once more with feeling

There really isn’t too much for me to say about Thurlow pants by this time. But I finished one more pair yesterday.

This is pretty much the same fabric as the olive pair, aside from the color. For the inside, I used the same lining fabric that I used for the navy denim pair. I do have to say that after sewing two pairs at the same time, only doing one made it feel like it went so quickly! This one only took 4 days total, and I finished half of the sewing in one day. It went a little slower when it came to finishing details like the waistband and hand-stitching the hem.

I decided to play around with my color palette when choosing what to wear for these photos. Plus, I always desperately crave color this time of year anyway. The sun is actually out today, so that helps! The blouse and sweater are both thrifted– I found them on the same trip, and I couldn’t help but notice how well they went together.  I kind of love how in your face orange the cardigan is, even though I’m never really sure what to wear with it aside from this blouse and one other top that happens to have orange in the print! I haven’t worn it in a few months, though, because black pants with this always felt a little too Halloween. But I think the grey works with it pretty nicely!

Decided to play around with poses here, too. Mostly to hide the shoes, which are less than ideal, but I didn’t have many options since I know I’m going to have to trample my way through some snow later. Yeah, I look like I’m listening to “Twist and Shout”. Anyway.

With this fifth pair, this brings my “pantsapalooza” to an end. I’m sure it won’t be the last pair I make ever– I’m in need of some more jeans, the pair of plain black pants that I’ve had since college has chosen recently to start dying (the fabric-piercing hook fell off). And I’m a little concerned about the longevity of the charcoal denim pair, since the fabric has already started pulling at certain seams! It’s not that it doesn’t fit–I think it’s more the fabric, almost like it’s a slightly looser denim weave. I’ve reinforced with extra stitching, and did a little thread-weaving on the back seam last night to try and strengthen that particular area. I will most definitely be keeping an eye on it. But for now, I am quite happy to move on to another type of project. Even though the two things I have planned next are also more on the involved side… stay tuned!

Pattern: Sewaholic Thurlow trousers

Amount of time it took to make: 4 days

Fabric used:Grey cotton twill from Fabric.com

Amount of fabric used: about 1.25 yds twill, plus .5 yards lining- 1.75 yards total

Stashed since: 2012

Current stash total: 336.5

It actually went up about 3 yards, because I made a couple of purchases last week– 3 yards of something for my March of the Shieldmaidens project, to be revealed at a later time, and half a yard each of some cotton and some flannel for a baby shower gift that I’ll need to make before sometime this spring. For Stash Diet purposes, the costume fabric is my “use 4 buy 1”, since I used my travel exception for NYC, and the shower gift falls under gift exception, because guess how much baby-appropriate fabric I have? Pretty much none. Besides, I needed about $2 more of stuff to get free shipping. 

Thurlows so nice, I made them twice

Twice more would probably be more accurate. But I finally got to test out my plan to sew these assembly-line style. I still have one more pair cut out to sew, but the serger thread has to be different for it to look best, so I waited. Navy blue and charcoal, though? Black served absolutely fine for both.

Since I’ve already showed two pairs of these, there isn’t too terribly much to say. (Other than I need to work on my tripod camera positioning, because this angle makes me look kind of stumpy!) I did make a few minor detail changes to make them more jeans-style, since both of these are made from a lightweight denim. There’s topstitching on the waistband, the darts, and around the welt pockets. I added a bar tack on the fly and some topstitching to just after the front pockets after wearing the charcoal pair for a day, because a stress point was already showing! (I also reinforced the stitching in the crotch and thigh areas for the same reason.) I did not, however, make the belt loops for these two pairs– I didn’t even cut them out this time, since by the time I got to that step for the other two pairs, I was pretty much mentally done and just wanted to hem them and be finished.

I am happy that this navy denim pair can count for the #bluefebruary sewalong!

And here’s the charcoal pair. Do I look a little smug here? (That wasn’t intentional. I also need to work on my posing. Sadly, this was the best of the lot.) Even though you’re probably tired of me talking about making pants, I think these will both be great additions to my wardrobe that will go with tons of stuff. I had to give myself a break from pants yesterday and made a quick knit project instead (to be blogged soon), but I think I’m ready to continue with the last pair now. And then take a bit of a break from pants…but it won’t be forever, because I need some jeans! (Especially since my one pair of skinny jeans accidentally ended up in the dryer this weekend and now I can’t get them on anymore. So sad. On the plus side, now I know what to do with the leftover stretchy denim from the TARDIS skirt…)

One bonus project– I actually finished this in January, but couldn’t show it until now, since it was part of Doug’s birthday present. He’s been talking about wanting a Microsoft Surface tablet for months, so I teamed up with both sets of our parents to get him one. It came with a thin keyboard-style case, but I thought an extra case would also be helpful to keep things from jamming between the keyboard and the screen. So I used a scrap of the charcoal denim to make this envelope-style case, basically just winging it on the measurements by folding the fabric around the actual tablet.

