It was sunny earlier today. Warmish. I pulled this pair of pants and this t-Shirt from my closet to wear. I stopped at a friend’s house for iced tea during the afternoon and her comment,
“Oh you’re wearing your “Barbie Pink” outfit!” stopped me in my tracks.
Barbie Pink! Really!
I’m never going to be able to wear either of these garments again. I’m not a “Barbie” fan. I didn’t grow up with Barbie. I was 16 when Barbie was released – well past the playing with Barbie age. Barbie is simply not part of my cultural heritage.
I have no interest in seeing the film – although I’ve read reviews describing the feminist underpinnings of the movie. I just don’t see myself showing up in public again in what others obviously identify as a “Barbie Pink” outfit!
Another Face
I pulled up behind this convertible yesterday afternoon – the “face” was unmistakeable. I grabbed my phone and took a photo – not a perfect image but the face is definitely visible.
More Shoes
What do you suppose went on here – both socks were stuffed into the right sneaker. Both covered in mud, left on the grass.
The Gals
Two of these gals are 89, one is 92! We were taking a leisurely Sunday afternoon drive along the Noel Shore yesterday. Visited Burntcoat, sat at the lookoff for a bit.
Noel Shore
Stopped for ice cream in Kennetcook (good ice cream, BTW). One of those just moseyin’, taking side roads, not worrying about “getting lost” day trips. We had a nice time. Lots of laughter (I’m the “baby” in this group.)
Yard Sale
We encountered this old fashioned yard sale. Someone had emptied the house, and EVERYTHING was sitting out for the taking – there was a small locked cash box (a slit in the top) and hand-written sign above saying “Pay Here!”. All on the honour system (nobody about). We weren’t the only curious visitors.
I found a box of power line insulators – I have owned one for years – I use it as a weight to hold patterns in place when I’m cutting fabric – been looking for more. I picked out three small size ones, left a toonie (a Canadian $2 coin) in the box. They’re in my dishwasher waiting to be cleaned. (Bernice picked up a small toothpick mug for her collection.)
I’ve been making clothes for myself for decades. I stopped being able to buy pants that fit without alteration since my early 40s; hence my long-term quest for pants patterns and techniques for fitting pants that would yield me something that fit me. My top measurements are closer to a single size although for the past decade I’ve avoided fitted shirts, t-Shirts, etc. because my waist has slowly, but surely, increased and that affects how any top I might make will fit.
I was laughing a couple of weeks ago with MaryAnn (a sewing pal) about a FBA (Full Bust Adjustment), saying what I need more is a FTA (Full Tummy Adjustment). She got up, went into her sewing room and returned with a book:
Book Cover
Everything you want to know about fitting patterns is here and if your question isn’t answered in the book, it will be found in Jenny’s blog: Cashmerette Sewalongs + Tutorials. Her foray into garment making for largish women is very informative. Her learning to make garments for herself led her into pattern making for curvy women. She’s recently introduced pattern sizes from 0-16 (the original sizing was 12-32). These simple, generally unadorned garments are suitable as a place to start for anybody. She wants women to look good in their clothes and to feel somewhat stylish.
While the book explains the complete range of adjustments in great depth, Jenny starts by describing “grading” – how you use today’s multi-size patterns to fit the different parts of your body. My challenge is I’m right between her smaller sizes and the larger sizes. With a size 12 bust, a size 20 waist, a size 8 bum, I can’t actually work within a single size range. I’m about to write Jenny to ask her advice concerning which size range I should be working in. I’m guessing because I’m a smallish person she’ll recommend working in the 0-16 range and grading my waist beyond the pattern rather than working in the 12-32 range and grading beyond the pattern to fit my bum. I’m going to take the basic pants pattern from the back of the book and size it to fit me (it’s a 12-32 pattern) to see where I get with it. If I’m able to get a fitting muslin using a graded sloper based on this pattern, I’ll be able easily to design whatever features on want on my pants from there.
Trying to take photos of the pants I’m modelling is so difficult. Not great photos but adequate to show how the pants fit.
FrontSideBack
I finished the denim pants (made from the same pattern drafting I used for the white linen ones this morning. This was a test run to see whether I could use the pattern sloper without making any further adjustments. I could. The nips in the waist I’d taken worked out fine. The length was good. The front fits in the crotch without pulling, the side seam is perpendicular to the floor, the back falls straights without being baggy. I can sit in them confortably. The back crease is really a seam incorporating a dart under the bum (which is now in the right place).
I did add elastic to the back yoke because when I sat down the back pulled down. With the elastic the pants seem to be staying in place.
I’ve ended with a cross between Jeans and Trousers – I’ve used a jeans pocket (not a slant or inseam pocket used for trousers), incorporated the back yoke used to fit jeans at the waist, a fly front for easy access; but I’ve added the back dart down the centre of the pants, a straight leg, with limited top stitching that’s de rigueur for jeans, finishing the hem with a single top stitching, giving me a simple look more like trousers.
