Print Pants

Most of the time, the "Style is Eternal" way of dressing makes sense to me, but every now and then, ya gotta have fun with fashion...and so I present to you the print pants.

(Whilst I can be a sucker for fashion, I would not pay the $1400!!! dollars for the Bally pair shown in the upper centre position of the right page shown above.  Seriously, would anybody buy those?) 

Originally, I was planning on sewing some Burda carrot-top pants, which I have admired on  Audrey and Cafe Couture.  I borrowed one of the issues from my library, but when I went to get started, I found that I was out of tracing paper.  So instead I pulled out Vogue 8657.  I ummed and aahed for a while, and then weighed up the options.  On the one hand, I had the fashion-forward Burda, complete with pockets, yoke, and fly, which I could not start straight-away and would probably take me a few days.  On the other hand, I had an elastic waist Vogue pattern that could  be whipped up in an evening.  It did not have the same details, but who would see the details in this print? Well, fashion is fun, but I did not want to spend a lot of time on what could end up being worn as PJs, so the Vogue pattern won out.

Out of curiosity, I pulled out an older pattern for pleated elastic waist pants, an Anne Klein pattern from the early 90s, for comparison.  The current Vogue pattern had a straighter back crotch curve, more tapered legs and were cut a little shorter.

The fabric is a cotton print from Gardams, with a bit of a sheen and a lovely drape.

So what do you think?  Can I wear them outside of the house?  It does seem a little ironic that fashion produces a comfortable garment and then dictates that they look best with the highest shoes in your cupboard.  I guess it is so that everybody knows that you are not just wearing pyjamas.

Exercise Gear

Last holidays, I borrowed a GPS off my father-in-law and found my way to Glitter and Dance, to stock up on cotton lycras.  I was buying fabric for my daughter, but I was lured by the large selection of Jalie patterns stocked, so ended up buying patterns and fabric for myself as well. 

These sports bras were made using Jalie 2563.  After I made the first one, I altered the CF neckline to be quite a bit lower.  The edges are all elasticated. 

I then combined patterns 2563 and 2564 to make a racer-back tank with in-built shelf bra.  I graded from a T in the bust to a V in the waist/hips, but looking at this photo, a little more room in the hips wouldn't go astray.

I made 2 tanks with cross-over backs using Burda WOF 11-2007-123. I have made this pattern in the past, and like other reviewers, found that it runs large.  I used the Jalie pattern to help modify the Burda WOF pattern to get the right fit.  I much prefer the Burda pattern.  It has no elastic in the neck-line / armhole, which makes it both easier to sew and softer to wear.  Sometimes, elasticated swimwear and sports wear can leave me with a head-ache, but this one doesn't.

I traced off some RTW exercise shorts to get a pattern for the shorts, which are just made out of remnants.  I like them, because they have a straight leg, which is not closely fitted around the thighs.

This should all last me a few years!  The fabrics were discounted when I visited the store, and $60 dollars worth got me 2 sports bras, 3 tanks with in-built shelf bra, a child's leotard, ballet wrap and jazz shorts, with enough fabric left to make one more bra or top (I ran out of steam).  I stocked up on latex elastic, which was very reasonably priced.  I do need to upgrade my overlocker thread to be a better quality, as this is where my activewear tends to come apart.

No sew costumes

Much as I love sewing, it can be a relief to not sew costumes for bookweek.  This year my daughter went as the Queen of Hearts, using a princess dress and crown made ages ago (crown pattern from Ottobre), with a painted cardboard card.  My youngest is the Saucepan Man from the Faraway Tree.  My oldest is The Man in Black from The 39 Clues.  We may not win any costume awards, but all children went to school happily...which as many other parents can attest, is not a given for dress-up days!

Cocktail Dress

This is the dress I made to wear to a fundraiser cocktail party last night.  It is not the sort of occasion where I feel most comfortable, so I was going for understated.  Personally though, I find it hard to tell the difference between "understated" and "boring".

 I drafted the skirt part of the dress myself.

The bodice was taken from Vogue 1174.  I ordered the pattern before there were any reviews for it on PR, which is a shame because I forgot that Vogue puts in too much ease on strapless dresses.  On my usual size, based on measurements, there was 4 cm of ease across the bust, which is excessive for a strapless dress.  The foundation has your typical princess seams.  The outer bodice has both horizontal and vertical seaming, which doesn't show up well in my photo, but can been seen easily on the pattern line drawing.  I found it really difficult to adjust the pattern to fit, because of the combination of personal fitting issues and starting with a pattern that was way too big.  In the end I made a muslin of the foundation.  When I got that right, I drew on the seam lines for the bodice, and then cut up the foundation to make the pattern pieces for the bodice.  In the end I made 2 muslins before the final dress.  The final dress ended up being a smidge loose in the midriff, which gave a few wrinkles because the waist stay was tighter than the dress.  Making the muslins and pattern was a bit of work, but I do want to make up V1174 as per the pattern photo, so all this work will get an airing on a second dress.


