Pants Fitting: A New Video

If you recall the pants muslin I showed a few posts ago, you'll remember that the pant legs on my first muslin were swinging in towards the inseam, leaving some fairly obvious drag lines. I showed (pretty briefly) the alteration I had to make to straighten up those legs and the end result in my next muslin.
Now, I'm not one for tutorials, mainly because I have such a slapdash approach to most of my sewing, there's no real point in taking progress photos as there's no guarantee that anything will actually work out.
However, if you were interested in seeing that alteration in more detail, you're in luck! Glenda, the owner of Sure Fit Designs, has put together a video outlining the process. Just click on the picture below to watch the video. It's not that long, and she explains the alteration beautifully!

 

 

While you are there, have a poke around all the other videos that Glenda has made. There's such a wealth of knowledge available to us, it's amazing.

 

 

(Just as a disclaimer: I am not affliated with SFD in any way. I'm just a happy customer who is super impressed with the results I've achieved using their pants kit and the customer service I've received.)

No photos this time: Regaining Focus

Just trying to gain some focus here...I went on a cutting binge last week and, so, have a few garments ready to hit the sewing machine... I am gearing up to put the nose to the grindstone today so hopefully will be able to update this list a little by tonight.

In the final stages (only need a little bit of work to finish):

• Knit dress for MIL - DONE
• PJ top for DD - DONE
• Chocolate brown pants for me - DONE

Work in progress (needs a fair bit of work to finish):

• Chocolate brown linen dress
• {Crochet Project} Jenny King poncho - DONE
• {Knitting Project} Tiny Tea Leaves cardigan

Currently cut out and waiting for construction:

• Denim capris
• Denim skirt
• Floral skirt
• PJ shorts (x3) for DD
• Maxi dress for DD
• Art Caddy (Christmas gift)
• Purple Knit Top - Test for Vogue 8649 - DONE
• Olive Knit Top - Test for New Look 6648

Projects which need to be cut and completed soon:

• Jalie Scarf Top (Christmas gift) - DONE
• Car Seat Organiser
• Knitting bag and Needle Roll
• Second knit dress for MIL
• Tops to go with the pants and skirts I've been making! :-)

On the good news front, I can add to my completed stash projects tally. I sewed a Halloween costume for DD totally from stash. No pictures, though. What kind of mother sews her daughter a cute Halloween costume, decorates the house even, and doesn't take any photos at all?

Returning to Pants Fitting: It's a Win!

With summer fast approaching, I need to restock my wardrobe with shorts and capris. I'm certainly not adverse to skirts and dresses, but I do feel more comfortable in pants.

 And so, I've returned to the Sure-Fit Designs pants blueprint. I was pretty happy with the first muslin that I made from this pattern, but the legs weren't hanging straight.

So, today, I made an alteration to my first version and sewed up another test pair. Amazingly, I think they are almost perfect. One leg has just the tiniest wrinkle - perhaps I need to let out the inseam on that side only - just a small amount, but at least then both sides would look the same.

(Warning: These are not the most flattering shots ever, but I thought they might be helpful to some other plus-sized girl struggling with getting pants to fit properly.)

 

 

 

To make the alteration, I measured down 2" from the crotch seamline and drew a line straight across my pant leg (on both front and back pieces). This line was perpendicular to the grainline. I then cut along that line, leaving a hinge on the inseam seamline. I overlapped these 2 edges at the side seam by 2", which blended to nothing by the inseam. I figured out how much I needed to overlap by trying on my first muslin and pinning out the wedge. I just measured how much I had to pin out to get the legs to hang straight and transferred this to my pattern.

First muslin with proposed alteration pinned out: Front

First muslin with proposed alteration pinned out: Back

For my first 'real' pair of pants, I'm going to just add a fraction of an inch to the side seams from the hip up as the side seam looks as though it's pulling slightly to the back. I'll also add some length to the leg. They are almost the perfect length now, without having taken up any hem at all. This means I need to add a hem allowance to the current pattern. Not a big deal.

Can I just point out that this fit was achieved by the second muslin? That is outstanding, and I'm totally sold on the Sure Fit Designs system. I've got the dress kit and am now super keen to try that one. It might take a little while, though, because I'm going to be busy sewing up some new pants!

