Pants

drafted to my exact measurements!

Several weeks back, our local ASG chapter had their Spring Fling workshop.  One of the offerings was called “Pants Fitting”.  I signed up, thinking  it would be a fun birthday present for myself, and my good friend Earin.  As classes go, it was by far one of the very best classes, bar none, that I have ever taken.

Absolutely Fantastic! While the class description was “pants fitting” the class was actually creating a pants draft.  As in a pants pattern drafted to our own specific measurements.  I mean, really…  How Perfect Is That?

First we measured, and trust me, only a very, very good friend would be willing to get that close, and be honest about what the numbers are.  Then we drew a straight line on our tracing paper… and using our measurements,  blocked out the pattern piece by piece.  Waist.  High hip.  Hip.  Crotch depth. Thigh. Knee.

Sometimes it reminded me of that old song – the hip bone’s connected to the thigh bone, or in our case, it was Line K is connected to Point M.

The instructor was great.  She took no nonsense from anyone, but also made sure no one fell behind or dawdled.

Last but not least was cutting the draft out of fabric, and doing a final fitting.  A couple of darts added in back, and Ta Da! Pants! Pants that fit! Pants that fit well! Regardless of their size or shape, everyone left that class with pants that fit.

Sewin’ at the Sew-In

Well, as usual, my sewing expectations for the Sew-In were considerably higher than my output.  Which is not a problem, at all.  These are the items I completed, which I am very pleased with.  Looking back, I was a bit full of myself, thinking I would get 6 garments and a quilt top sewn.  Still, a girl’s got to have goals!

Simplicity 3754.  A lightweight denim skirt with funky skull fabric used for the pocket bags and facings.  I’ve made this pattern in an upholstery weight cotton before, and found I really like it.  The pattern is one of those standards – easy to assemble and always looks pulled together.

There is a kick pleat in the back for walking ease.  Another nice feature is that the pockets are deep enough to hold car keys and coinage, always a good thing.

I also did what I swore I would never do again:  top stitch using a different thread, and only have 1 machine.  So, there was more thinking involved than usual on assembly.  How much could I sew regularly before I had to change thread and needle to do the top stitching? The top stitching thread is a heavy weight variegated cotton.   While the buttons look to be two different colors, that’s an effect of the flash.  They are the same.

New Look 6407:  I spent so much time fitting this pattern, I plan to get a lot of use out of it.

The fabric is part of “the good stuff” stash, which I got from Gorgeous Fabrics.  It is a stretch cotton with lovely weight.  Not too heavy, not too light.  Does this make it Goldilocks fabric?

I used a complementary fabric for the facings.  Little did I know when I cut it out this style of combining fabrics would be featured in Linda Lee’s article “Gender Bender”  in the September issue of Threads.  Basically it talks about adapting some of the trends in menswear shirting to womens garments – this is one of ‘em!

Lastly is another pair of Hot Patterns Marrakesh pants.  These also assembled pretty easily.

Unlike the two previous garments I still have a little bit of work to do – hemming, waistband button and changing out the ties.

I used the same linen the pants are made of for the ties, and find that I don’t like it.  Too bulky and it makes too big a bow on the front.  Picky, picky, picky, I know.

I have some silky lining fabric that will work just fine.  This little fix is on the agenda for today.  As usual, the pockets and facings are a different fabric.  So far as I know, this isn’t a trend in mens trousers, but maybe I’m ahead of the pack?

Ready. Set. Sew!

In 2 weeks, at the end of June, it will be time for Sew-In 2010, and I can’t wait!

I think I’m just about ready too!  Patterns have been traced.  Fabric has been cut and interfacing ironed on.  Thread, zippers and buttons have been acquired.  I’m sure there is something I will forget, but for now, whatever it is escapes me.

These are the six items I hope to finish:

• One pair of denim shorts which hopefully won’t look too Daisy Mae.
• A denim skirt. Always useful.
• Hibiscus Shirt from Sewing Workshop, finally cutting into some good fabric
• A shirt / jacket from Louise Cutting’s pattern line.  I plan to have a lot of fun with the stripes on this one.  They go every which way!
• Another New Look shirt.  I spent so much time fitting this pattern, I plan to get a lot of use out of it
• Lastly, another pair of Marrakesh pants with embroidered flip flops.

