Thread Theory Jedediah pants

My cousin saw my velvet persephone pants last year and was inspired. He wanted me to make him some pants.

I bought various fabrics at Mood and chose the best contender.  I don't recall what they were, but this is a soft cotton twill that is brushed on one side and has a slight twill weave on the other.  The soft side is nice but it attracts all the dust, so I opted for that side in.

I cut this out in January before I moved and would have loved to have time to complete the pants, but of course once I moved I didn't sew and then once I sewed I had so many UFOs and it wasn't til Jason saw my jeans in September that he started to whinge a bit and I thought I better get on with it.

Here they are:

Making stuff for men is pretty easy. They tell you a waist measurement, and eventually an inseam, and you cut the size belonging to that waist measurement and then you cut that inseam.  I added some moderately subtle detailing on the pockets and lots of labels on the inside.

Here is proof of a happy owner:

In terms of the instructions, I recall them not being very good, but my memory is now fuzzy.  I have made pants a few times and so any confusion that I had was allayed by experience even if the instructions themselves were not easy to follow.  My cousin likes the pants but he thought there was too much shaping at the hips and wants them a bit straighter, so I will probably make them again sometime in the next few months.

Tilly & the Buttons Zadie dress, upcycled take 2

I made this dress just about a year ago, using upcycled tshirts and size 3, which matched my measurements on the size chart. See it here.

It was huge and it was long. (Oops I didn't shorten for the second version 4" like I said I should.)
I didn't like it at all, I didn't enjoy the process. I felt like I was over this dress before I started - my enthuasiasm for it was years ago and I just couldn't get there again.

But I still felt like I had to try again.
So take 2, in more upcycled tshirts, size 1, (I match size 3 on the size chart) with a 1/2" shortening through the bodice.
I'm not sure I needed to shorten it. The skirt felt proportionally too long, though overall the fit was good.

I would recommend sizing down if you are between sizes, but not by 2 sizes. The tshirt jersey is much thinner than the ponte type jersey recommended for this pattern.

I knew pretty early on that I hated this pattern.  I loved the main tshirt I was using, and I think initially I'd hoped I would love the dress. It didn't happen.  I just don't suit this style anymore.  The instructions are still ok, I still hate instructions with color photos.  I did a lot of shortcuts because quality wasn't on my radar.

This is wearable.

Also, after about 8 months as a pile on my floor under my sewing table, it's gone, and that was the main benefit of finally working through it.  Thank god...for lockdown? The pile of UFOs under my table is magically GONE!!

She Wears the Pants no. 15: Draped Cardigan

After I made no. 12, the draped minidress, I was less secure about my choice to size up to a M for this cardigan as well, but I forged ahead. My waist and hip measurements are M but my bust is S, so in this cardi I thought it was meaningful that it fit well about the hips.

The fabric is a drapey merino and tencel blend. It's a beautiful fabric, but it's relatively heavy and has quite a lot of drape for a loopback knit.

The pattern - I found it hilarious and so much fun to make!  It comes together really quickly and there's just nothing quite like Japanese patterns, I mean, the entire body is one single piece.

What I did determine: you should pull tension on the neckline binding between the shoulder seams, and then pull NO tension on it for the rest of the length of the cardigan. I pulled a little bit on it the whole way along, and I find the neckline is too loose, and the cardigan pulls inward because of my binding.

AND it's very big.  I like the sleeves a lot.  But the whole cardigan goes halfway to my knees!  Those models might possibly be really tall, but also my knit is heavy and has a tendency to pull downwards.

I'm happy about this result, but also disappointed, and I had to pause and remind myself that just lately I was confirming the need to make something multiple times before you get it right.  I'm not going to bother with buttons this time around - I had thought about interfacing the button part of the band, which would be wise if you can figure out which part it is!  It doesn't need to be stretched so the interfacing won't interfere that way - I would definitely interface in future, especially on a lighter knit.

There's nothing in my stash that works for this, but I definitely want to try again. I've been doing a lot of Alabama Chanin experimentation, and actually I think this might work perfectly with 2 layers of overlock cotton - they aren't very stretchy, but the two layers creates a substantial result.  There's room for improvement.  (I don't think I'll size down until I've tried a different fabric first.)

She Wears the Pants no. 12: draped minidress

I was allowing myself to thumb through my Japanese pattern books for inspiration...and sure enough, inspiration was waiting for me in She Wears the Pants, by Yuko Takada.

I picked out no. 12: the draped minidress, realising I have exactly the fabric for it, and I was enticed by how simple it was, but also how clever - the grainline isn't at the centre of the front piece, presumably to alter the drape of the front.