The inside fabric was a fortuitous find– I went to Goodwill with my bestie recently to try to find some preliminary costume materials for some stuff we’re hoping to do later this year. While poking around the home decor section, I found this bedsheet that’s all the various hockey teams in the NHL. Doug is a huge hockey fan, so I snatched that up and smuggled it home! I only needed a small scrap for this bag, but made sure to center one of his two favorite teams so that it was showing–the one that would require me to cut into the least amount of fabric, of course! I still have quite a bit of this left, though I’m not counting it as adding to the stash, but I’m sure I can use it up for some big blocky project like making pillows for the basement, aka his “man cave”.

And now for totals:

Pattern: Sewaholic Thurlows (plus improvised pattern for tablet pouch)

Amount of time it took to make: About two weeks, plus some breaks to make the pouch while Doug wasn’t home, so that averages to a little less than a week per pair. Not too shabby.

Fabric used: lightweight denims from Fabric.com

Amount of fabric used: approx. 3.5 yards (about 1.25 yds of main fabric/.5 yd lining per pair) – there’s approximately 1.75 yards of each main fabric remaining, though not the full width of the fabric. (Any ideas?)

Stashed since: 2012

Current stash total: Counting the 6 yards I just bought at Mood, about 336 yards. Well, it’s still some progress.

of shapes and stitching (in-progress sewing and Wardrobe Architect, Week #3)

I don’t really have anything new to show sewing-wise, as I’m currently in the throes of assembly line sewing. (Which is actually working out pretty well, but “throes” is just fun to say.) And since this week’s Wardrobe Architect worksheet was pretty short and straightforward, I figured I’d just do a little roundup of in-progress sewing and that.

Pictures first. I’m currently making the two denim versions of the Thurlows, and therefore am doing a few more jeans-like details. Namely, I topstitched the darts. And I’m also topstitching around the welt pockets, which has the bonus of reinforcing the stitching. (The brown pair is coming undone already, because I’ve washed and worn it so much!)

Also, pockets! The cherry print is particularly fun, I think. It’s a shame I didn’t have enough of that for the waistband facing, too–that will have to be plain black. But I did have just enough to squeeze these and the welt pockets out. As for that purple-y hand-dyed stuff, I had more than enough for the pockets and facings for both this pair and the future grey pair. Plus a ton left over. I may have to resort to using it for things like wearable pajama muslins or something…

As for the Wardrobe Architect project, this week’s assignment was thinking about garment shapes. Which was really nothing too ground-breaking for me, but I figured I’d share some results anyway.

I seemed to end up in the middle of a lot of things– I like most things either somewhat fitted or somewhat loose, but not too tight or especially too loose. Some more garment-specific results:

•  Skirts: I’m most comfortable in skirts that are either knee- or maxi-length, A-line or with some other kind of flare (but not too full, as that always makes me feel like my hips look huge), and with either a hip-hugger waistline, or occasionally a more natural waistline. I’m still getting used to the latter, which is probably a result of being a teenager in the 90s when everything was cut lower and I just got used to it. I don’t like high-waisted things, mainly for the practical reason of they feel restrictive when I’m playing my flute and need to breathe deeply. Also, I don’t tuck shirts in too often anyway. I’m also not very comfortable in shorter skirts, though I’m more comfortable when my legs are covered by tights or something.
• Dresses: I’m most comfortable when things are either somewhat fitted or somewhat loose, though I tend to lean more towards fitted. Too tight and I feel self-conscious, too loose and I feel like I’m wearing a sack. Length and skirt fullness preferences are pretty similar to my skirt answers, though I’m more likely to wear a fuller skirt here since the dress can provide more obvious waist definition than one can often get with separates. I’m also more likely to go for a higher or natural waistline here, or none at all if it’s a princess-seam type dress. No dropped waists, since 20s-style silhouettes were not meant for curvier ladies!
• Pants: My waistline preferences are similar to my skirt preferences. I prefer somewhat fitted to loose (hello, Thurlow marathon!), though I do have the one pair of skinny jeans and was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked the look on me. I’m more comfortable in full-length pants as opposed to shorts, though when I do wear shorts, I prefer them to be around mid-thigh length.
• On top: somewhat fitted is my main preference, though I’ll also go for very fitted or somewhat loose, depending on what I’m wearing on the bottom. Length preference is above the hip to tunic-length, as opposed to cropped. I’m more likely to bend these rules when it comes to layering pieces like cardigans and jackets. 

