Sew Liberated inspiration: Fancy Chanterelles in D&G

 My first pair of Chanterelle pants were a huge success.  I wore them all the time all summer.  The only tiny adjustment I thought would be good was to shorten the rise just a bit.  So when I was buying ridiculous and expensive fabric from the UK, my justification for buying some transparent Dolce & Gabbana seersucker silk was to make Chanterelle pants.  Of course it was.  And to do it quickly before I got scared of the fabric or overwhelmed by the very idea.  I used the same pattern pieces - size 6.  I also had actually made cardboard pocket things to fold over my pocket edges when I made these the first time (unusually thorough of me), so I used those.  

Transparent fabric needed some underlining.  I underlined the pants to below the level of the pockets with some soft white cotton/silk that I had lying around.  This is sewn into the pockets so it really can't flap around much.  I shortened the rise as planned by about 1 cm or maybe 1/2".  The fabric frayed quite a bit so things needed to be done quickly and efficiently without too much error.  Luckily these are very fun and a straightforward sew.  I didn't have any particular issues with construction.  The fabric was well enough behaved that other than using a lot of pattern weights I didn't do anything extra, I didn't use gelatin to firm up the silk. 

I was however worried that I might be making clown pants.  They are pretty loud.  

 

I thought they deserved a solid photoshoot and time was on my side: we ran the Hobbiton half marathon last March and I had them done before we went away for the race.  (Side note: It was one of the hardest trail races I've ever done, mostly along goat paths with very little formed trail down the side of hillsides that look bucolic only from a distance.  There was an optional swimming hole dip at km 10 and I forfeited a good race time to have a good swim instead.)

So here we are the day after the race, limping slowly through overpowering sun on a Hobbiton tour.  I'm very glad I went, ran and toured but I'm not a movie fan and so a lot of the detail was probably lost on me.  And no, we did NOT sign up for the race for next year.  My pants made me feel very sophisticated but I think I didn't really need the change in rise, it ends up pulling at my waist when I bend over.  Probably I need that rise as ease for movement, so I will stick to the original pattern in the future.  

I was considering making a cropped pair of Chanterelles.  However summer has already come...and is going...so we will see. 

Pomona pants by Anna Allen (and by me!)

 I decided that despite last year's intensive work on the Free Range Slacks, and a recent foray into the Elizabeth Suzann Clyde pants, I really did need these in my life.  Because who can resist beautiful drafting and the excellent butt fit?  

I made a size 4, which has consistently been my size in Anna Allen patterns.  Based on previous experience, I shortened the rise by 1". I shortened the legs 1" as well.  I made all my adjustments on both patterns then determined I didn't currently own any fabric with enough yardage...except one.  So my first pair is this oatmeal white rayon linen blend from Otara, the cheap fabric neighborhood in Auckland.  This fabric has proven to be an excellent match to the pattern! 

My only beef - I had to make the narrow leg version due to said fabric restrictions, and it doesn't have markings for front pockets so I had to sew them on last, by eyeing where they belong.  I've since transferred those marks onto the pattern but it's on the wide leg version, why not on the tapered? 

Other than that these were a joy to make AND they took about 2 hours including both pattern modifications, fishing through my stash, and documenting the process as I went for a friend, AND even a fortifying coffee break.  Unfortunately I had only crappy elastic and it has already started to roll up.  I wore these right away, and I wore them to Auckland (where I bought more elastic but was foiled by covid and didn't get to do any fabric shopping) and then I sneakily took this fancy photo shoot in the morning before I left Auckland, just as they locked down.  

 

So then I decided to experiment. I used the tapered leg version, size 0, and a stretch satin fabric in this very pretty and very busy flower sort of print.  It was equally fast to make, and the final answer here is NO. It loses all the drape without becoming fitted enough to look good.  The pattern is also way too busy! 

 

I was going to buy some good practice fabric for the wide leg version.  But because I missed my chance in Auckland, I was limited to online shops and it seemed like I would have to spent $150 to get enough fabric...so I decided to just go for it and cut into some of the silks I've been hoarding.  It's a goal this year to actually make things out of my precious hoard.  I have about 5 of these silks from Thailand.  They are challenging to match to a project because they are very structured silks, and loomed, so they are narrow.  I don't wear many fancy dresses and I can't seem to find any jacket patterns I like...so here we are! 

I cut on the cross grain to use the loomed edge for my hems, and removed about 3" off the hem out of necessity due to my fabric width.  I used the other edge for the pockets to add some detail.  The silk is very easy to sew, so there's not much to add there.  Now the question is whether these structured pants will get used!  They are very pretty and I'm super pleased with the fit.  I do see that the butt fit is different in these compared to the tapered leg pants, and I wonder whether it's a difference in my fabric or if the pattern pieces are subtly different.  I think both look good, and once I have confirmation that the wide leg has a place in my wardrobe I will probably make more.  I still want to try some heavier weight ones when I find the right fabric!

 

Finally I got onto my tapered plans, made of some greenish yellow linen ("Celery") from The Fabric Store. I was able to get these out of 2m of the fabric. This is the first time I used the pattern piece with the pockets drawn on the front so I was a little worried that maybe I had transferred the markings from the first pair of pants wrong, but they seem to be ok.

It is very funny that although these linen tapered pants are great, the first version made of cheap stash rayon-linen absolutely hit the spot for this pattern - with a bit more weight and a lot of drape.  I'll probably buy more of that fabric now that I've seen it in action. 

I texted a friend, worried that I'll never make anything except Pomona pants from now on...

Shape shape 2 double layer skirt in silk

My library had a copy of Shape Shape which I took home to peruse. I've been on a mission to make a poufy double or triple layer silk skirt and I recently acquired three colours of silk.  I was initially going to do a gathered skirt in three layers, but this caught my fancy instead.

I prepped a size small despite being worried that it will be too narrow in the hips.  The measurement is only off by 1" from my measurements, but I thought Japanese patterns tend to be really tiny.  I expect to make an M in Japanese patterns, not a small.

Ugh adding seam allowances.  But the pattern is only two pieces so I guess I shouldn't fuss too much.  It uses 2 separate rows of narrow elastic instead of a single wider elastic, which I thought was interesting.  Basically in the end you have 4 separate pieces of elastic around your waist. (Good? Bad? I'm actually thinking not very good.)

I used two of my three silks: silk organza in a very light gold colour, and brown crinkled silk, heavier than chiffon weight.  Because both are relatively transparent I did french seams on the sides and on the bottom where the two fabrics connect.

This turned into an exercise in imprecision. The crinkle silk was crinkled when I cut it, but obviously stretched when sewn.  I ended up with this:

I cut off that edge!

I overlocked the waistband before folding it over, and because of my french seams I then did the two waistbands separately, folding the waist over enough to hold both, but sewing down the top one, inserting the elastic, and then sewing down the second one.  The organza could have done with a tighter fit - the elastic slips around in the casing and it does rotate.  Since there are 4 elastics which are all slipping and twisting separately, the waistband isn't that comfortable.

End result: The waistbands bother me a little, but the concept of the skirt is still pretty fun. I can wear it in four ways - I think twisted looks more interesting than straight, and time will tell if the waistbands shift around a lot with movement/life/walking.

It's hard to tell if my fabrics make the skirt large, but it's definitely big enough.  The small was fine. The crinkle silk obviously stretches a LOT, and I will admit I cut out the organza without many pins (which is still more than usual!) ...so it might have shifted.

This would be fun to make in voile, and I think fabric that doesn't need french seams is better - you can use the technique in the instructions for the waist elastic, which will lead to it being tighter and not twisting as much.