side view with pleats\" width=\"200\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/side-with-pleats.jpg 200w, https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/side-with-pleats-133x300.jpg 133w, https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/side-with-pleats-67x150.jpg 67w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s better, but is it <em>enough<\/em> better to make them wearable?\u00a0 Here&#8217;s a view of the side without the pinned in pleats.<a href=\"https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/side-without-pleats.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-7635\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7635\" src=\"https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/side-without-pleats.jpg\" alt=\"side view without pleats\" width=\"216\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/side-without-pleats.jpg 216w, https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/side-without-pleats-144x300.jpg 144w, https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/side-without-pleats-72x150.jpg 72w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 216px) 100vw, 216px\" \/><\/a>I do know this&#8230;I&#8217;m not going to make a decision and implement it in time to wear these pants for the show I&#8217;ve got this weekend.\u00a0 I&#8217;m also not going to blindly use the top pattern for my planned top; I may not use it at all.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m fed up.\u00a0 I&#8217;m tired from lack of sleep.\u00a0 I&#8217;m going to put away the sewing machine, put everything else in a bag or bin, and watch some mindless TV for a while.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/side-without-pleats.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-7635\">\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m going to start this post with the good news. My grandson had told his mom on several occasions that he wished he had a sock monkey. As it so happened, I had 1 pair of sock monkey socks in my craft trunk so made it for him. For the record, I don&#8217;t like [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,4],"tags":[530,557],"class_list":["post-7628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life-as-i-see-it","category-weaving","tag-cotton","tag-linen","odd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7628"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7628\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7638,"href":"https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7628\/revisions\/7638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/secondwindjewelry.com\/jewelry-weaving-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}