Boot Cut Custom Pattern

I have been working hard trying to get this pattern perfected from my sloper. I did a post on this here and used this book to draft a pattern.

 

Here are a few pics of my fitting stage, these are basted up with my dissolving thread that I can just iron out instead of unpicking!

So initially I wanted the waist band to finish at the waist but look like a low-rise …in the end it just looks like a normal waist band lol. Not sure how to construct a waist band,  I did my best and thought it didn’t turn out so bad. I added twill tape to make sure the waist does not stretch. I also interfaced the areas where the button and buttonhole will go for added sturdiness.

I designed these pockets by taking a wax paper impression of pockets from a favorite pair of jeans I have.  I blogged about that here.

I made these pockets extend all the way to the center front so that gives them some “tummy tuckin’ strength”  I used a pretty white swirly print cotton for the pocket lining.

I used a metal zip so it is nice and sturdy to go along with the tummy tuck pockets that will surely keep all my jelly donuts in place. The fly zip went in beautifully and I could not have had an easier time with that thanks to the craftsy course I just completed on pants. Check out that course here.

I wanted to do minimal topstitching so the pants had a semi dressy appearance to them. I used jean topstitching thread and a stitch length of 4.0.  completed with doing a blind hem. Again I love to hem them super long so with my everyday shoes they are just barely off the floor. Hoping it gives the illusion of lengthier legs.

Initially during construction I was going to attach the outer legs first and top stitch them in some pretty decorative stitch…..but I chickened out! Wasn’t sure if this would look good with a boot cut? Maybe it would have just looked cheesy lol.  In the end I did nothing creative and just topstitched the inner leg seam.

I love this button I found for these pants!!

These final pictures I decided to wear these pretty high heel beige sandals and it turns out there is way too much of a heel for the length I made these pants. So after boasting about how nice and long they are …..I’m wearing floods!! My go to pair of comfy shoes do look great with the length of these pants. I should have looked in the mirror first before I got my hubby to snap the photos!

So what do you guys think? Do they look wonky because it is my own pattern or do they look like normal pants?

I must say they are super comfortable and have become my new favorite pants!!!

My next course I started is making your own bodice pattern. Yes it is yet another Craftsy course!! I hope it is as successful as my pant sloper.

I did try to graph out the bodice sloper from the book I have: How to make sewing patterns.

I must have done something wrong though, because the pattern even looked wonky. When I cut out the muslin and tried a pin fitting, well…….lets just say it had me in stitches(I know what a groaner of a joke) hardy har har!! (to embarrassed to even show you a pic) So maybe I will get a more visual idea of what I am doing with this course!

I am in love with the drafting process of making a pattern! I find it as much fun as sewing!! So as I mentioned before if anyone wants to send me measurements for me to construct a pant sloper for you with your exact measurements you can email me at nicole.grigor@gmail.com and I will let you know what measurements I need. I will do it free of charge of course I am no expert and I just want to practice and get better at doing this. You may fall in love with this book as I have 🙂

Happy Sewing

Linen Jacket with Flounces

I have been working on the linen jacket that matches the skirt I made. You can see the skirt post here.

 

I love the way it turned out. I like girly feminine stuff and the flounces on the jacket are so fun, they match the skirt flounce in the back.

The construction of this jacket seemed to take forever I originally wanted to put just the bemberg lining into it but the material is so heavy around the neckline that just the flimsy rayon would not hold the collar in firm place without the interfaced linen facings.

So I thought what the hell, I what the jacket to be smokin’ hot on the inside as well!…… so I put both inside:

I under stitched the peplum flaps, and all along the ruffle to ensure this bad girl behaved herself and not flash to the outside lol. . I hand stitched the bottom of the lining along the peplum seam line. I didn’t want any raw edges so I choose the same polka dot fabric I used as a facing for my skirt band and made bias tape. I used the bias tape for a Hong Kong finish.

The biggest issue I had was cutting the fabric flounces …….4 pieces completely identical……..  and sewing them as equally careful…….. so they were mirror images of one another.

Should be a piece of cake right?

Well lets just say this project is challenging and there was no “scooby snack drinking”  going on while I made this.

I quickly realized they were wonky when I pinned them to the front panels of the jacket.  Check this out:

 

way off eh? Damn these got scrapped!

I then pinned the hell out of them and cut out 2 pieces at a time using scissors instead of my rotary cutter which I think was moving the fabric around a little too much on that dreaded bias.

