i made pants!

Hear that?

That's the sound of me crossing off another 2014 sewing goal! I made pants! Real pants! Wear-outside-the-house pants! And they fit!

And I got a self-timer app for my new iPhone!

Per the suggestion of Gillian of Crafting a Rainbow, I used StyleARC's Elle Pants pattern. I even splurged to get a yard and a half of the suggested stretch bengaline fabric shipped over from Australia, to ensure the best possible conditions for pants-making success.

 

 

Gillian was right! The pants are super easy to sew up with just three pattern pieces, no fly, buttons, or pockets. Good thing too, because I found the accompanying instructions be be more than a little confusing. BUT, I will say that Chloe of StyleARC is quick and fabulous at responding to construction questions via e-mail!

She writes about Elle Pants: "This is the pant of the moment, slim line from ankle to waistline. Elastic waist 35mm or 1 ¼ inch wide. These pants sit so beautifully without any bulk, wear them with your high heels out for the night or with your sneakers for brunch.....a must have piece in your wardrobe!"

It's hard to evaluate and adjust the fit during construction, as you really can't get a feel for the fit until the waistband it on. Still, before adding the waistband I did adjust(scoop out) the crotch by about 1/4 inch, and lowered the front about 1.5 inches so that the waistband would lay perpendicular on my body, accommodating for my fuller bum. But once I had the waistband attached and I could really judge the fit, I'm not sure those adjustments were actually necessary.

After attaching the waistband I was able to narrow the legs on the outside seam by about an inch from the top of the hip all the way down. I'm very pleased with how well the legs fit, and how easy the adjustment was! I also ended up only having to shorten the pants 2.5 inches!

Something very cool and thoughtful was how StyleARC includes little care tags with their fabric to add to your finished garment, just like RTW.  No need to ruin your handmade garment because you forgot the fabric care!

Overall, I now have a great pants pattern the fits! While the instructions leave something to be desired... I enjoyed using the StyleARC pattern and will use them again (in fact, have another in the works currently!). The patterns are printed on nice, thick paper that will hold up to a lot of use, and I know if I ever have questions Chloe will respond promptly. The stretch bengaline was worth every penny. It sewed up very nicely with the right amount of weight, structure and stretch, making a great pair of stylish black pants for work! My one complaint is that they have that ever-so-slight snowpants sound when I walk. You know the sound I'm talking about...  Now that I've made a successful pair maybe I can explore some other fabric choices that would preform the same, without the little annoying "swishy" sound.

ginger high-waist panties - a 2014 goal completed!

To quote Gertie of Gertie's Blog for Better Sewing:

"...what's not easy about sewing undies is photographing them. Unless they're the tiniest of knickers, they look weird and huge in pictures. And then you go into this shame spiral of wondering why you're showing your underwear on the internet anyway."  

http://www.blogforbettersewing.com/2012/08/detour-into-panty-land.html

She's totally right! But, here I am anyway, posting my weird, huge undies on the web... because the truth is I'm actually pretty proud of myself for making functional panties!  And I completed a 2014 goal!

I used the Ginger Bodysuit & Separates PDF pattern by Ohhh Lulu. (You can also buy her designs RTW here. They are gorgeous!) She includes some tutorials on her website which is helpful. I did have a hard time getting all the lines to line up when assembling the PDF pattern pages together. In fact, I never quite got it and had to re-draw a few spots, but the fit didn't seem to be altered by it.

I used some leftover cranberry jersey from Mr. Sew Rachel's Christmas pajamas (it's really soft and thick!) and a thin, very stretchy white knit with a little heart pattern. All the seams were constructed on the serger, with the lingerie elastic sewn on with a zig-zag stitch on my regular sewing machine. I found out that you need to use a fairly wide zig-zag, as I only used a narrow one at first and totally ripped the stitching getting them over my hips, thus having to unpick and resew it.

Are they perfect? No. But they fit! And hold together! And They will be very comfortable under dresses, higher-waist skirts and leggings, which is exactly why I wanted to make them in the first place! And I can use what I learned on this pair to make the next even better! Speaking of that, next time I may try making the center panel out of a woven fabric cut on the bias. Maybe something silky and floral. But that's for another day...