Wool Pants

The Felted Blanket Wool Pants, first attempt, are Done!

OK, all you nature school friendz.  Here they are!  The first go round of super thick, warm, soft and felted wool pants cut from an old wool blanket that I felted in the washer.  What do ya think?  I wish you could see and feel these in person.  If I played in the woods every week for several hours I would certainly be making myself a pair, stat!

Here they are unhemmed.  Jasper was not so sure about these at first.  They really are SO thick.  But now they are hemmed and he is getting used to what they feel like.  I think they will be superb when worn with his REI undergarments.  To me they are super soft but his sensitive skin may need the long-john barrier.  I left off the pockets for now since the front ones on this pattern require sewing them into the side seems.  I could see no way that my machine would play nice with that much thickness!  I have an old pair of his cargo pants that I may just cut the pockets off of and attach to these.  They would be cotton pockets but I think it would be OK.  Also, I may use a contrasting felted wool piece to make knee patches but I can add these or pockets any time.  For now he just needs a chance to wear them for a day to see how they hold up.  It was so nice on Friday he wore "regular" clothes to Tracks and Tales.

Here is a back view.  I used the thickest felted blanket I had to try to ensure durability.  I have several more blankets but I am thinking they wont felt up as thick as this.  Which makes me wonder if I can make these for other children and have them last.  I was hoping to make and sell some but I would need to feel good about the undestructiveness of the pants!  I have a load of blankets in the wash now so we will see if they felt as thick as this.  This particular blanket has a nice basket weave type of pattern to it as well that seems to add to its strength.

I used a vintage canvas type material for the waistband and draw string.  We'll see how this holds up too.  The drawstrings are attached to elastic that goes across the back but inside the waistband.  And the elastic is stretched a bit and attached to the side seems where it also attaches to the drawstrings.  Does that make sense?  So the elastic can't move around and the drawstrings finish up the job of cinching the pants on tight enough to stay up.  This method works nicely to prevent losing your drawstrings inside your waistband casing.

So the experiments continue!  All the extra length on these just got hemmed up to the inside so I can let the hem out as Jasper continues to become a giant!  And if they last that long.  I was concerned about the hemming because that doubled again the thickness I was trying to sew through.  But it worked!  My machine complained just a tad but with a little finessing it cooperated.

What are you all making, upcycling, or repurposing these days?

Do what you love friendz!  Make art, create, imagine!

Don't Follow your Head, just Follow Your Heart.

xoxox -

Jennette