Took a little break from dresses in favor of a bit of practicality. I was hunting for awhile for a men's thermal underwear pattern. I had gotten some nice black local merino wool and my boyfriend was keen for a pain of longjohns. Via various forums I found the out-of-print Jalie thermal underwear pattern, available for download on their website for $9USD.
I am so far not in love with pdf patterns. The Jalie pattern was particularly confusing because it has an unreliable amount of overlap and doesn't outline each piece clearly so you know where to cut. Luckily my boyfriend was willing to help since he got something out of it : ) He did the cutting and we taped together. He's a skinny 31 waist and he chose a size U (the pattern covers toddler to big adult), which in retrospect was a touch big, but he says he likes it that way (I also cut off about an inch of the waist to make it sit slightly lower toward his hips.)
It was my first time working with knits! Jalie recommends first zig zagging the seam, then following it with a straight stitch. I did that in some places, although it seemed better to do the straight stitch first which held the fabric and then I did a zig zag to better hold the edge. The instructions were a bit funny for the fly and I had to undo some mistakes there when I sewed the front and the back together, but it was otherwise straightforward construction and my first ever elastic application went well. I did use a ball point needle, and I'm not sure it's totally necessary but seemed like if that would improve the final product I might as well go for it.
Overall it is a functional result but definitely a quick job - the fly bias tape is a bit funny and I didn't cut the top above the elastic totally straight since I shortened it by guesswork. I'll admit I still don't own any kind of a ruler except for my measuring tape. My next attempts at knits will probably be tshirts as another project that will be quite straightforward.
Speaking of which - I went to a conference in Wellington last weekend, just for a day. Quite a rushed day because of course it was a priority to get to the fabric store! I had to choose which lectures to miss of the conference, and I was still late getting back. Global Fabrics has changed its name to The Fabric Store, a bit dull but this *is* New Zealand. And they were having a sale! My frantic hour in the shop taught me something about needing to have a plan before you enter the shop! I ended up with some merino wool in aqua and green, green twill for my upcoming Minoru jacket, some green wool I couldn't resist, just in case, rainbow striped shirting, and some interesting stuff for pants involving lurex threads and silk-cotton blends.
Of course I'm totally sure I left some incredible things behind but I suppose there will eventually be another trip to Wellington, and I definitely have enough to keep me occupied already!
I am so far not in love with pdf patterns. The Jalie pattern was particularly confusing because it has an unreliable amount of overlap and doesn't outline each piece clearly so you know where to cut. Luckily my boyfriend was willing to help since he got something out of it : ) He did the cutting and we taped together. He's a skinny 31 waist and he chose a size U (the pattern covers toddler to big adult), which in retrospect was a touch big, but he says he likes it that way (I also cut off about an inch of the waist to make it sit slightly lower toward his hips.)
It was my first time working with knits! Jalie recommends first zig zagging the seam, then following it with a straight stitch. I did that in some places, although it seemed better to do the straight stitch first which held the fabric and then I did a zig zag to better hold the edge. The instructions were a bit funny for the fly and I had to undo some mistakes there when I sewed the front and the back together, but it was otherwise straightforward construction and my first ever elastic application went well. I did use a ball point needle, and I'm not sure it's totally necessary but seemed like if that would improve the final product I might as well go for it.
Overall it is a functional result but definitely a quick job - the fly bias tape is a bit funny and I didn't cut the top above the elastic totally straight since I shortened it by guesswork. I'll admit I still don't own any kind of a ruler except for my measuring tape. My next attempts at knits will probably be tshirts as another project that will be quite straightforward.
Speaking of which - I went to a conference in Wellington last weekend, just for a day. Quite a rushed day because of course it was a priority to get to the fabric store! I had to choose which lectures to miss of the conference, and I was still late getting back. Global Fabrics has changed its name to The Fabric Store, a bit dull but this *is* New Zealand. And they were having a sale! My frantic hour in the shop taught me something about needing to have a plan before you enter the shop! I ended up with some merino wool in aqua and green, green twill for my upcoming Minoru jacket, some green wool I couldn't resist, just in case, rainbow striped shirting, and some interesting stuff for pants involving lurex threads and silk-cotton blends.
Of course I'm totally sure I left some incredible things behind but I suppose there will eventually be another trip to Wellington, and I definitely have enough to keep me occupied already!
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