Much better:

 

A good tip is to also sew each flounce in the same direction this will make a huge difference in getting them to be on the same curve.

I  compared the two flounces to see if I needed to re-sew any curvy areas to get them as perfect as I could 🙂 To get nice clean edges  I trimmed my allowances, clipped my corners and curves. I pressed them flat first, then opened up the seams before turning on my wooden pressing tool.

After turning them I ironed them again and got a very nice smooth curve.  What do you think?  It’s as good as it gets because I am not making another set of these lol !

All in all I did do some alterations, I didn’t want it too tight and overfitted  but now looking back I wish I would have taken a bit more out from under the arms and shorten the back to waist seam line. I still like it and I learned a lot from making my first jacket. Here are a few more pictures my hubby took for me.

What do you think? Have you ever made jackets before and if so what advice do you have for the next one I make? I really need a sewing buddy that can help me with alterations on myself if I could have seen the back better and pinned out some of that fabric it would have looked nicer.

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend 🙂

 

Linen Flounce Skirt with Bemberg lining

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I finished the skirt!! It has been 90 degrees over the last 2 weeks and so hot in my sewing room but I finally finished it.

This is just the lining, I love my polka dot waist band 🙂

 

Here I sewed them together:

I did a blind hem stitch to finish the skirt and lining.

Here I am, trying to model it lol 🙂

 

Tissue Fitting and No Muslin

Ok I recently came across the names Palmer/Pletsch for easy and faster alterations. I know where have I been hiding under a rock? Did I have my head in the sand?  I love their books!!!! You can find out more about them at Amazon.

Remember this?

So I thought I would take a whirl at this and start on the skirt with this beautiful herringbone linen in steel-blue.

I ended up adding quite a bit of alterations for it to hang straight in center front and center back. Center back was really swayed to the side! What the heck is wrong with my warped body lol

I also added two inches in length so I can have the skirt a bit longer.

Here is some progress in the fashion fabric:

Different lighting is making the color vary from dark to light but trust me it’s the same skirt 😉 I like the flounce unfortunately this linen is quite stiff and I plan to line this skirt so I decided to just preshrink this by steam iron vs washing it. I think it needs to soften up a bit I will wash it gentle cycle with fabric softener and hope for a bit of a better drape. I also hate how easy it wrinkles I really hope the lining helps with this.

I hope to pick up some lining material today with an invisible zip and have this finished by the end of the week.

Fabric shopping in LA fabric district

I am so super excited about my finds in the LA fabric district!! Not sure if I would venture out their again alone  as this area is a bit rough, but it was fun.  If you live near LA and have never been I recommend grabbing a sewing buddy and checking it out!

Tips:

• There are some parking areas that are 5 bucks for the whole day, find one of these lots the street parking is only for 15 minutes
• Bring cash most stores only deal in cash!!
• Hardly any restaurants just food vendors BLAH pack a lunch
• Restrooms are hard to come by …pee first before you get there lol (there are restrooms in Michael Levine’s fabric store though)
• Bargain with the fabric stores you can save a lot of money
• have a definite plan of what you want, there are so many stores and bolts stacked to the ceiling!! It gets a bit overwhelming.

Here is my stash and plans:

Various knits for making more summery dresses and skirts 2 bucks a yard!! I started making one, this is my progress so far:

 

I signed up for a craftsy course to make this vintage dress and here is the fabric I choose 3 bucks a yard.

 

 

I have had this cute pattern for a while and want to make the skirt and jacket.  I choose a herringbone lightweight linen in steely blue color 5 bucks a yard.

 

 

A very drapy light cotton voile for this pattern:

 

 

I don’t have plans for this but when I touched this faux fur mink I fell in love with it!! I will make some vests for the winter for me and Abby 🙂

 

Denim of course!!! More jeans and capris 2 bucks a yard 9 ounce weight!!

 

More knits I bought these at M & L fabric store in Anaheim they have a soft hand and beautiful drape.

 

 

This is rayon 3 bucks a yard and I love the print there was just a bit of this left and I snatched it up to make a top.

 

 

I am sure that will keep me busy for some time 🙂   I plan to bring some stuff to my mother’s so we can sew together this summer.  My kids are getting out of school soon so I will be posting very little over the summer months so I can enjoy my children 🙂 Have a great summer everyone!