Polka Dot Pants

Playing catch up here - I thought I should go back and document some of the other things I've made during the second half of this year when the blogging fell by the wayside.

The next on the list of un-blogged garments is a pair of flared pants in a polka dot denim.

I've needed a new pair of jeans for a while - the zipper is broken on my peacock jeans and the other two pairs of jeans that I've made the fabric is getting all stretched out (plus another zipper broken etc).

A contest over on pattern review was the incentive I needed to get around to making a new pair.

Fabric - The fabric is one that I picked up at a fabric swap some time ago and never got around to using.  It's a dark denim with spots of black flocked velvet all over.  I love this fabric!

Pattern - This is another iteration of my standard pants pattern - every time I take the latest pattern, tweak it slightly and still I've yet to get the fit right - this time was no exception  - there are a number of issues with these pants.

1.  The flare - I added a flared leg to these pants as it's my favourite silhouette - I like my pants to be fitted through the thigh to about the knee, but I hate anything tight around my calf, plus I feel like the flare at the bottom balances out the weight at the mid section a bit otherwise I just feel like I look like an apple with arms and legs sticking out of it.  However I was just guessing about how much flare to add to each piece and I got it wrong - the legs seem to twist a bit from the knee down, plus the knee is all crinkly....back to the drawing board on that one!

2. The bum - If I'm standing still the butt looks fine - though I made them a bit big so there is a bit of bagginess there -  The problem is that the moment I move the back slides down and I get a saggy bum - not a good look.  I have no idea what I need to do to stop this.....

3.  The buttons - Normally I avoid buttons simply because I find them a pain to do up and undo.  I decided to actually add buttons this time as it was a contest and I had chosen to enter the advanced level and thought I should do buttons - Whilst I love the look of the buttons, the really are a pain to do up and undo.

4.  The waistband - I can't decide if this is a good or a band point - I really love the extra wide waistband, but it does have a tendency to fold down at the front when I sit - I think this is just a result of the high waist and without lowering the waist there is nothing I can do about it - so I think I would do this waistband again - just with snaps next time and maybe some elastic around the top.

5.  The zipper - I did a full fly front zip on these - but of course, on the very first wear the stupid zipper broke - yes I could fix it, but I don't want to - so I went back and added snaps down the length of the zipper.  

There are also a number of features on these jeans that I really love - they were made for an Advanced technique contest so I went all out in the finishing of them.

First was the pockets -  The front slash pockets were finished using a cotton velvet fabric on the edges.  I love the way this looks with this fabric - Now if only I'd gotten the shape right so the pockets didn't gape!

The pocket bags were finished using French seams for a nice clean finish.

The back pockets are welt pockets with the welts made from the same velvet.

The pocket bags are all beautifully finished with a backing of the main fabric where the pocket opens.

The edges of the pockets are bound with the same pocket bag material (an old sheet that had a hole in it).  The top of the pocket bag is incorporated into the waistband seam to finish it.

I used this project to learn how to do a proper flat fell seam.  Usually I just use the faux flat fell seams where you sew the seam right sides together, the trim down one seam allowance, fold the other over and top stitch the seam allowance in place.  This time I did it properly.

Press the seam allowances in the opposite directions.  Here you can see the center back piece has the seam allowance pressed to the wrong side and the side back piece has the seam allowance pressed to the right side.

The two seam allowances are tucked inside each other.

Opening the seam out I basted the seam allowance on top of each other.

Then folded again on the creases.

I then did two rows of top stitching from the right side of the fabric, one along each of the edges.

I used this technique for the back seam shown here, the center back seam and the inseam.

The waistband was handstitched down before topstitching. With the rest of the pants top stitched the waistband looked a little weird without any, so after hand sewing the waistband I went back and did two rows of top stitching on the top and bottom of that as well.  Both layers of the waistband are interfaced with a heavy weight interfacing to provide as much structure as possible.

Overall these pants look beautiful in my closet, but not that great when on my body.  They are by no means terrible and they certainly get worn, but they have a number of annoying issues so I'd really like to try again!

Christmas Dress

 I decided at 2pm on Christmas Eve, that I really wanted a new dress to wear on Christmas day.

I had two main requirements:  

1. Warm - I hate being cold and even though the weather has been really mild this December it's still below the 20^oC (70F) threshold that I consider tolerable.
2. Easy wearing - don't want to have to fuss with my clothes of be uncomfortable.

I knew that, in order to meet these two requirements it was going to have to be a long sleeve, full length dress.  Long sleeve to keep arms warm, and long skirt to keep the legs warm as I find leggings super uncomfortable (it's got something to do with the tightness around the calves - I just can't deal with it!).

Easy wearing meant not super tight, something that's easy to get into and out of - hence the cross over top. 

I know that a full length, long sleeve dress can get to be a bit much so I also wanted a contrasting waistband.

OK - So that's my design done - a cross over top with contrast neckband and waistband, and a long pleated skirt.

Now for a fabric - I originally intended to make it out of a knit fabric, but then I found this blue animal print flannel in my stash and knew that I wanted to use that.  A flannel - super warm and comfortable, but in a pattern that is not plaid and not cutesy kid - definitely.

This ended up being a super quick make - I drafted the top pattern from my sloper, added a full, long sleeve, gathered at the wrist, then  just used up the rest of the fabric to make the skirt as full as I could.  Of course I did add pockets into the skirt so that added a little extra time, but I started the project at 2pm and it was done by 5pm so not a bad afternoons work.

I wore it all Christmas eve and than Christmas day and I love it.