Back on Track: Projects 16 & 17: One 4 All Stylish Swimsuit (Frilly)

Seeing as though I've got a sewing list a mile long for this summer, I thought I'd best get moving on it, starting with the easier garments first. Obviously, that involves sewing for my daughter as there is little fitting involved.

First up, she desperately needs some swimsuits. I'd purchased this downloadable pattern a little while ago on Etsy, and we were both keen to test it out. The fabric I used for the test garment (I've yet to get pictures on DD) was part of a bulk lycra buy-up several years ago from Make It Fabrics in Brisbane. DD informed me that she didn't like it as I was cutting it out. Luckily that tune changed because I'm pretty happy with the end result.

 

I used the ruffler foot to gather up all that green lycra. I set it to maximum rufflage for a super frilly look. The skirt ruffle was just over 2 widths of fabric. It gives the skirt a nice weight. I'd like to try a suit with a less frilly frill.

Here you can see the little pants under the skirt. Cute!

The pattern comes with more than 4 different variations.There are two different size ranges. We ended up with the 6 - 16 sizes. DD chose the suit which included an overskirt. She did check the pattern photos a few times to make sure I hadn't sewn it wrong, so luckily the final result looks pretty similar to the front of the pattern!

The writer of the pattern also has a blog where she has shown lots of different versions of this pattern.

One 4 All Stylish Swimsuit (Link to Etsy store)

As far as the pattern goes, it was pretty good, but there was some funky drafting, particularly with the skirt pieces not joining up properly in the pattern stage. I'd say that was more to do with digitising the pattern, rather than poor drafting.

The instructions were fairly good, but there were a few spots where I was glad I had some swimsuit sewing experience already. I think the pattern needed a little more testing/proofreading, but all-in-all, it's a gateway to a really cute swimsuit. DD has already picked out the fabrics for her next two, so that must mean it's a winner.

The fit was good. I have lengthened the body by 1/2" for the next pair.

Look, I've even managed to get photos on DD, and an action shot!

 

 

 

They performed well during this afternoon's swim and DD has already chosen the fabric for another 2 swimsuits. This time, though, she doesn't want the ruffles! Looks like I'll have to put my ruffler foot away again. :-)

 

I've also finished a 2-piece Kwik Sew set, but it's too big, so has been put away for next year. I've got to trace out the smaller pattern tomorrow and have another go. Stay tuned for more swimsuit action!

 



More Sewing Plans for Summer (or the value of teaching your child to budget)

Yesterday, I had the glorious experience of shopping for my daughter's summer wardrobe.

In preparation for this expedition, on Tuesday, we dragged out all her summer clothes that had been stashed in various locations around the house for the cool period we get in Queensland. A mammoth trying-on followed, accompanied by moans and groans and exclamations of boredom. My daughter handled it really well, though! ;-)

It seemed as though she had grown out of nearly everything she owned. Great.

Anyway, in the interests of teaching her how to cultivate a workable, affordable wardrobe, we made a list of what she had and what she needed for the summer ahead (which, just quietly, seems to have arrived here already).

We also perused the fabric stash, and went through the pattern collection..just to get an idea of what she liked and what was possible with no expense.

Armed with our information, we braved the shops. She was SO EXCITED ... for about 30 minutes. Then it became a drag. I set her a budget of $200 to cover everything she needed - tops, shorts, skirts, swimsuits, rash shirts, PJs, shoes, accessories...everything. We talked about how to get the best value for your money and how budgeting is not evil. If you manage your money wisely, you can have the things you want guilt free. How good is that? I also may have mentioned that items sewn by Mum from stash were free. Any fabric purchased would have to come from her budget, but labour would be paid for with love (and cups of coffee!). She seemed to think that was a good deal. Not bad for a 9 year old.

In the end, she handled the whole experience admirably well. She concentrated on looking for things she knew I couldn't really replicate (things with prints and foil transfers, etc) and ended up with enough money to buy her ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE DRESS EVER from Pumpkin Patch (which I didn't have the heart to tell her I could make for a lot less - it's pretty simple). She was happy and so was I. That, my friends, is a great shopping trip.

