BWOF Pants

The goal is to make pants that are both comfortable and look good.  I've read books, researched, taken on-line classes, tried various fit alterations, and made many, many test pants.  And rarely have I been happy with the results. But This pair comes pretty close.

This is an old BWOF magazine pattern,  from March 2006.  It's just a basic trouser pattern with fairly slim legs.  It has front pockets similar to jeans pockets.  I made a size 44.

My fabric is olive green stretch woven that I most likely bought at Joann Fabrics.  I've been labeling my fabric for several years and since this wasn't labeled, it's been in my stash for quite a while.   Since it has lycra in it, I was afraid they might really stretch out while I was wearing them.  But after wearing them all day, they stilled looked pretty good.

Alterations I made: I lengthened the side seams by adding 1/2 inch to the top of the waist on front & back and I added 1/2 inch to the back crotch point. 

My main fit issue in both RTW and self-made is a fold/wrinkle under the seat.  It's less in this pair, but still there on the right side.   I feel like I'm making some progress.

April Sewing Plans

APRIL PLANS
Start on summer handbag
Harness for Paisley
Make wearable pants
Work on Riley's & MIL's quilts



Review of March
Continue working on pants fitting - FINALLY MADE PROGRESS
Make 1 top for spring - YES
Work on Riley's quilt and MIL's quilt - NO
 

Summer Top - McCall's 7359

I love sewing and wearing woven cotton tops. This is a great pattern with some interesting details.

What I like best is the neckline - it's a folded neckband.  I also like the front pleat - it gives room over the tummy without being maternity looking.  I also like the shape of the front horizontal seam.


















 

I like least the cut-on, dolman sleeves.  In my fabric, they're stiff and bulky.  In a lighter fabric, they'd be better.  When I use this pattern again, I'm thinking about changing it to regular set in sleeves.  Also, the back is a little tight across the fanny for me.  Next time, to give me more room, I'll add a pleat similar to the one in the front.  It turned out shorter than I anticipated, so I will also add some length.

I made a size medium through neck and shoulders going out to large at the hips.  The only change I made was that I rounded the front hemline instead cutting straight across. I think this is more flattering.

And my sewing partner, Paisley.

 

Knit Top for my Sister - Simplicity 1199

I was making this top for myself,  so I made a size medium at the shoulders curving out to a large at hips. This is my usual size, but it turned out too big.  Which made my sister happy as it's perfect for her.

I used this pattern -  view C.

The only change I made was to add a band at the bottom of the front so that it's the same length as the back.  This was made from different cotton knit fabrics that were small pieces left over from other projects.  The gray prints are a reversible fabric - stripes on one side and dots on the other.  

I love the sleeve and neckbands made from the dot fabric.

For the back, I used the solid gray and white fabrics.

This is a great pattern that's really cute and went together quickly and easily.  I plan to make another one in a smaller sizer for myself.

March Sewing Plans

Continue working on pants fitting
Make 1 top for spring
Work on Riley's quilt and MIL's quilt



February Report
Pants - no real progress
Cardigan - FINISHED
Charity baby quilts - FINISHED
Riley's quilt & MIL's - some progress

Gray Cardigan

Seems like lately, I've made so many things I haven't been satisfied with.  Either they didn't fit or just didn't suit me or poor fabric choice.   I finally made something I like.

I wanted to make a drapey cardigan.  I had seen this method on another sewer's blog and decided to give it a try.  I used a basic knit top pattern and made these changes:

 

  

 

The original design has a lapel that folds back - which means the wrong side shows.  But my fabric isn't the same on both sides and didn't look good, so I trimmed it enough that it wouldn't show.  I had planned to add a band of contrasting fabric, but couldn't find anything I liked, so just serged and hemmed all the edges.

 

The fabric is a gray knit with a silver stripe running through it that I got at Joann Fabrics.  It's medium weight and very soft and drapey with a nice hand.

And cute puppy picture

Blue Velvet Top

The fabric is a crushed panne' velvet from Joann Fabrics. The color is called "princess blue" and is such a pretty color.  Even though it's 100% polyester, it looks nice and feels great to wear.  And it comes out of the washer and dryer looking great.  For the neckband, I used a black thin stretchy knit.

The pattern is McCalls 7247.  I lengthened the front by 3 inches

I'm not in love with this top.  The fit is not quite right, so I'm constantly rearranging the overlap.  I didn't feel like the overlap was secure and would stay in place, so I wore a black silkie camisole underneath.




