boys outfit.

[blujeans1008]

hi guys.

 

here I am again. i need help. i hope you don't mind.

the issues i am having are with the sleeves and the shorts. well start with the sleeves. I follow the pattern until it measures the appropriate length. 2 inches, something doesn't look right though. there's no way its big enough for a 2 year old and definitely not long enough. ( I will attach a photo of the sleeve). typical way a sleeve is made is u make 2 identical pieces. u divide it halfway between the front and back pieces then it becomes folded. it is then sewed together. this sleeve does not work that way at all. HELP!!

Second is the shorts. I started the pattern. it tells me to repeat rows 2 and 3 till it measures 2 1/2 inches. then it says to decrease 2 stitches at beginning and end for next 3 rows decreasing to 47 stiches at final step. the issue im having here is i can't decrease like it says and still follow the pattern.

have any of you run into the amount of trouble i have on multiple patterns. i have heard that patterns are not written correctly. i don't know if that's the case here. let me know. I'm stuck.

let me know if you have any questions.

 

thanks

 

[blujeans1008]

I kinda figured that out last night but tore it out caus3 of the 36 and not 34. ill do that 2nite and add in 2 more decreases along the way. now I like the idea of sc2together instead of just skipping. so when it comes time to "skip" how do I get the sc2together part to work. i may see it easier when I have the work in front of me.

 

thanks

[blujeans1008]

how does that look? so far

[Granny Square]

Yay!  Shape looks right so far, don't forget to check your measurements to the diagram. 

[blujeans1008]

 ok guys. here are the 2 pieces of the shorts. how do I put them together now.

[magiccrochetfan]

Lay one piece on top of the other.   If the pattern indicates front and back, be sure you match those.  Then sew the center seams, then the leg seams.  This page has an illustration https://www.made-by-rae.com/2013/06/super-seams/    Steps 1-2, I don't think you will need 3-4.  

[Granny Square]

Nice site for showing how to seam the shorts.  Just for clarity, here is what the first 2 seams are going to look like - although you are sewing 2 sides of your 'bells' together, the seams will end up in the front and the back., and the curve that goes under the crotch.  I'm only showing 1 of your pieces, because you will place 1 on top of the other to sew them up.

The part that is left unsewn, the short wide vertical edges at the bottom of the bell, will be the short seams of the inside pant leg.  See in step 2 of the instruction that Magiccrochetfan posted above, once you sew the seams I've outlined below, you fold the pants so the front and back seam are meeting each other in the front and back, and then sew the short seam, which will be a straight seam as you sew it but will end up as ∩ shape when worn.

 

[blujeans1008]

so I lay them on top of each other. and sew them together where the red marks are? what do I do with the short "bell" ends. sew those to each other.

I'll try looking at the diagram and see how they go together before sewing..

 

thanks guys

[magiccrochetfan]

55 minutes ago, blujeans1008 said:

so I lay them on top of each other. and sew them together where the red marks are?

yes. ( that's such a helpful graphic, Granny Square!)

i think the linked diagram makes it pretty clear what comes next.  but the idea will be to fold the now-seamed piece so that the seams lie at the center, as shown.  then sew the crotch seam to form the legs.  

[blujeans1008]

ok so the shorts are together.

one ? I have is...why do the "legs" part to in towards each other..is that ok.

any reason to be concerned about it.

[Granny Square]

It looks great!  I think it will look fine when worn.  It is going to look a little weird when you try to fold it flat like that, don't forget little boys are 3 dimensional, and so are the pants so they fit comfortably. 

 

[blujeans1008]

i have to do plackets for the sweater. for the buttons. theres a total of 53 stitches. in the pattern it says to crochet 34 single crochets.

how do I do that. fit in 34 sc evenly across when there's 53 stitches

[Granny Square]

Oh boy, math!  .  One nice thing about crochet is that you can fudge a little, so when numbers don't come out evenly like this, you really can't tell.

53 divided by 34 is 1.56, so it is going to come close to make 1 sc into each of the next 2 stitches, and skip a stitch.  Or what would look better would be sc 2 together (decreases) instead of skipping for fewer gaps.  

