Plain pants

I am thinking about drafting my own pants from an article in Threads Dec 07 / Jan 08. Belinda has pointed out that this is similar to the draft that Burda uses. There are options for altering the draft based on a flat / protruding seat and a flat / protruding tummy. I wasn't sure which way to go on these, so I thought that I would make a muslin of Burda pants, since I have never sewn Burda pants before. I used Burda WOF 6/2006 109.

The Burda pants sagged at the back, as do all my pants. After reading the drafting article, I realised that for a flat "seat" (very polite terminology) the slope of the CB seam changes. I adjusted the slope of the CB seam in the Burda pants as much as I could in the seam allowance. I have put photos of my muslin here, because the photos of the final pants are too dark to see much detail. Not great, but promising.






















Then I remembered that I had downloaded a free trial of patternmaker, which included a macro to draft a pants pattern from Leena. I printed off a pattern and compared it to the Burda pattern. Leena's pattern had the CB seam more in the direction that I wanted it, so I went with her pattern instead. Now I should have made another muslin, but I didn't. I sewed up the pants and found that there was too much bagginess in front, so I adjusted the front crotch curve to be like a Burda pattern. There also appears to be too much fabric at the inner thigh. I shortened the crotch curve here and took in the pants at the thigh, but this does not seem to have fully resolved this issue.Here are the final pants. I can't actually do a review, with a Burda front, Patternmaker back, Vogue Alice and Olivia pockets and a waistband from my duct tape skirt.

I am not too fussed on the final result. They look okay in these photos, but that is only because I have stood so that you can see between my legs...otherwise there is just a big dark mass of extra fabric. I think I prefer wide, low waistbands...they help to break up that big expanse of flat "seat". I was hoping that the straight leg would give me longer silhouette, but I think maybe either skinny or full pants are more stylish, rather than the in-between. Also, I have really gone off stretch wovens (I've had this fabric stashed since before my last stretch woven disappointment).

The top shown in these photos is one that I drafted last year and made up in a fine, wool knit. I used a band to finish the neckline and also to finish the hip-line, to eliminate the need for hemming such a fine knit. The bubble sleeves do not need a hem either.

A remnant quilt

I am not a quilter (I have far too many clothes to sew), but I have been wanting a quilt for my bed for a long time now. I thought that this year was the year, with my "baby" going off to kindy. I thought that I would take classes and progress it slowly over the year. Well, it didn't turn out that way (like I said, too many clothes to sew). Instead, I got by with a few phone calls to my mother, an email from a friend and a couple of internet tutorials, and put it together in under a month.

It is a very simple design, but it is exactly what I wanted. The squares are remnants from my dress-making and gift-giving, with the bonus that many days I can lie on the bed and be camouflaged, sort of like the lady in that coffee ad. I would have liked it to be one row longer, but given that I was cutting and planning late one Friday night, I had to stick to my resolution to use remnants only. Also, I think that choosing fabrics in a store with be too stressful for the Capricorn in me. Here it is...