There were also a few more detail questions about necklines and sleeves.
Favorites: V-necks, cowl necks, or scoop necks; sleeveless, above-elbow length or long sleeves (depending on the season).
Also like:  Boatneck, Square, Sweetheart necklines– I’ll wear these, and have made things that I like that feature these necklines. Three-quarter sleeves and short sleeves fall under this category as well–I have lots of things that are these lengths, and like them, but I think the other three sleeve lengths are perhaps slightly more flattering.
Neutral: Spaghetti strap and halter necklines. This is more under the category of it’s not that I don’t like them, it’s just harder to wear a bra, so I have to take extra considerations (like the bra I built into my Lonsdale dress specifically for this reason.) To be honest, most of my spaghetti strap tops are actually camisoles, and only worn as layering pieces.
Dislike: Off-the-shoulder and strapless. The former is just super-annoying, both due to arm position when playing flute, and the feeling of having to adjust it from falling down all day. I always feel like strapless is going to fall down on me, too, and the only thing I own of that category is the red dress I took with me on the honeymoon. And only because it fit me so perfectly at the time that it couldn’t fall down. I certainly wouldn’t plan to make something strapless. Unless it was something like a strapless corset top that I was specifically planning to wear over another top. (I wouldn’t put that past myself.)

So, like I said, none of this is really any surprise to me. Or probably to you, if you looked through my collection of finished objects that I’ve shown on here. But it was still a useful exercise.

Look at this pile, isn’t it neat?

Wouldn’t you say my collection’s complete… ok, before I get that song more firmly stuck in my head, I should probably clarify that the collection is not complete, because I still have to, you know, actually sew this. (And cut out the interfacing.) But this pile represents 3 pairs of pants, which is what remains of the original 5 pairs I’d planned to make. Now that I have the fitting worked out, I think this will go very quickly. Especially because I can use the same serger thread for both the blue and black denim versions, which means that I can definitely assembly-line make those two pairs! The grey will have to be done separately for it to look right, I think, but you can’t win them all.

As far as my stashbusting goes, overestimating once again bit me in the butt. I don’t have the full width yardage on any of these, but I still have a solid 1 3/4 yards of both the blue and the black lightweight denim. So I’ll have to figure out what to do with those, though I did manage to use one largeish remnant of the black for a secret project. (Which doesn’t count towards that 1 3/4 yards, unfortunately.) I do have quite a bit of the grey left as well, but I do already know what I’m going to do with that. And it isn’t another Hummingbird skirt.

On the plus side, I did use up the cherry print, and one length of the multiple cuts of this batiked muslin from ages ago. I think there were something like 6 total. So that puts me at 3 out of 4 fabrics to get out of my stash completely before I can buy more– 4 if I count the zebra print charmeuse that I passed on to my mom for a bag lining. I’d ordered 3 yards, but they only sent me 1, and then ran out, so I can’t use it for the winter coat lining that I’d originally planned.

I think I’m going to count it. After all, I can’t delay too long in ordering fabric if I’m going to be ready for March of the Shieldmaidens. But I’m still making progress, right?

Two for the price of one

My pantsapalooza is back on! I finally made the olive pair of Thurlows, and now have 3 more to go. I also learned as I was cutting these out that, once again, I did err on the side of too much fabric. So rather than fold up the remaining large piece of fabric, I just went ahead and cut out a Hummingbird skirt while I was at it! I already had a zipper in my stash that would work, aside from the one I’d bought specifically for the pants, and I used the same buttons for both, which means that aside from sewing time, this skirt was essentially free. Can’t beat that!

Of course, this also means I’m going to have leftovers for the other 3 pairs of pants, too. I already have an idea for my grey twill, but I’m also going to have some charcoal and navy lightweight denim (as two separate yardages) to figure out what to do with. I’m hoping that I can get my cutting table cleared off today so I can cut as much of this out tomorrow as possible, given that I’m actually going to be a working musician tomorrow as well. (I love playing weddings, they’re such easy money!)

