Growed-up Trousers

Most of the trousers I make my kids are elastic waist pants.  I have been doing a bit of stash-busting this week.  I was going to eek out a skirt for myself from this fabric, but really, such a classic (boring) skirt is not one that I would wear a lot.  So my son got this remnant piece.  I combined it with a thrifted zipper and button and an Ottobre pattern that I traced off years ago and never used.

He is most pleased with them and asked me "could you remind me that I have these Mum, so that I can wear them again?".  Unlike the other umpteen pairs that I have made him and are either lodged at the back of the drawer or have been handed down to nephews, hardly worn.

I only had enough fabric for one back pocket.

He is wearing it with a linen shirt that I re-made for his brother 5 years ago.  It has been worn twice in those years.  Once to a christening and once to a wedding.  Apparently it is a really, really itchy linen.  The shirt was way too big when I bought it, so I cut it down and used the scraps to add the pockets, pocket flaps, and sleeve tabs.

This close-up shows that the trousers are a little on the big side.  He doesn't seem to mind though.

Men's shirt

It seems that I never have "nothing to wear" these days, which means I can spare just a little time to sew for somebody else (well, maybe just a little, not too often mind!).

The Fabric:  Shirting cotton, from Tessuti.  I was so delighted with the quality of this fabric when it arrived, that I almost kept it for myself.  Lucky for him, this colour looks terrible on me.  The fabric is a pale white / grey colour with tiny, short black lines woven through it.  He tells me that it feels great and is very comfortable to wear.

The Pattern:  I made a pattern off a Ben Sherman shirt that fits him pretty well.  I don't normallly like making patterns off clothing, but this shirt had a small grid pattern on it, which made it easy to check distances and grainlines etc.  I pinned out some fitting changes (whilst he was playing guitar...can you imagine?  Why can't men stand still for 5 minutes) and transferred these changes to the pattern and then made up a muslin.  I needed some more fitting changes to the muslin (got about 2 minutes to check these whilst he watched football).  Then there was a slight pause of about 4 months.  I was going to sew the shirt as part of the MPB men's shirt sew-along, but that was the week we lost power.  When I finally got around to starting, I couldn't remember where I was with the fitting process, so just made up the pattern as it was marked.

The Instructions:  I used David Coffin's Shirtmaking book for instructions.  Truth be known, I would have been better off using my overlocker than messing about with all those felled seams because the fabric has a tendency to fray.

The Fit:  The photograph below shows that the shirt is too wide across the chest.  Turns out this is not a fitting issue; I just folded under the wrong amount at the centre fronts.  This would also explain why I had such a hard time getting the collar stand to fit the neckline!

 

The front pattern piece shows that I narrowed the chest and raised the front shoulder (the red lines are the changes).  This raise was to accomodate a prominent front shoulder bone.

 

I'm pretty bloody impressed with how this back yoke fits.  Usually there are pull lines between the shoulder blades and drooping of the bottom yoke edges (see here for the last shirt I made him, showing these problems).  

  

To get this fit, I lengthened the centre of the yoke, without lengthening the sides of the yoke.   The neckline was also widened a little.

 

I tapered the upper edges of the back piece, essentially taking out a dart below the yoke. 

The sleeves are close fitting (unlike the "wings" sticking out from the previous shirt).   I like the shape of the sleeves but I am not happy with the fit.  There seems to be too much fabric at the back....

...which is more evident when he bends his arm.

The sleeve pattern piece shows the changes I made (I traced off a new pattern piece to add seam allowances).  The red line shows that I raised the shoulder and moved it forward a little.  I think perhaps I need to move it forward a little more and then remove some of the depth of the back curve (Any advice welcomed!). 

The details: 

Collar stays (this is the most accurate photograph of the fabric)

2 piece sleeve (back view)

Diagonal button holes (idea borrowed from Carolyn)

I have fabric for another shirt.  I'm pretty happy with this pattern, although I do need to improve the sleeve fit.  The next shirt will be a business shirt, so I will probably change the collar shape.  David Coffin's book has a selection of collar shapes to choose from.

Look what I found in the washing machine...

Matching guitar picks.

It only took a moment to realise that they were from this shirt.  Guitar picks as collar points.  A nifty idea for the guitarist in your life!  I'm only mentioning this because there has been a lot of men's shirts sewing going on.


Myra asked a question about the cowl tank I made.  I hope this diagram helps.

Dortje Trousers

The pattern for Dortje Trousers is from the book "Sewing Clothes Kids Love".  Belinda has done a very thorough review of this book.   When this book arrived, I asked my daughter to look through it and pick out something she liked (I was trying to distract her from some tantrum or other).  She grumbled as she usually does when I ask her to look at patterns.  After she flipped through the book she declared, "I love everything in this book.  Well, everything except the boys clothes".  So I picked out the trousers.  I had to explain that they would not be exactly the same as the ones in the book, because I didn't have the same fabrics.  She wanted reassurance that they would be just as colourful.

For these pants I have used a green & purple linen for the top, a turquoise cotton drill (to match the hat made from a vogue pattern) for the lower legs and an Amy Butler print for the flares.  The ruffles above the flare are made from a purple mesh jersey.  There is a string of white pom-pom trim between the upper and lower leg.  The back pockets are a different Amy Butler print.  I have used a purple and white daisy trim across the pockets and bottom back hem (she especially loves the daisies).

I think if you went and bought all the different fabrics and trims to make these trousers they would be very expensive to make.  All of this was from remnant stash and leftover trims, so I have been able to use up small pieces of fabric I love to make a garment for somebody I love, so it turned out to be a very special project.