Now some cute puppy pictures:

LITTLE MISS PAISLEY

Plaid Skirt

I hoped to get a picture of me wearing it, but I don't guess that's going to happen, so I'm going to go ahead and post a hanger picture.

I used this Simplicity pattern:

This is the second time I've made this skirt.  The first time my fabric was too stiff and didn't drape well.  This time I used a flannel that I bought at Joann Fabrics and it hangs nicely.

The only thing I changed was to cut the center front and back on the fold so I wouldn't have to try to match up the plaid.

I wanted to fringe the hemline, but due to the way the fabric is cut, it wouldn't ravel nicely.  So, I found this perfect color blue trim in my sewing supplies and decided to use it.  I didn't measure it before I started sewing it on & had maybe 6 inches left over! That was luck!

Here's a close up of the trim:

February Plans

Pants
Cardigan
Quilts - charity baby quilts, Riley's quilt, MIL's

This is not a long list like last month and may not seem like a lot, but when I start working on pants, it can consume me.




January report 
Some basic solid color knit tops for layering -  4 done
Long plaid flannel shirt to wear with leggings
Gray cardigan
Gray knit pants
Start on a simple quilt with my 7 yr old DGD - just large flannel squares
Start on English paper piecing quilt
Clean-up and organize sewing room
Go through UFO's and trash ones that I won't finish
Bind a quilt made by my MIL - I'm giving it to my DGD
Work on hand-quilting a quilt I started several years ago

 

Fur Vest

I've wanted to make a "fur" vest for a couple years now.  Recently while going through the fabric closet looking for something, I ran across a bag containing this fur and a vest pattern.  I had planned on making this last winter, but I put it aside and forgot about even having it.

I made view "E" of this old pattern.  This is a really good, basic pattern with multiple styles. I made size medium at shoulders and neck going out to a large at hips.

This was my first time sewing with fur, so wasn't really sure what I was doing.  But it was easy to work with and not as messy as I thought it would be.

For the lining, I used a sturdy piece of polyester silky type-fabric I've had for many years.

I knew this would be too bulky to try and turn it by pulling through the shoulders and side seam, so instead I added a seam to center back of the lining and left an opening in it for turning.  Then I sewed the vest and lining together along the edges and bottom hem.  After turning it, I used black bias trim to hem the armholes. I'm really happy with how nice that looks.

It was a quick and easy project that only took 2 years to make. ;)  Glad to have this UFO finished.

Tee Shirts

For my first sewing project for 2016, I made four long sleeve tee shirts.

I used this out-of-print Kwik Sew pattern #3338 and made view A.  I used a size large, except medium for the shoulders.  What I like best about this pattern is the shape of the neckline and the fit of the shoulders.  This is one of the few patterns that I don't have to narrow the shoulders.

 

Top 1:
The only pattern alteration I made was to add a little width to the center front fold, to give more room over the tummy.  The main fit issue I have with this pattern is a fold I get in the armhole right at the bust.  If you look at the picture on the pattern cover above, you can see it on the blue top on the right.  Fabric is an olive green cotton without much stretch and was bought at Joann's in June, 2015 for $2.25 yard.

Top 2:

This fabric is a thin and very stretchy rayon.  I bought it at Joann Fabrics last year for $4.00 yard. This will be great for layering.

Alterations I made:
sway back adjustment
lengthened by 3 inches
lengthened the sleeves 1 inch
made a small dart in the front armhole
added to back fold line at hip area

Top 3:

This white fabric came from Walmart and I paid $3.50 a yard.  I made the same alterations as for the second top.  I also added 1" to the sleeve cap height and reshaped the sleeve a little trying to fix my usual sleeve twist problem.   These changes helped, but didn't completely take care of the issue. 

So after doing some research regarding the sleeve twist, I realize I have an inward elbow rotation like in this picture:  (Some call it forward rotating shoulder).

Good timing for me, Jennifer Stern recently posted an alteration for this issue

jsterndesigns.com "how-to-adjust-forward-rotated-shoulder"



Top 4:

I decided to make one last top and try the forward rotating shoulder adjustment.   I'm surprised how much this alteration helped my sleeve fit, and plan to make it a standard alteration for my future tops.  I made this top a little looser fit and longer length. 

The fabric for this is a men's xxl tee shirt that I bought at Kohl's on clearance for $2.50.  It's a nice weight cotton.  I didn't have enough fabric left to make the neckband, so I used a piece of black & white print from my scrap bag.

I have 4 new knit tops and learned a new fitting solution.  Now I'm ready to move on to something else.