With my fingers crossed, in a couple of months, I will use this sloper to make some corduroy pants for the fall. That will let me purge some of the winter pants in my closet; some of which have been fitted and refitted many times as the years pass and my shape changes. This fit should last into the fall.
My sister Donna knows I’m interested in stray shoes/boots. A couple of months ago I came across a pair in the middle of the sidewalk. She came across these on her morning walk in Point Pleasant Park the other day.
The Story?
What’s goin’ on? The boots were small, in good shape, Donna thought about trying the on – she didn’t – she just took the photo.
My theory: the boots hurt; the owner wasn’t walking one more step in them; left them for another walker/hiker (of which there are many in Point Pleasant Park) that they might fit.
The remaining question, of course, is how did the owner get home? The paths in the park are gravel – pretty difficult to walk on in bare feet, even in sock feet! So how did that person get back to the parking lot and their car? No idea!
The thing about making pants is the fit changes over a six month period – my weight distributes just a bit differently so the pattern that worked last year won’t quite fit now even though my weight hasn’t changed much.
I bought some white linen and a medium weight denim several weeks ago. I decided I had to get those white pants done because it’s almost August and I have nowhere to store the fabric till next spring!
Finished pants draped over a chair
I didn’t want to make another pair of pull-on pants. I wanted a fly front which is actually a lot easier to get into. I pulled out my Sandra Betzina jeans pattern Vogue 7608 which I’ve been using since 2015.
My challenge is I have a very flat bum, skinny thighs but a full belly which makes my waist measurement close to my hip measurement. I last used the pattern in May 2019 (the date I noted on the draft) so I wasn’t prepared to trust the sizing of my draft – I figured I should at least lay it against my pull-on pants pattern (most recently used in Feb 2022) and was surprised how close the two actually were. Then I did what I needed to do – I took my body measurements yet again: waist, high belly, hip (at fullest), thigh, and checked them against the pattern. On this pattern I’m a size A through the bum in the back but I need a C from hip to waist. In the front I’m a C from crotch to waist. I checked the grading on my draft against the original pattern to make sure I was close to a working size.
I intended making the dart adjustment in the pants back but I needed to make sure I was getting it centered so I balanced the pattern, front and back, then added the dart to the centre back. This pattern has a back yoke (no waistband), with a waistband in the front. The smart thing was to start by working “Top Down/Centre Out“. I cut out the 2 yoke pieces, the two front waistband pieces, sewed them together, then tried it on. The fit wasn’t bad, a reasonable amount of overlap in the front, so I decided to go ahead and cut the fabric.
I was using my white linen fabric to make a muslin – if the finished garment fit I’m ahead of the game, but as usual, I was prepared to throw out the whole effort if it didn’t work.
I did all the prep work – fused interfacing where it was needed: back pocket facing, front pocket facing, waistband, yoke, both sides of the fly. I serged edges where I wanted to prevent fraying. I made up the pockets, added them to the front (I simplify the pockets by adding them to the top, rather than inserting them from behind the fronts). Now here’s where I deviated from Top Down/Centre Out construction. If this was going to be a wearable garment, I needed to set up the fly front. So I went ahead and put in the zipper, added the fly facing and top stitched the fly in place (Here are instructions for this simple fly front) (Here’s a link to a video.) With the fly completed I added each front waistband piece.
With the front done, I worked on the backs. I sewed the yoke to each back side, then sewed the back dart in each back piece, serged it (1/4″ seam allowance). Added the back pockets to each side. Now I returned to the Top Down/Centre Out technique – I sewed inner leg seams (no serging), sewed the outer leg seams (no serging), stitched the crotch seam( no serging), then tried on the pants. I could see I wanted to take in the side seams 1/2″, I wanted to remove about 1/2″ from the back crotch inner leg to flatten the bum a bit more, I also wanted to bring the back dart higher so it would finish under the pocket, finally take in the centre back 3/8″ at the waist.
I made those adjustments (marked them on my pattern draft), then I serged the seams. Tried on the pants again. I was satisfied with the fit, so I added the waistband and yoke facings (having matched them to the waistband and yoke on the pants), top stitched around those elements on the right side of the garment. I marked the inseam (27″), folded and pressed the hem, then finished the hems with a cover stitch. Last I added a button hole on the front waist tab, and a button and tried the pants on again. Overall the fit was good – but the pants were too long.
I took out the hem, shortened the legs by 1/2″. Cover stitched again – still a smidge too long. I shortened them another 1/2″.
The front fit is close but the added length interferes with how the legs fall – this was before I shortened, and reshortened the pants. The back is close – I just need to raise the dart to remove the slight bit of fullness under my bum. I’m not going to do that with these pants, by the time I’ve sat in the linen for a few minutes the back will be stretched out – I marked that adjustment on the pattern for the denim which I will make next.