Anyway, on with the projects, shall we? I’m attempting to track stash usage as I go this year, since I’m on the Stash Diet. So that information will go below.

Pattern: Sewaholic Patterns- Thurlow Trousers (worn here with my Simbelmyne top)

Amount of time it took to make: about a week, I’m going to estimate about 10 hours total

Fabric used: A cotton olive green twill, plus a quilter cotton for the pockets and waistband facings

Amount of fabric used: Approx. 2 1/8 yards (really more, I was left with 1.5 yards of the twill, half the original width.)

Stashed since: 2012

I think this is going to be my new indoor spot for photos. The light just seems so much better in here than in our living room! Plus, you know, books. Anyway, aside from an hour or so spent basting and unbasting the back seam to tweak the fit, the second round of these went together much, much easier than the first.

The welt pockets look pretty good this time, I think! It helps that it’s a better-quality fabric than what I used for the brown pair for certain. But practicing the construction with the first pair helped a lot, too. They’re still not perfect in the corners, but certainly passable.  I did also realize some things about the waistband construction that made the end result look much better–it was probably obvious to a lot of people, but I figured out that stopping the stitching 5/8″ away from the raw edge made the zipper area fit in much, much better! I got the pockets sorted for what side needs to be out for the insides to look pretty this time, too. Which is good, because I’m actually super-excited about what I get to use up for one of the next pairs, and I want to show it!

“Guts” picture! This quilt cotton has been around forever, from some fabric my mom gave me from her own stash when I was trying to get this quilt planned out. It didn’t quite work out for that, so I’m glad I finally found a use for it. I did discover that the twill creases quite a bit during wearing, but nothing that a little dryer or iron action won’t fit. The creases are mainly in the front from sitting, anyway, and I generally wear my shirts untucked, so I’m not worried. Incidentally, I’m pretty sure I can count these pockets as “Itty Bits” for the Stashbusting Sewalong, too.

And now for the skirt…

Pattern: Cake Patterns- Hummingbird skirt (worn here with the “Autumn in Lancaster” Renfrew, since there is some olive in the print.)

Amount of time it took to make: Probably about 5 hours, if you count the time I had to spend ripping out my fitting mistakes.

Fabric used: same as the Thurlows. I’m calling this my “Tapenade” skirt, because that’s the sort of thing you’d make from leftover olives, right?

Amount of fabric used: a 1.5 yd x approx. 30″ piece of twill, cut crosswise, + 5/8″ yard cotton

Stashed since: 2012

Despite the fact that I’ve made this skirt twice already, I had a surprising amount of trouble with the fitting! When I made the hemp Hummingbird, I had to take the top in at a pretty extreme angle, which you can see much better in the pocket detail picture for the TARDIS skirt variation. I don’t know if it’s because the twill has much less give than the hemp, or because there was no stretch involved like there was with the denim, but it didn’t work at all this time! The skirt sits pretty tightly against my waist, and when I first tried it on, there were these weird wing-like protrusions at my hips. Which is pretty much the last place I want wing-like protrusions. So I had to rip out the seam, the serging, and the topstitching (argh) that I’d already done, soften the angle quite a bit, and then restitch it. I guess this means I may need to rethink my pattern alterations before I use this one again!

Also, I completely blanked on constructing the pockets–the good news is that I got the right edges lined up first try, but that means the wrong side of the pocket fabric is showing from the inside. Oh well, it could be much worse.

Aside from fitting, a few minor tweaks I made was doing a centered zipper instead of invisible, just because that’s the sort of zipper I had on hand. I also added topstitching to the front and side seams, to give it a more casual look.

Total yards out: 4.25 (twill used up, only large scrap left of cotton left, so I’m counting it.)

Current stash total: ~334 yards

Diet rules: 2 pieces of fabric, 2 separate patterns out of 4 before I can buy more of either. Which I’d better get cracking on, because Doug and I are planning a weekend trip to NYC in February, and he said we could go to Mood! I’ve never actually bought anything from the physical store, though I did have a chance to step inside it once, so this is really exciting! I do have things I can legitimately buy to finish already planned projects, like a winter jacket lining, and I did build in a travel exception, but I still want to be very thoughtful about what I do buy there.

Top 5’s of 2013, part 3: Hits and Misses

Time to look back at what I actually made this year! Let’s start with the hits, shall we?