Problem: my chest is 32.5, which is a small, but my waist and hip are solidly a size M.  I decided to size up, and I sincerely regretted that later - I didn't think through silk jersey, and how it would be better for it to be too small, and very clingy, rather than too big.

I sort of went my own way with the bindings doing a kind of hybrid bias binding on them, but otherwise the pattern was very simple.  Tracing the pattern, I thought about my previous experience trying to copy a Japanese dress (here) and how a very simple appearing decision like an offset grainline can make all the difference to the pattern.

You only trace 2 pieces. You measure your own bindings, and you mirror imagine the front piece to create 2, whereas the back is cut on the fold.  It was one of the simplest Japanese patterns I've ever traced out.  Of course adding seam allowances, a minor irritation.

Though my jersey was slippery, overall this is a very easy sew.
It's just like the model! Even the weird, hunched over look!  In my pictures I promise I'm not hunching. I do have a blue dress under it which shows at the hem (obviously and at the chest).

Not hunched over, for real!

You see I really should have sized down.  A size down would have indeed been clingy, not a bad thing in this fabric, and it also wouldn't have draped down to my belly button.  It may not quite show my belly button but I look down and see a lot so it feels like it exposes more than it does!   The weight of the drape comes directly from the shoulders so the bindings are a good support.  I really like how nicely finished this is, and how easily it came together.

As it is I'm happy with this experiment. I wore it to dinner at friends (they are part of my shared isolation bubble, no judging!) and layered a bra top under it and it was great. Also, looking over the book again the model is wearing a top under it so possibly it drapes down to her belly button too.

Thoughts:
size down if you are in between, especially in a heavier weight fabric
the front drape flips inside out at times, so a fabric that doesn't have an obvious reverse side is better.
easy dress! 

The Autumn tshirt binge sew

If there's one thing you can count on, it's that when I stop remembering my last tshirt binge sew, it's time for another one!  I don't know why I can't just stick to my TNT tshirt patterns, because I definitely have a few...there's a unicorn out there...

In this binge I sewed:
-The Lane Raglan
-The Woodstock swing tee, a free pattern by Hey June in teen sizes up to size 16
-The ebony, low neck version A since I had made the raglan sleeve top during my last binge
-plus the Instinc-Tee by Sasha from Secondo Piano, also a free tshirt. You can find it here.

This particular binge sew had me thinking about serial sewing - you know, when you sew one new pattern 3 times?  Everyone who blogs really well made things...they all do it.  And they kind of duck their heads in embarrassment and say, well, you know, I made one so then I had to make a few more!  I think that's actually a genius way of instinctively riding your enthusiasm for a new pattern until you get it to fit - because the truth is that no pattern is going to magically fit.  (I'll write about my Alabama Chanin experiments soon...)

Lane Raglan:
Size: S
Scrap of merino +?  silk?
Verdict: great fit at the shoulders, way too long, and the front and back are easy to confuse. 

Version 2, which is actually the tshirt I've been envisioning for the past 6 months and which was the cause of both of the last 2  tshirt binges.
Fabric: liberty jersey
side panels: merino blend jersey
I shortened by 4" and removed the curved hem.  I sewed this last thing at night, and you know, I did say something like the front and back are easy to mix up. Right? So my binding is on backwards.  I'm very grumpy about this, but I'm trying to convince myself it's a design feature.

Woodstock tee, size 16:
free pattern!
Free fabric!  (Thanks Tessa.)
I'll make the sleeves a bit longer next time, otherwise this is great!

Ebony, size 2:
fabric: silk blend, still lots left over
verdict: wtf this is short...
I also found the arms really really tight.  

 So I made another one!  I lengthened the pattern 2 inches, but I made sleeves out of the tiniest leftover bits so they were just as long as I had fabric for. This fabric is a difficult scrap - it's a rayon blend, which is almost cheeseclothy, and it hates the sewing machine, it hates being touched, but it kind of sticks to itself...anyway I tried not to touch it too much and I'm definitely not hemming it. One of the maps on the sleeve is upside down but all the body pieces are right side up!  Tetris score!

And here is the Instinc-Tee. It is size XS and I have shortened the pattern somewhat.

This counts as one of my TNT patterns.  I had enough flowers left over to do it! I've found it works really nicely under scrubs. 

As I was photographing this with my Dawn jeans I realised I've just hit the epitome of sewing:  I've mastered jeans and tshirts.  I basically never need to buy anything again. (Hah! As if.)

Until the next tshirt binge!