Corduroy

Over the past 3 weeks I've discovered corduroy! OK, *I* didn't discover it, obviously, but for the first time in the ~30 years I've been sewing I made something out of it! Actually, three things:

1. Oliver + S sandbox pants for the boy. OK, these weren't the most fun sewing I ever did but the pattern was well-written and the pants turned out nicely.


Last year the boy wore Comfort Cords from Hanna Andersson. These are great but they're expensive ($34 plus shipping) and the corduroy just can't match the quality of the gorgeous Spechler-Vogel featherwale from Sweet Treasures (that might sound like a sex toy site but it's actually an heirloom sewing shop). It's so soft and smooth. . . .

But we'll see how it holds up. I'm not optimistic; corduroy shows wear terribly and I patched the knees in all the boy's corduroy pants last year at least twice. But this year at least the patches can be the same fabric as the rest of the pants.


2. Navy Mary Jane jumper from Collars Etc. This is a good, plain jumper for everyday. The pattern only has two pieces (one front, one back); you cut them in the outside fabric (here the same beautiful Spechler Vogel corduroy) and in a lining. Sewing was easy and would have been fast except for the rickrack trim around the neck, armholes and hem. I sewed the rickrack onto the corduroy super slowly and carefully and then sewed on the same lines again to attach the corduroy and lining to each other.

Instead of one large button on each shoulder I used two small ones that I pulled off of a 10-year old J Crew sweater that was in my donation pile.

3. Bright pink Kitty jumper from Children's Corner patterns.


When I pulled out the fabric from the Sweet Treasures envelope I thought, "Oops. Too bright. This is what I get for ordering off the internet." But, happily, once sewn up it looks great to me. The jumper is certainly bright but not overwhelming as it was when seen in one big piece.

I think this jumper is gorgeous. The girl wishes it had pockets.