Top 5 Hits of 2013: 
1. My wedding dress, aka the “One Dress To Rule Them All”! Yes, I only wore it once, but this was easily the most time-consuming and expensive thing I’ve ever sewn, so I have to include it, right? Plus, I never showed a really good full shot of the finished product, so here’s my excuse to share some of the professional pics. Don’t worry, they gave me the copyright as part of the photo package! We did get a couple of outdoor shots, but the lighting on the ones inside the church actually shows off the details of the dress better, so I went with those.

At Gillian’s request, I’m including a mini top 5 of things I learned or loved about making my wedding dress.

a) I loved working with the fabrics! It’s not every day that I can justify using a whole bunch of different silks, so this was both a lot of fun and a very big learning experience.

b) I learned and/or developed skills in a lot of different couture techniques. I’d worked with underlining before, for instance, but this had underlining, sometimes multiple layers of underlining, boning (and not the cheap plastic kind ,either!), regular lining, the works! So I think my handstitching improved quite a bit in this process!

c) I love that I was able to design an entire dress around that sunflower lace, since the only two things I’d wanted for my future wedding for ages was having sunflowers, and making my dress! So I got to combine them! I also love that my pattern modifications to the Cambie top worked so well for really showing it off. (Now I just need to figure out what to do with the rest of it, because I have probably at least 3 yards left! Any ideas?)

d) I learned that sometimes muslins, or even multiple muslins, are a necessary evil. I’m really glad I allowed myself the time to do that. My usual attitude towards them is to try to make them as wearable as possible, or just skip them altogether, because I have so little sewing time and “ain’t nobody got time for that.” But I’m glad I really took the time to perfect the fit before I started–especially since I was just barely able to squeak out the skirt with the yardage I had estimated! Plus, now whenever I do get around to making a “real” Cambie, I have it all modified and ready to go. Assuming I can find those muslin pieces. Gah.

(Disclaimer: I’m still probably going to stick more with wearable muslins for most things, because I still mostly don’t want to take the time for that.)

e) I love that being able to sew helped me keep the costs down significantly! All together, I think the supplies ended up costing about $500. I think the most expensive fabric I got was the dupioni for the outside, at around $16 a yard. Given that I have a hard time paying more than $12 a yard for most fabrics, that’s a LOT. But at the average bridal shop around here, that would get you a pretty low-end polyester dress. Mine was silk, custom-fitted, and I didn’t have to deal with sorting through all of the trains and strapless bodices to find something I was ok with!

And now, on with the rest of the hits…

2. The Thurlow trousers. I’m quite happy with the fit, they’re very comfortable, and I’ve worn them at least once a week since I finished them. In fact, I’ve washed and worn them so much that the fabric is already starting to pill on the thighs a bit! Not a huge loss, since this was only ever intended to be a wearable muslin, and the fabric was free, but that means I may have to make a new brown pair sooner than I thought. (After I finish the other 4 pairs that I actually bought fabric for.)

 

3. The TARDIS Hummingbird-esque skirt. Subtle geekiness for the win! This got a lot of love on Flickr (by my standards, which is pretty much anyone commenting at all), and I’m always happy when my pattern alterations turn out as I envision them. Plus, since it’s basically a denim skirt, I have a feeling this is going to be a rather versatile addition to my wardrobe!

4. My plaid flannel shirt. Even though I’m still not a huge fan of the collar, it’s warm and cozy, which is exactly what I need in my life right now. I’m also still feeling a bit smug about how many sewalongs I was able to apply this to! (And now I’m wondering if it’s a crime against fashion to wear flannel shirts that aren’t plaid, because I want a lot more flannel in my life!)

5. The purple Sadie tank top, which has proved to be quite versatile, even though it’s not the most exciting thing I sewed this year. (Aaaaahhhh, look how sunny and warm it is there! Much nicer than looking out the window–it’s actually pretty unseasonably warm here today, but it’s also grey and rainy, which is why I’m home to finish this post. Work is soooooo sloooooow on rainy days that the manager told me to stay home!)

Thankfully, since I didn’t have a huge output this year, I don’t feel like I really had a lot of misses as far as my actual finished projects went. So I’m taking a slightly more tongue-in-cheek approach to this.