I found the book to be truly inspirational.  It got me into the sewing room and sorting through my stash for bits and pieces.  So many sewing books are targeted at beginners.  I love sewing books but I already know how to sew a tote bag and an a-line skirt.   I have been delighted that this book contains so much more (and at a very reasonable price).  The book is probably not best suited to beginners, but we all know that beginners can do just about anything if they really want to.  I guess the most important thing is to remember to add seam allowances to the pattern pieces.  The only down side of the book for me was that there were no pants / shorts patterns included for boys.  

As well as these trousers, I have already make the Insa skirt for my niece (didn't take photos), the Riviera leggings and the Brooklyn tank top.  The Brooklyn shrug is sure to be a favourite as well. 

In this next photo, you can see the first quilt that my daughter has made.  She met a lady in an airport queue who told her that she taught girls to make quilts.  My daughter picked out all the fabrics when we were in Japan.  She didn't want me to help sew it at all.  Eventually I convinced her to let me cut the squares with my rotary cutter, as she was cutting almost random shapes that weren't going together very well.  She sewed all the pieces together (I mended a few holes here and there and then pressed and pressed and pressed it into shape...no pressing as you go for her!).  The layers were spray-glued together.  She quilted rows across the quilt.  My lovely friend at Pom-Pom Rouge gave me the advice for her to quilt in wavy rows, rather than try to sew parallel lines.  The bottom fabric was folded over for the quilt edges (I think binding was a little too advanced for her).

It is really, truly a fabulous effort, sewn in 2 - 3 days.  She has already started on her next quilt as a birthday present for her little brother. 

The new fashion season

In and out of the car the other day, I caught parts of a story on "Bush Telegraph" on the different number of seasons experienced in different parts of Australia, and how far removed they are from the traditional Winter, Summer, Autumn, Spring.  This got me thinking about my wardrobe (because everything comes back to clothes and sewing, in the end, doesn't it?).  I had not got around to completing my Marfy pants, partly because I had no need for them.  In many other places, loose-fitting, white linen pants would be considered a summer wardrobe item, perhaps even a summer staple.  Not here.  Not this year.

It has been too wet.  Too many puddles.  Too much mud.  They are too long to be worn with plastic thongs.

Today I received a Country Road winter catalogue in the mail.   I was momentarily confused, seriously.  I tried to remember what month we were in.  I wondered if it was a Sale catalogue.  Why were they sending me this?  The brain moves slowly these days and it eventually dawned on me that it is March and the start of the Fall fashion season in the Southern Hemisphere.

Where I live, some years we have the Wet and the Dry.  Not always.  Some years we have the "Hot & Disgustingly Humid" and the "Hot & Sunny" seasons. 

Anyway.  Enough Babble.  I finished the pants and here they are.  I think they look much better in real life.  I got a lot of compliments on this outfit, which totally confirms my belief that the image in my head is far more accurate than the one that the camera shows me.  As I explained to my sister recently, I am a pear masquerading as a column.  These pants make me feel column-like; I just need my photographer to capture that feeling.
 

Some lifted t-shirts shots to show more detail.  I really must remember not to waste time on waist details when I never tuck shirts in.  I don't need to provide close-ups, now that I know you all blow up my pictures looking for imperfections!!  (Really, did you think I would show you all the bodgy bits of my dress?) The linen is a twill weave and I wouldn't be surprised if I found it was actually a linen / silk blend.

 

I have actually lost weight since I started sewing these, so they fall down a bit and are baggier than they should be.  Is that something to complain about?  Not really, I am sure they will fit perfectly again in the not-so-distant future.  I am not happy with the buckle.  It is just basted in until I find one that I like better. I would like to do a PR for these pants, but it is so long since I started them, I can't really remember what I did, although there are a couple of construction posts, if you are interested (here and here).  I'm pretty happy with the skin-coloured lining of pockets and yokes as the show-through is minimal.  Yay for me!

Things have been a little topsy-turvy here this year, so not much sewing has been done.  I did whip up this little top though.  I was trying to decide between a drapy, trendy-but-unflattering tank or an old stand-by Simplicity sleeveless top.  I was holding the fabric in front of the mirror, trying to decide, when I had an epiphany and decided on a cowl top. 

 

 I sat on the floor and started cutting straight away, using my tank pattern to guide me.  To work out how wide and deep to make the cowl, I just held the fabric against my shoulders in the mirror until I was happy with the shape.  This is not a highly accurate method, so I had to take it up at the shoulders and it is still a little low, but oh well.  The weight of the necklace holds it in place and I actually own a blue bra, bought in the days when I was a 14A, which is even harder to find than a 12A, and I bought whatever I could find.

What I forgot to do was lower the centre front hem and true the hem curve so that it interesected the fold at a right angle.  If you copy my bodgy method, shown in the photographs above, please remember to do this.

This fabric is a gorgeous rayon from EmmaOneSock.  So gorgeous that I knew what I wanted to do with the scraps before I even cut out my top.  A singlet and knicker set for my daughter.  The singlet is an Ottobre pattern and the knickers are a Jalie pattern.  The knickers stretch a lot, so the picture is a little deceiving...the singlet is quite fitted, not A-line.

I finally photographed them this afternoon, which she is very happy about, because now she is wearing them snuggled up in bed.  She informs me that they fit perfectly.  This makes me happy.  I was embarrased to wear knickers my Mum made when I was a child (sorry Mum), but she seems to wear the ones I make her in preference to the shop-bought ones.