"New" Pants for Alex

Up to this point, Alex has had only one pair of pants - a pair of jeans from Springfield. They fit him well, since he began his life as a Springfield doll. However, they are majorly lacking in style - any kind of style. After looking at them for a few minutes, I realized it's all about the little details - double-stitching the seams, pockets, and stitching a mock fly.

I decided to try my hand at making a pair from my husband's discarded jeans. This was just a trial run, but it turned out so well that we're keeping them. I do plan to make another pair with additional details (see more about this further down) and the proper color thread (gold, not yellow).

Like the Springfield jeans, I used a Velcro closure instead of a zipper for the fly. I've never set-in a pants zipper before, and I certainly didn't want to learn on something this small. The one thing I added was topstitching, and it made all the difference. I plan to perfect the topstitching on the next one, but this is already better than the Springfield jeans.

I wanted to add faux seams at the sides, but I'm not that familiar with pants construction, so I didn't realize where I was supposed to add it until the pants were already sewn together. I'll add the topstitching before sewing the pieces next time.

I did add faux pockets, which turned out remarkably well, considering the fact that I freehanded them. It does bother me a wee bit that they end in nothingness, but oh well. These were a practice pair.

Here are the faux back pockets that are simply topstitching. I really like how they turned out! Since most outfits have the shirts untucked, all you really see from the pockets is the bottom. Who's to know that it's just topstitching? :)

Here's a full shot of them from the back.

I was able to make these from the bottom of one pant leg, taking advantage of the hemming on the original leg. My husband is on the slender side, so you should easily be able to make a pair from your own husband's. He doesn't have to be a size 2X or anything.