Top 5 misses of 2013:

1. The one true sewing fail I had this year was my Pavlova cardigan–the one that tore apart in the washer before I even had a chance to take a photo of me wearing it. I hardly even got a chance to wear it, either. Despite my usual cold-blooded ways, I was sufficiently comfortable both indoors and out to not wear it at all while I was in Jamaica, so I only wore it on the plane there and back. If I were to be honest, it didn’t turn out as cute and flattering as I’d hoped, either. I still plan to make a Pavlova top again, but maybe more of a wrap top as intended. Or with knit fabric so it drapes better.

2. My timing in finishing my Tiramisu dress. It’s not the dress itself, because I do like it. And if I’d made it earlier in the fall or even the summer, I think it would have been worn a lot more. But I only wore it once, because it got too cold almost as soon as I’d finished it! I’m definitely not one of those people who can go short-sleeved in the cold. I wonder how it would look with my brown corduroy jacket–too much brown in the middle?

3. Online fabric shopping. This wasn’t a 100% fail. I did manage to find the right shade of nude organza for the wedding dress. I do like the rayon challises that I picked up for a couple of dresses that I didn’t get to this year. And I recently got some organic cotton knit that is super-soft and I think it will make a great basic black maxidress next year! But I did have multiple issues here, from trying to find a solid emerald green to make wedding accessories (color of the year, huh?!), to the paisley I’d intended for a Darling Ranges dress that looked quite different when it arrived, to the stretch denim I recently ordered that looked like teal, but showed up more of a robin’s egg blue and a lot thinner than I’d anticipated! And, of course, I also recently had issues in buying both fabric and yarn online, because in both cases, the website said they had more in stock than they actually had by the time they got to processing my orders. Both times, I had to make substitutions for things that cost more money. Aside from higher cost, the most annoying thing in both cases was that they were things I’d spent hours searching for in order to avoid wool! Blasted allergy…anyway. Hopefully I’ll have more hits on that count next year, since I can’t necessarily rely on Joann’s to have what I need or want.

4. Pantsapalooza. It’s not that I regret doing it, though I think I really could/should have managed the sewalong aspect of it much, much better. I guess since it was my first time hosting one, it’s a learning experience, right? And I did get usable trousers, but only one pair out of my intended five. So that’s not a palooza, that’s just pants! (Guess what I’m most likely sewing first in January…)

5. Buying vs. using. Yes, a few of these were projects I intended to get to quickly–my Darling Ranges dress that I actually bought fabric for twice (see #3 above), or the Reglisse dress that I found the perfect print for almost right away, for instance. And then the summer just disappeared. A few of these I actually did get to right away–I’m thinking specifically of the Hummingbird pattern, since I actually managed to jump in on the official sewalong and use up some stash to boot! And I did buy and use the plaid flannel in a timely fashion, which is unusual for me. But overall, I think I acquired a lot more fabrics and patterns this year than I have in recent years past, and didn’t necessarily use things up in a way to balance that out. (And it’s not even Christmas yet, and I can usually expect to get fabric for Christmas from my mom, too!) My husband and I are planning to really crack down on the budget come January so we can pay off some debt and save for some things we’re hoping to do, so this is something I really need to get under control again, and focus more on using what I have and being creative with it. (Incidentally, I loved the idea of the Sewcial Bee that I did last year, since it forced me to jump on fabric and patterns that were already in the stash! I hear rumors that there’s going to be more next year, and I hope that’s true!)

I did also lose track of yardage in vs. out this year, which is something I’ve been trying to keep track of. If I do succeed in my plan to get the room straightened up to start the new year, I do plan to re-tally everything that has significant yardage (like a yard or more) so I can start keeping tabs on that again.

Honorable mention: My #greendecember project. I got it cut out, then got caught up in a secret sewing frenzy, so that’s as far as it got. But it only gets honorable mention, because it’s another Renfrew top, which means there is a chance I can still actually get it sewed up before January 1!

My first Thurlows!

Why, yes, I’m feeling accomplished. I’ve only had this in the queue since the moment I got the announcement email from Sewaholic.

All things considered, I think they turned out pretty well! Even though the welt pockets are a little wonky. I couldn’t make heads or tails of the first one, ended up making it much shorter than it was supposed to be, and stupidly chopped off the excess before I figured it out on the second one. So it was either rip it all out and cut out new pieces and start over–with the welt hole already cut–or just chalk these up to test pants and call it a day. Obviously, I chose the latter.

The one thing I can’t figure out–it seems like the fly sticks out way more than it should, don’t you think? I feel like the line shouldn’t be that visible in a photo. I’m not sure if that is a fit issue or a fabric issue, since this is my mystery content fabric.

