Finally -- something for ME!

Today I took a break from my style show sewing and decided to make a pair of capris that have been on the "to do" list since early June.  I figure that I'll still have time to get plenty of wear from these before I have to put on socks and real shoes instead of my preferred bare feet or sandals.

Last week I went to a wonderful lunch at a great little tearoom and noticed a woman wearing a pair of capris with an interesting back hem treatment.  So today I am now wearing a pair with that same detail!  The center back had a vent and it looked like it was two flaps that had been sewn to the pant leg above.

So this morning I took my capri pattern and arbitrarily decided how long my flap would be.  Not too scientific -- my TCC pattern had printed so that I had a page break just shy of 4" -- so that became my flap.  I cut some new seam lines and added seam allowance with some tissue saved from Christmas gifts. 


I prefer 3/8" seams because that is just the width of my standard presser foot.

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I had decided to completely self face the flaps.  They were sewn together with a seam at the center back and the hemline.  I finished the top edge and side seams with the serger.

I understitched the seam at center back so that it will remain (said hopefully) nice and crisp through many washings and wearings.

Once I stitched them to the bottom of the pants leg, I added some top stitching for reinforcement and visual interest.Funny how the flash so totally changed the color of the fabric in the one shot.  

 

I think it took as long to finish the hem, sew on the waistband hook, take the pictures, and write this post as it did to sew the pants! 

And now for the best part -- the fit ... they are sooo comfortable when they fit well.

 

  

Obsessing

Obsessing -- over fit -- over measurements -- over a quarter of inch here, quarter of an inch there ....

I've been working on some summer items for my wardrobe and feel  very, very happy when I look at items in the mirror.  Then I take a pic ... and instead of that being short for "picture" I think it is short for "picky, picky, picky!"  

I have very comfortable pants and know that without my being a mannequin who has perfect measurements, perfect muscle (?) tone, and perfect posture ... I am not going to have a fit that appears "perfect."  Heck, even the mannequins use clips and pins in some probably very uncomfortable places.   My head knows that  but still I keep trying to improve.

So for now I think I really am definitely at a "good enough to be seen in public" stage.  And better than most that seem to be ahead of me in line at the grocery and other places where I have time to check out others' fit.
 

Those are pics of my test pair of capris -- the fabric is a bit lighter weight than I would normally choose but good enough for around the house.   They are pretty much at default from my TCC software.

Here is a fun summer skirt (just a little straight skirt) that I made from some printed denim.  I read that patterned (esp floral prints) are in for pants this summer.  I wasn't quite ready for that so decided to start with a little straight skirt and work my way to pants.

(I'm trying to get the next two pics to appear side by side ... )

The cool thing about the software is that if my measurements do change, I can change my measurement chart and print out a new pattern.  The skirt is great because my floor to waist measurements are taken at the back, side, and front -- so the skirt pattern is printed to be longer in the back, shorter in the front and then my hem is automatically level. You can also see that the back pattern better accommodates my, uh "assets."

So that's it for today.  Happy Memorial Day --  with a Thank You to everyone who has served in the military (my dad was a WWII Army vet, wounded in the Battle of the Bulge) or is currently serving.  God bless you!

Pants! Pants!

Two pair of pants finished except for the hems ... not certain which shoes I'll wear so am going to hem those next week.

No pictures -- pants on a hanger is a pretty boring picture and I don't feel like posing for the camera today.

I used The Complete Clothier Fitted Pants Draped and made them almost at default except for using the ankle ease and leg shaping tool to get a straight leg.

Pair 1 is the medium brown herringbone with an invisible zipper in the side seam, and those went together with only having to recut the waistband once. I had one too many interruptions and didn't follow my dad's advice of measure twice cut once .... so I had to measure twice, cut twice -- lucky for me I had enough fabric.

Pair 2 is dark brown and almost had to be capris. There wasn't as much fabric as I thought I had but with some forethought was able to flip one pattern piece over and get them cut out of approx 1 2/3 yd of fabric, even allowing for the nap. Sewing was a bit challenging this morning. I had changed to a sharp microtex needle but after sewing all the darts and putting in the zipper 3 times I was not happy with the tension. First time I didn't interface the seam allowance. Second time I did interface the seam allowance. Third time I put paper under the seam.

SO ... after ripping the zipper again I took a look at the darts and wasn't happy with the tension there either ... out came the 8 darts. Next tried a universal needle size 12. Next tried a universal size 14. Finally with the size 14 tried adjusting the tension. VOILA! back in business. After that everything went together just fine. And I realized that the fabric was heavier than I first thought so they will be good all winter.

Now to cut out the green pants.