In the photo of the foundation below, you can see that I used elastic, rather than grosgrain ribbon, for the waist stay.  I read about this possibility in the Summer 2007 edition of sew stylish, and thought it sounded like a much more comfortable option.  I put on the foundation, then did up the waist stay over the top, and marked where the elastic lined up with the seam-lines.  I attached the elastic by stitching it to the vertical seam-lines of the foundation.

In the next photo, you can see that I left openings in the back seams of the lining to pass through the ends of the stay.  The waist stay certainly did its job, as we danced like it was 1989 all night (I'm sure you know the song list!) and I did not have to hitch up my dress even once.

The dress was made from a piece of silk dupioni that I picked up from the remnant table at Gardams.  The lining is polyester that I bought locally.  I always think it is a shame to use a poyester lining on a silk dress, but I do not have much choice locally.  I was pleased that I could get such a good colour match.

Yesterday morning I made a bag to complete the outfit.  I had ordered a bundle of mystery remnants which arrived during the week.  I was hoping that there would be something in amongst the remnants that would be suitable for a bag, and I think that this piece of silver brocade was perfect.  The sewing gods have provided!  I used Vogue 8527.  This is the fourth bag that I have made from this pattern.  Recently, I got my will made up.  The lawyer, who knows me, asked if I was going to leave my collection of dresses to anybody.  As I was sewing this bag, I had visions of great-great-grand-daughters opening up a box to find 15 bags in the same style but different fabrics.  I guess when you're onto a winner...

Summer print pencil skirt

I was really taken with the Canterbury Bells skirt at J.Crew, so I was keeping an eye out for a similar print.  I was delighted when I saw this print at Gardams.  The stretch cotton was a little lightweight for a pencil skirt, so I interlined the skirt with some stretch cotton sateen.  Now it is probably a bit heavy for me to wear in summer, but it will get plenty of wear during Spring.

As I was sewing the skirt, Belinda did a post on seam binding.  I had purchased some but never used it.  Belinda is always posting useful bits of information just as I need it :).  I got it out and used it to bind the edges near the zipper.   You can also see my basting where I attached the skirt outer and interlining, to hold the layers together until I stitched them.  I didn't line the skirt, as I thought the interlining was more than enough.

The things we sew for love...

Want your own elf shoes?  You can find the pattern in Ottobre Spring 1/2007

Arty Top

I have made up Tessuti's fave top in a woven (pattern to download).

When I ordered this fabric I was convinced that it was a knit and was very surprised when it turned up a woven.  I went back and looked up the description and it said nothing about being a knit.  Oh well, it is a gorgeous cotton and silk woven stripe, labelled as Alice & Olivia fabric.  I decided to use it for Colette's top.  I didn't have to change much to use a woven - just let out the side seams on the arms as they were a little snug.  The overall effect is rather arty, and I think you would get a similar effect with a lightweight linen.  It is great for showcasing jewellery.

Yesterday I wore it with jeans, but it also goes with my camel wide-legged pants and I am hoping to pair it with shorts for more of a beach throw-over in summer.

Elan 540

The last of my bras for this session.  Reading back through my blog, I saw that I sewed bras in July last year and again in July this year.  Perhaps I could make it an annual tradition, each year adding a few new bras to my drawer and getting rid of the most worn.  July is probably a good time, as we don't have much of a winter and I don't need to do much winter sewing.

I tried out a new pattern for this one, Elan 540, which is a push-up bra with a front closure.  It is not my favourite pattern.  If you want, you can read why in my pattern review.

I thought I would show 2 techniques I used in making this bra.  The first is attaching 2 padded sections together.  For most of my patterns, I use padding that has alreading been finished on each side with tricot.  For this pattern, fabric is wrapped around fusible fleece to form the padded sections.  First I remove the seam allowances from the padded seams to be attached.  Then I butt the 2 pieces together and slowly feed them under my presser foot, using a wide 3-step zig-zag to join the 2 pieces.  The result is shown in the picture below.  (You can see the pockets for the pads in this picture also, as the cup is inside-out.)

Then I cut a strip of tricot and place it over the seam and sew it again with a 3-step zig-zag, so that there are no seam edges to irritate the skin.  Photo below.

The next method is how to replace a bridge with a narrow strip, ribbon, or in this case, a front closure.  I have made a customised bridge template to use for partial band bras.  I trace and cut a copy of this template in tear-away (you could use paper).

Then I pin the narrow front piece to the tear-away, and position it in the bra cups.  I sew the tear-away and front piece to the bra, and then remove the tear-away.  This way, the front closure has ended up the right size.  In the photo below, you can see that I need to trim the pattern closure quite a bit to fit my customised bridge template.

Clear as mud?  Oh well, hopefully this helps somebody.