The.Best.Dress.Ever :-)

Source

Of course, I now have a few more items to add to my summer sewing list. But, on the upside, I get all my coffees made for me for the next week and a bit while we're on school holidays.

Just so I don't forget what I've promised to make, here's a list:

• Black sequin circle skirt
• Several sets of summer pyjamas
• 3 or 4 swimsuits (we have a pool)
• 1 maxi dress
• Black drapey bolero (based on the hot pink one she already owns)
• 2 everyday skirts
• 1 dressier skirt (glittery denim)
• 2 everyday shorts
• Black capris/long shorts

I'm fairly certain that I have the fabric to sew a few things from this list, otherwise there'll be a quick trip to The Fabric Store in my future.

The Green Silk Dress - Done and Dusted

Well, finally the wedding day has been and gone. I'm happy to say the dress got finished on time and there were no wardrobe malfunctions. Yay!

First up, here are the pictures...

And some stats:

Pattern: Burda WOF 12-2008-136B
Fabrics: Green/black shot silk and black silk organza for underlining (from The Fabric Store in Brisbane), Black sheer nylon/velvet overlay (from Lincraft many years ago).

I had been eyeing off this pattern for quite some time. I really liked the overall shape and the idea of the split overlay. It looked really elegant in the magazine.

 

 

Pattern alterations/Design Changes:



First, I (with the help of my sewing teacher) tissue fitted the pattern to my body. This particular pattern allows for a smaller waist and curvy hips - the total opposite of my body. I didn't want anything really tight, so we ended up adding a fair bit to the front skirt section and straightening out the side seams to create more of an a-line shape.

I also had to do a full bicep adjustment for the sleeves and I ended up lengthening them a little. The rest of the pattern worked fine for me.

Before cutting into the silk, I made a test version of this dress in a chocolate brown linen (I'll post pics of that one when I've completely finished it). Obviously this was without the overlay, but gave me a good idea of the overall shape and pattern alterations needed. I ended up taking out a fair bit of the extra room we added in.

Construction notes:

Putting together the linen version was fairly straight forward. I learned how to insert an invisible zip across a seam so that it all lined up perfectly. I also learned how to trace out my seam lines so that I could see where I made fitting changes, making it easy to transfer those to my pattern. I bound the seams in this version with a lightweight poly-cotton.

It was when I changed to the silk version of this dress that my nightmares began. If I'd known before I started just how tricky this dress was going to be, I would never have started. Granted I learnt a LOT while sewing this dress, but I'm the queen of simple and easy. I'm really happy to stay in my comfort zone and have no need to push myself to learn new things just for the sake of it. I felt as though this dress looked WAY too simple for the effort and time that went into it. I won't be making it again. I may make a dress using the pattern, but the layered look won't ever cross my machine again. The worst part was that point in the centre front where you had multiple seams and layers all needing to meet in a perfect point. I'm just too slap happy to end up with a perfect result, but it was really important this time. Just that tiny bit took me several days to finish. I think I must have unpicked it at least a dozen times. In the end, I was happy with it, but we ended up adding a simple bow anyway!

Finally, here's a photo of the flowergirl dresses in action...infinitely cuter than mine ;-)

Just a quick update

There is just over a week until my brother and his fiance get married. Fortunately, my daughter's flowergirl dress is finished (insert happy dance emoticon here!), her shoes are purchased and I've booked a mani/pedi for her with one of my friends who is a beauty therapist. So she's happy...

We took some preliminary shots this morning, just to make sure everything is how it is meant to be.

The ankle bracelets are going before the big day!



She feels pretty special. These are her first pair of 'heels'. We have plans to practise walking in them this week.

The dress for my niece has been received and deemed appropriate! Yippee! (And, it seems I've been a bit remiss, counting my niece's dress in my 50 Projects tally. What was I thinking? The fabric for these 2 dresses didn't come from stash, so I'll have to go back and change that.)

So the only thing that needs to be done is my dress. Contrary to all accounts, there IS progress being made. Just today I trimmed up the side seam allowances and neatened them. Up until this dress, I think I'd been taking my overlocker for granted. It's so time consuming when you can't serge seam allowances!

I've still got a fair bit to do, but I'm quietly confident that it will get done in time. After all, it's actually looking a bit like a dress now, rather than chunks of fabric.