Looks pretty good from the back, though, I think. (And don’t mind my pose–this was self-timer on the tripod, and the dogs insisted on photobombing left and right! So I had to keep an eye on them to make sure they didn’t knock my tripod over. Or get into the trash. Again.)

I know there are still some wrinkles in the front. One lesson I’ve learned from attempting all of those pairs of jeans is that it’s really easy for me to over-fit there, since my upper thighs protrude quite a bit. So I have to leave a little breathing room just above them for sitting and things like that, or things get uncomfortable pretty quickly. I’m not too terribly worried about it, since I almost always leave shirts untucked anyway. But Malkin seems to approve, from the way he’s smiling when he looks at them.

I also didn’t bother with the belt loops, because I just wanted to get them done and move on to the next several pairs. Besides, I’m unsure how well this fabric will wear, since it was free and I’m not exactly sure what it is.

I did make one semi-conscious change to the design, by doing a visible button in the waistband instead of a hook and eye. I’ll admit that it was initially because I misread the supplies a bit and bought buttons to go with the pants. And I do have a thing for interesting buttons, so I didn’t want to relegate them all to the inside to be seen by only me. (I had a long-time friend tell me once that she could always tell when I’d made my clothes, because the buttons were more interesting than the average RTW stuff!) I did have a practical reason as well, though–I’ve found that my RTW pants with hook-and-eye waistbands tend to get distorted over time, and then lay funny under my shirts. It drives me nuts!

Overall, despite my welt pocket mental block, these pants were very much what I’d hoped they’d be–pants that look good and were relatively painless to fit! I did have to take in quite a bit on the back waistband, and change up the crotch curve and things like that. And I did have to let out the side seams just a bit at the top to accommodate my thighs. But I didn’t have to worry at all about adding hem length, which I’ve often had to do with pants, and I didn’t have to start over to add darts in weird places for a muslin fitting!

I think I’ve managed to make all of the changes to my paper pattern, minus one length adjustment I need to make to the waistband, so I’m almost good to go on cutting out my other 4 pairs and really make this a pantsapalooza! Though I’ve decided that I’m actually going to assembly-line these in groups of two instead of all four at once, mainly because that will minimize thread changes on my serger for seam finishing. (That, and it increases the chance I might be able to squeeze them in soon, in between working on stuff for the Doctor Who sewalong. Since that starts on Monday and all.)

Thurlow fitting

I have to say, this hasn’t been nearly as painful as I’d anticipated.
This is what I ended up with when sewing it together straight out of the pattern. (I cut a straight size 8, for the record.) And it actually wasn’t that bad! It felt a little bit tight in the lower crotch area. And it was definitely too tight in the butt, even though it was still gapping at the center back. But still…I’ve sewed worse. Which means that my hopes that the Thurlows would work well for my shape are fully justified. Hurrah for Sewaholic!

After about an hour of tweaking, this is where I’m currently at. The butt may still be a little too tight, especially when factoring in welt pockets, but it’s passable. And I can sit in it, which is important. I know the front still looks pretty wrinkly, but I don’t think I’m going to mess with it too much. I learned from the jeans-fitting process that I have to allow myself a little extra room at the top of the thighs, because I have what Tasia calls “strong thighs”. (As illustrated by this initial jeans post here where you can see how far they protrude past my stomach and pelvic bones!) Besides, a lot of what is there is sagginess, and based on a few tugs I was doing when trying it on, I think that problem will be largely solved when the waistband goes on.

So here’s what I’ve done so far:

• Let the inner thigh seams out 1/8″, for a total of 1/4″ per leg.
• Took in the darts and side seams 1/8″, for a total waistline decrease of 1/2″.
• Scooped out the back crotch seam to give me more room in the butt. I’m still not sure why taking fabric away from the outside of the pants gives more room, but it works. TARDIS effect, maybe? I also took that slanty back seam in quite a bit at the top. Probably a solid inch and a half.

I still need to play with the waistband, but that should be fairly simple. I was also thinking about taking it in a little more at the knee for more of a bootleg effect, but since these aren’t jeans and I’m not sure how forgiving this fabric is going to be, I’m going to leave it for these. It seemed like a good fit when my knees are bent, so I probably shouldn’t mess with that too much, either.

So, how’s it looking? And do I need to add a little more into the backside still?