The Sew-In is a weekend  retreat, running from Friday through Sunday which is put on by my local ASG chapter.  We take over one of the local hotels in an all-inclusive sewing extravaganza.  80 people all sewing away in their grand ballroom.  We overnight, so can sew as late as we wish.  We are fed, so no need to leave the premises.  It’s wonderful! No worries.  No fuss.  No bother.

I usually take more than I ever complete, so I’ve scaled back this year.  Now my concern is will I have enough to do?  Maybe I better toss in one more thing….

Hot Patterns: Marrakesh Pants

Flora takes to lounging about in her new Hot Patterns Marrakesh pants.   Aren’t they just the the elephants trumpet!  (You know, like cat’s meow, except saying cat’s meow in Marrakesh doesn’t have an exotic zing, now does it?) These are from a mediocre quality linen I picked up at Joann’s.  They are also part of the ongoing stash reduction efforts.

Ahem.  Stash reduction.  Yes.  Well, maybe.  One of these days.  Perhaps.  Back to the pants!

The pattern came out – I think it was last summer, from the lovely Trudy and Jeremy of Hot Patterns.  It’s taken until now for me to give them a whirl, and I must say, they are lovely!  Simple enough to put together, that I didn’t even look at the (wordy and pictorial) instructions.

Not only that, I traced a straight 12, measured the pattern against my TNT Jalie pants, and guess what?  No changes needed!  Woohoo!

A feature I like about this pattern is there’s an extra piece which you use to face the pocket opening, so the non-matching pocket bag doesn’t show.  At first, I wasn’t sure about this, but as I wore them, and saw how this little addition operated in day-to-day wear, I liked it more and more.  It sure beat sewing an extra piece on top, and adding thickness where thickness is not needed.

Yes, these pants also have my traditional, non-traditional, non-matching pocket lining and waistband facing.   If I should ever follow instructions, and make the facings/interior waistband out of fashion fabric my friends have strict instructions to take me away for deprogramming.  Space aliens will have invaded my body.

Maybe I went a little overboard on these, since the zipper isn’t  color coordinated either.  It’s what I had to hand, and I was not going out just to get a white zipper.  I used 1 inch elastic, threaded through the waistband, which gives a bit more substance than something thinner would.

What doesn’t show up in the photos is the fact that the fabric has a silver thread through it, so the pants have a subtle sparkle when they move.

What I did wrong – used generic bias binding for the ties.  I think they need something softer, for a loopier bow.  I also made the fly shield too large.  It shoud be at least 1/2 inch narrower.  But that’s a minor nit.

Hmmm.  I wonder how these would work up as shorts?

Jalie 968

The jeans are done!  Here they are, modeled by Flora.  The pattern is Jalie 968, described as straight leg jeans.  Alas, the last time I checked the Jalie web site, the pattern was not listed, so it may well be out of print.  I’ve had it for years, but only recently gotten around to making it.

Jalie is a pattern company out of Canada, which specializes in a lot of athletic wear – think skating patterns, workout clothes, etc.  But, they also carry a series of regular clothing, of which this is (or was) one.  Check them out, they have some lovely styles.

Similar to Burda World of Fashion, Jalie comes all sizes in one envelope.  All sizes – from 2T, as in toddler to US 22. Sizes are again, printed on the same piece of paper, so you have to trace your lines carefully.  Like Kwik Sew, they are printed on heavy paper, so I generally trace off onto tissue.  This multi-sizing makes Jalie useful for lots of different family members.  Unlike Burda, they also have excellent instructions.

I did my usual, non-matching fabric for the pocket lining and fly placket.  In my mind, this helps both the fly area, and the pockets have less thickness.  The stretch denim I used is pretty beefy, and, well, let’s face it, no one wants extra heft around their mid section.

The fabric is from Big Box*.  It’s been washed and dried once, but the last piece of denim I got from them continued to shrink in length (go figure!) with successive washings.  I took care with these to have a larger than usual hem, so there’s room to let them out if needed.

I toyed with the idea of using an actual metal trouser zipper on these, but in the end time won out over authenticity, and I used a nylon one from stash.  These jeans got the Prince Charming seal of approval too!

*Joann’s