All in all, after shortening the legs, I have a pair of wearable pants. A good couple of days effort.
These were fun socks to knit! I bought the yarn from Hobbii in Denmark a couple of months ago. I’ve purchased yarn from them for a couple of years and found it a nice weight and texture. The patterns have for the most part turned out interesting socks. These were the brightest I’ve ever knit!
The only challenge was the ball of yarn had some knots where during the winding process the yarn broke and it was joined manually – distorting the pattern. I ran into both knots while knitting the first sock. The first happened between the green and blue transition – I had to unwind quite a bit of yarn to find an approximate location for a match. The second knot happened just after the heel where the solid yellow was abruptly ended and joined to green. At that point I cut out the knot, threaded one yarn into the other knit 5 stitches, trimmed excess yarn and carried on.
I had to be careful on the second sock to match the location when I got past the heel. I was pretty successful making an approximate match – my two socks turned out the same! I didn’t encounter any further knots, thank goodness. It was also a good decision to knit the cuff in yellow (I didn’t know at that point I’d lose most of the yellow solid section). It gives a colour balance to the finished sock.
I completed the purple placemats yesterday. I’d set them up with batting and backing when I finished the bright ones, but I didn’t get around to sewing them together, turning them right side out, and stitching in the ditch along the seam lines. It’s not like I have use for them – I do so little entertaining these days where I might use new placements on my glass table. These have gone in the drawer along with the other two sets of “Stack ‘n Whack” placemats I now have on hand. I’ve made them to display in Sew With Vision to advertise a class in the fall. Once that’s done, they will likely be given as gifts.
This morning I decided to finish the two sets of placemats – adding batting and backing, and quilting them. I was lucky – I found this multicolour batik in one of my drawers and there was enough to back all four placemats (actually I did have to fudge a bit – I discovered I’d cut a corner from one end of the fabric for some other project and had to patch it on one placemat! Nobody is ever going to notice).
I realized when I began stitching in the ditch I could “chain piece” the seam by following one placemat after the other without cutting the thread between. The sewing went fast that way. Must remember to do it on the second set which are set to assemble!
I still think these are particularly “loud” although my sister assures me they’re just fine. For sure, they will be noticed in the shop when I take them to put them on display. Maybe people will sign up for the class. Never know.
Finished this pair yesterday while watching Wimbledon action – Alcaraz vs Jarry. Not Alcaraz’s best play – his first serve wasn’t working well so he was playing a defensive tennis against a competent opponent.
The socks are rather sedate – but I liked the soft colours and enjoyed working with them which is why I chose the soft pink as the complement colour.
This project started when I was looking for a light natural silk tussah to use as background fabric for the wall art pieces back in March/April. I came across this beautiful fuchsia silk tussah at Britex in San Francisco. It’s a wonderful store, BTW. When in San Francisco I spent a lot of time there.
Fuchsia Silk Tussah
I tried resisting it, but in the end I ordered two yards, knowing when it arrived I was going to make a shirt/jacket from it. Turns out I had some dupioni silk in precisely the same shade which I planned to use for facing the yoke, collar, under collar and cuffs! Meant to be.
The fabric arrived beginning of May. I cut out the shirt June 12, then went off to Toronto on the 16th for five days for a family visit. I began working on the shirt when I returned. I wasn’t able to sit down and work on it straight for the 5-6 hours it takes to sew a shirt – I distributed the work over several days. Just added the last four buttonholes and the buttons this afternoon.
Finished Shirt
This is the basic “Easy Shirt” from Janet Pray – the one I’ve made a gazillion times. It’s a man’s shirt so I have to remember to reverse the fronts. The medium size shirts in my closet are starting to be “snug” so I opted to make the shirt in large. When I was in San Francisco in 2017 at Sandra Betzina’s last sewing workshop she recommended a small adjustment to the pattern – she advised adding 3/8″ to the bottom of the yoke, 3/8″ to the top of the back, to give me a bit of ease over my rounded back. It worked beautifully – the back of the shirt falls perfectly straight.
Since I plan to wear the garment as a light jacket (rather than a shirt) I was able to fudge the buttons – instead of 6-7 of the on the front, I used 5 (there were just 9 of these small, metal, “flower” buttons at Fabricville when I went shopping); I needed two each for the sleeves leaving 5 for the front – I eliminated the top two buttons.
Fuchsia Pink Shirt
The shirt is the tiniest bit on the large size – what I really ought to do is make a size half way between medium and large. For a jacket the loose fit will be fine. I have to say, I love the colour! Maybe now is the time to bring out the two gorgeous Liberty cotton prints I bought at Britex (one in 2015, the other in 2017) and make those shirts!
jmn 