I recently scored a nice, inexpensive, refurbished sewing machine.  I hemmed a pair of pajama pants that were about four inches too long for John, then thought, “Hey – pajama pants would be a nice, easy project in general.”  Cheap, cheerful – great weekend project.  I even found this Instructables article on using your own favorite pants as templates for making your own.  Cool.  We kind of live in pajama pants around here, so this makes all kinds of sense.  John is especially in need of a few new pairs, so he was to get the first fruits of my labor.

John and I had an errand-running day, and we fit in a trip to the biggest local fabric emporium while we were out.  I said, “So what were you thinking about for fabric?”  Poor John looked like realized he was an inadvertent contestant on “Who Wants to be Asked Questions They Never Considered” – a new game show we apparently have in development at our house.

“Um… I hadn’t thought about it.”

“Well, look around.  See anything you like?”

John almost immediately gravitated towards azure fabric with sharks on it.  “I kind of like the sharks,” he said, fingering the fabric uncertainly.

“Okay, you want the sharks?”  I asked.

“I dunno,” he replied.  At this point, I realize that the woman helming the cutting table in this department is trying hard not to laugh.

“Do you want Wookies, maybe?  Tie-fighters?”  I glance over again.  The clerk is doing a fair impression of stoicism, but there’s some quivering of the lip going on.  Her eye is twitching.  “It’s okay,” I tell her.  “Everybody laughs at us – go ahead.”  She dissolves.

We got the sharks.

Upon arriving home, I throw the fabric in the wash and grab John’s favorite pajama pants to trace out a template on craft paper.  A few hours later, when John comes back from a bike ride, I have him try them on before I do the final hems and install the elastic.

They don’t fit.

They don’t fit HIM anyway.

I’m going back later this week for more shark chintz and a proper pattern.