I present to you my first single welt pocket. It’s my second, actually, but you know where they say to slash the opening for the pocket but DON’T cut through the other pieces? That’s what I did.
Which is why you do a practice one first. It’s actually pretty straight forward and I love the finish. These are for the jeans I cut out before we went to Madeira but didn’t get a chance to sew up.
This outfit-a-month thing is working well for me. I made a blouse to go with the spring pants I showed a while ago. It’s been a heck of a week for me – I was hoping to have this finished a good while ago – but that’s how things go.
The weather has finally warmed up enough to make wearing the pants an option some days now. They have pros and cons: they’re amazingly comfortable and pliable (you can see that they already look a bit looser from having been worn a few times), but they wrinkle and tend to pick up fluff. As for the blouse, here are the details!
Pattern: Alma blouse by Sewaholic.
Fabric: Cotton poplin from Murphy Sheehy’s. I used about 2m because I wanted the full-length sleeves. The trim I got from Rubanesque. The total cost was somewhere in the region of €20-25. I didn’t have to use the trim but I think it’s nice and was happy to pay for something unique.
I made a few modifications. I (thankfully!) made a muslin first, cutting a size 2. The fit at the neckline and shoulders was great but too fitted throughout the body. It was only a bit – I could still squeeze in and out without needing a zip – so when I cut my actual fabric, I cut 2 for the neckline and collar, and 4 for everything else, including the armholes. This was a good adjustment.
Putting the trim was a pain. At first I wanted to use some piping because that’s what I had to hand and I thought it would be nice. It was but I didn’t really know what I was doing. In a desperate attempt to smooth out lumps, I trimmed my seam allowance too closely. Then in an attempt to salvage that, I topstitched the whole thing. It was a mess. Thankfully I had just enough fabric left over to cut another collar. Then, using this excellent tutorial on applying trim to a peter pan collar, I carefully got my new trim to behave itself. It wasn’t that hard.
As you can see, the collar lies pretty well. I have had all sorts of nightmares with peter pan collars. I think they are so pretty but my narrow shoulders don’t work well with something so curved.
The only other thing I think is worthy of mention is the cuffs. The instructions for the placket and cuffs is pretty limited. It’s fine if you’ve sewn them before, but if not, watch out! Look up a youtube video before progressing. It’s not particularly difficult but the diagrams are not at all clear. I discovered when I finished that I don’t even need to open the cuffs to get my hand through so if I make another long-sleeved version of this, I will probably leave off the cuffs altogether. Nice to have the option though.
I love to see how blouses with collars lie underneath a top layer such as a cardigan or pullover. Such photos are hard to come by so I thought I’d start the ball rolling maybe! Here is a very typical I’m-a-piano-teacher outfit.
So, two thumbs up for the Alma pattern! I’m looking forward to sewing up some other variations.
I made these in the hopes that they would encourage Spring along. No joy yet, though if today is anything to go by, the April showers part is well underway.
Pattern: #122 from Burda 1/13. This is a reallllly basic slim-leg pants pattern, perfect for woven fabric, and one I’ve noticed that they repeat in different guises frequently. So if you missed that issue, chances are they’ll have it again soon – this month’s issue has a model very similar and also includes shorts and capri-length pants.
These pants actually started out as a different pair cut from a vintage pattern I bought online a while ago. They seemed similar but have pockets and so decided to give them a go. In my experience, the sizes I buy for vintage patterns have been exactly on the money, fit-wise, so I didn’t bother to make a muslin first. Yikes! Although the waist (I guess you could call it that) and the hip both fit ok, the crotch depth was a bit long. I noticed this when pinning but figured it would be ok, it didn’t seem too long. However, I did not take into account just how deep the waistband was. The two together meant that the pants came up to my boobs! Holy cow! Thankfully, it turning out so big meant that I definitely had enough to cut the Burda pattern out of the existing pant legs.
Fabric: About 2m of Tilda cotton from the inimitable Rubanesque. Did you know they’re hiring at the moment? Get your CV in!
I had already interfaced the waistband from the previous pants so I just used that instead; it fit perfectly.
I had to make a few tiny tweaks to the fit of the hips but otherwise, it came together easily. I went on a bit of a perfection-fest with the top-stitching. Usually in wool pants and skirts, I hand-stitch the waistband down on the inside. It does give a nice finish but my main motivation for doing it is more that I am afraid of my top-stitching not being very good. I have been following the Archer sew-a-long over at Grainline Studios. Her discussion of top-stitching made me realise that this is something that’s never going to go away and that the sooner I figure out a way that works for me, the better.
So! I tried out a few different feet to try out various visual guides. I became quite confuddled about sewing at 1/16″. It got to the point where I wasn’t actually sure what I was striving for. Before taking out my attempt for the fourth or fifth time, I decided to measure. Turns out what I had been attempting was more along the lines of 1/32″. Insane! Impossible to handle and barely distinguishable from any sort of distance. I went back to my usual presser foot and, using a combination of moving the needle position and the 1/8″ guide on the foot, achieved a reliable 1/16″. Hallelujah!