One more thing– I recently discovered on my blog reader that this is happening again! So since my plans for sewing a lot of pants fit oh-so-nicely into the “Fashionable Foundations for Frosty Weather” category, I’m signing up for sure! I mean, two sewalongs in one? Three, even, since I am busting stash for all of these! How can I resist?

Pants fitting and finishing tips

I’m compiling as many fitting resources for pants as I can find into this link. I’m no expert on fitting adjustments myself, but hopefully you’ll find these helpful. (I’ll keep updating this post as I find more.)

General fitting:
Pants-fitting basics, via The Coletterie. 
A link list for several pants-fitting issues, from Sewaholic.
This one is more for jeans, but some of the principles could apply to regular trousers as well. From Threads Magazine.
Baggy seat fix, also from Threads Magazine.
Adding a wedge for if you need more coverage in back, from Sewingplums.
Another trousers sewalong at A Fashionable Stitch.  (Thanks, Joanne and Alessa!)
An in-progress “Fit-n-Sew Along” at Maria Denmark. (Thanks to Maria and Not Sew Simple for keeping me in the loop on the Twitter discussion they were having about this while I was at work!)

Pattern-specific:
Lauren at Lladybird hosted a Thurlow sew-along last year, which I would have been all over if I hadn’t been somewhat distracted by muslining a wedding dress. The posts for that start here. She also has a bunch of helpful links in this post to various other blog posts about fitting!

There’s also a series of posts at The Coletterie for sewing the Clover pants.

I haven’t found anything specific on the Juniper pants yet, but feel free to comment if there’s something I missed!

Stepping it up:
Adding a “French Fly” with a waist stay, from Handmade by Carolyn.
Sewing a blind hem, from The Coletterie.
Also from Twitter- a video series on drafting and sewing trousers, from Joost. (This one is more for men’s trousers, so the fit would obviously be different, but I’m sure that the ladies can learn something from menswear construction, too!)

Do you have any other favorite fitting tips or pattern alterations? Feel free to share in the comments, and I’ll add it to the list.

As for my own progress, I haven’t actually started sewing yet! Between an open-to-close work shift over the weekend, church and music activities on Sunday, and going to Philadelphia to see Muse on Monday night, I’ve barely had time to even sleep, let alone sew. But I did get the pattern traced out, and my (hopefully) wearable muslin mostly cut out yesterday. I still need to do interfacing and lining pieces, so I’m going to try to get that taken care of this afternoon. And maybe even start constructing, if time allows.

It’s Pantsapalooza time!

Hurrah! So here it is, day one, and I’m already changing up my plan. Not for the sewalong in general, don’t worry! I’m just rethinking my own personal approach.

My original plan, as stated, was to start off with a wearable muslin in the form of shorts. But I’ve been thinking about it, and I’ve come to the conclusion that maybe that isn’t the best approach. For one thing, now that it’s September, I have absolutely no way of predicting how long shorts will actually be wearable in my area. It could be anywhere from another 2-8 weeks, depending on what the wacky Mid-Atlantic weather does! Between plotting for this, that Darling Ranges dress I have queued, and the upcoming Doctor Who sewalong, my brain is rather firmly fixed on cooler-weather sewing, and shorts just seem…pointless. My other thought was that if I start with a muslin of the pants, it’ll be easier to work out the fit and the length all in one go. Plus the denim is a little heavier than any of my pants fabrics, which I’m sure will affect the fit. So my new plan is to use my mystery brown fabric as the wearable muslin, because since I got it for free, it’s not a huge loss if I totally mess it up.

I wonder if it’s possible to get the length so it’ll work with both my boots and my flats? Hmmm….
Anyway, here’s the fabrics that I’m going to be using. The brown on top is going to be the muslin fabric. I’m not sure what to call it, because looking at it more closely reminded me that it’s not a twill after all! It’s got an almost slubby linen-like weave to it in spots, so I’m really not sure. Below that is the navy lightweight denim, the grey and olive twills, and the charcoal lightweight denim.

I’m working on a helpful links post, which I’ll hopefully be able to get up in the next couple of days. In the meantime, when I’m not at work or rehearsal, I’m going to be busy tracing out this pattern so I can get started!

In case you missed it, I did get the html working on the button, so you can pick up the code here. I’m also probably going to update that first post with links to other posts.

Anything particular you want to see out of this, as far as post topics go? As I’ve said before, I’m no fitting expert, but I’ll be happy to help however I can!