When I have something like this, and it isn't over something huge like 200 stitches, I draw a picture.  53 stitches isn't too bad. 

xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx  OK, here's the first pass picture: x is SC, - is a skipped/decreased stitch.  This isn't quite right yet; I just showed you this as an illustration on how 'drawing a picture' works (for me). I start with something  (that I know will be 'close' by doing the math first, like I did above) and tweak from there.  There are 18 groups of 2 SC and 17 skipped stitches; 18 times 2 is 36, plus 17 is 53.  So I have covered 53 stitches but have 2 too many SCs here, you need 34 not 36, so you need 2 more decreases.  I'd either add them near to each end, or spread them out evenly-ish across, something like this:

xx-x-x-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-x-x-xx  close to the ends (added decreases underlined)

xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-x-x-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-x-x-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx spread evenly-ish

[blujeans1008]

i think I do have it afterall. ill attach a photo of one of the pieces after finished

[blujeans1008]

ok so in ur "picture" I know x's are sc and - are decreases/skips. how do achieve the sc2together when the stitch is supposed to be skipped. maybe im missing it

xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx

I do understand the overall pattern of ur x's and -'s

 

[blujeans1008]

i got it...thanks

[Granny Square]

Sorry I wasn't around earlier.  The sc 2 together uses 2 stitches from the row below, but forms only 1 stitch in the current row for stitch-counting purposes.

[blujeans1008]

ok last part for the outfit. I have crochet the top part of the shorts to fold over and put the elastic in.

I was reading the instructions and it doesn't really match what the top part looks like.

if you read the directions it says told down around outside edge and see seams. well there really is no seams. i just kept making rounds.

I'll attach 2 photos. one of the directions and one of the pants with the top part for the elastic.

thanks guys

[Granny Square]

You've already sewn all the seams for the shorts, right (front back, crotch).  

So what you need to do now is sew the casing to itself. and insert the elastic, so sew the top edge of the light blue to the bottom edge of the light blue but leave a gap at the center back - don't finish it off with the back, just stop sewing and leave the thread dangling, as you'll be sewing it up after the next step.

What I do when inserting an elastic into casing is put a safety pin overlapping the cut edge of the elastic, so it acts sort of like a lumpy "needle" that you can feel thru the casing to push/pull the elastic along.  Stick the safety pin with elastic dangling from it into the gap you've left in the casing, and with your fingers feeling the safety pin, push/pull the safety pin all the way thru around the casing, a few inches at a time until it meets up with itself.  It will probably gather the casing as you do this, just keep hold of the safety pin and smooth out the gathers, pull a few inches more, repeat. 

Come to think of this I've only ever done this with nice smooth fabric; just be careful not to snag the crochet threads with the safety pin.  If it does snag, maybe you could try wrapping a short length of scrap yarn around the head of the safety pin.  It just acts as something you can grab that attaches to the elastic.

When the safety pin comes out the other end of the hole in the casing, overlap and securely sew the ends of the elastic together (I'd use sewing  thread not yarn for this), and finish sewing up the gap in the casing with the last of the yarn used for sewing the casing together.

I've crudely drawn the sewing line (red) for the casing showing the gap, the elastic (too skinny, I know, should be closer in width to the size of the casing) in yellow with safety pin ready to stick into the gap in the casing.

[blujeans1008]

thanks guys I think I understand what to do pretty well. the picture really helps.

I'll let u know how it turns out.

[blujeans1008]

how far down do i fold the light blue. where the dark blue starts to show up or do I told the light blue just in half.

[Granny Square]

The way I'm reading it, and they way the casings usually work, is that you sew the top end of the light blue to where the light blue began, at the top of the pants.  (fold waistband to the outside and sew seam; they didn't mention folding it down over the pants, so I'm assuming just folding the waistband in half)

Check the diagram, which had measurements, and see which way works.  Meeting the measurement is the important part, however you have to fold it to get there.

[blujeans1008]

what's the best way for me to hand sew the elastic ends together.

[Granny Square]

I usually overlap them a little bit (maybe 1/2 inch) and just sew a running stitch ( - - - - - ) back and forth in a zig zag or big X shape to (hopefully) make sure it doesn't come undone.  use sewing thread not yarn.

[blujeans1008]

all done...

[Granny Square]

 Looks great!