It’s nice to be able to learn something from a project I’ve already made before. I hemmed the pants to 27″ leg and they’re pretty much a perfect length. For my last pair, I was forced into making them shorter due to fabric constraints, so this was satisfying. The fabric is really soft and comfortable and I’m looking forward to wearing these alot over the next few months.
I don’t know why these crack me up, but they do. I start laughing when I put them on and it’s possible I may dance too.
Pattern: Model 122 from Burda magazine, 1/13 (January 2013).
Fabric: About 75cm of wool leftover from this dress. Still incredulous I squeezed a pair of pants out of it! I used it ALL up. Very satisfying.
Modifications: I cut the pattern out for a size 40 – I should have tapered to a size 38 for the waist. I ended up doing that in the fitting anyway. I cut the leg to a 26″ inseam. It sounds crazy but I have really short legs. I bought a pair of pants in the Debenham’s sale which I really like the length of. I measured them and cut these pants the same.
Action shot to show the waistband! Actually, I did not think my feet were going to be in the photo but there we go. I cut the waistband longer because I had it to spare – it’s only a long rectangle – but I should have noted the length stated in the pattern. It requires a fair amount of easing in to prevent gaping. I figured this out afterwards. It didn’t matter really because I had to take the waistband off to fit the waist better anyway.
I took a whole 8cm from the width of each inseam between the top of the leg and my knee! I was very high tech about it. I pinched the excess out and used a pin to mark it. I sewed a new line from the crotch to the knee and then overlocked out the excess and old seam. Easy.
This is how short I was on material. It was this or not have pants! I took a scant 1/4″ to attach the bias binding and sewed the binding down by hand. Actually… I’m amazed that it worked so well. It looks fine.
All in all, a super easy pattern and I love the result! I am really happy to have used up the remnants of that wool and to have two garments whose differences are significant enough that I can wear both frequently.
…to wish you all a happy new year! I hope everyone has been enjoying the holidays – I certainly have. I managed to do a little bit of a lot of things.
I intend to do a recap of 2012 but for now, I have a few updates on what I’ve been working on. I don’t have any knitting to show because the brown jumper I knit for Alb is in the wash… and the two pairs of socks I knit in December are now with their new owners! I didn’t get much else knit because I was reasonably occupied coming up to Christmas and decided not to stress myself out with extra projects. I did, however, sew my mum a cardigan. No pictures because I forgot to take some before I wrapped it up but you can see what it looks like here. I am also making her a pair of pants from a Simplicity pattern.
There was such an array of sizing options to choose from that getting this to fit out of the packet was quite easy. The pockets were tricky enough and I was not crazy about the instructions for the fly but it all worked out quite nicely. I put piping along the pockets to give a bit of definition. These are very nearly finished; all that remains to be done is a closure for the waistband and the hems.
I’m not sure why I decided to do this but right before Christmas, I decided to make something out of my beloved bird fabric that I got at the 2011 K&S show. I really wanted to try out this New Look pattern which looks so cool! And easy! And it was!
…Only the neckline is gigantic – a hippo’s yawning expanse does not come close – to the point where it’s almost falling off my shoulders. It is very peculiar. The whole rest of the dress, including the armholes, are a great fit but the neckline is so out of proportion that it pulls the garment in a most ugly manner. Having gone to the trouble of making the sleeves longer and putting cuffs on them, I was a little upset. But in the cool, calming light of January I see now that this can be easily salvaged by cutting a better front yoke (which I thankfully have enough fabric for). The piping is cool, isn’t it? And I really like the cuffs. It will be worth the salvage I think.
Lastly, I have been rather in love with a number of Burda patterns from their recent magazines. Since July, each magazine has at least two patterns that I am crazy about. I was prepared to be disappointed in the January issue since half of it is fancy dress costumes (I’m not sure why, maybe it’s a German thing for New Year’s?). However within its pages I found a simple pants and top that I traced immediately. Like, yesterday and finished the pants today.
It wasn’t the pants pattern per se but more the notion that 1. I have a wonderful grey and purple dotty wool leftover from this dress. (I have been bursting to use it but have been limited by the leftovers. Really, it was only enough for a skirt and I didn’t want to make a skirt that looked exactly like the dress. I would probably end up only wearing one or the other then and it would be a waste. But pants!) 2. I am fascinated by the exploding circus that is the J. Crew capri pants. (I think this is testiment to whoever styles such products. Something about it makes me shout, Me! That can be me! despite knowing that pants like those make you look like you fell into a paint display in Woodie’s.)
Their making is worthy of a post it’s own. They weren’t difficult in the slightest but being limited by the fabric made the project into a quick triumph.
Hopefully I’ll be back tomorrow with more photos and my 2012 roundup!
