21 Wale

Beanpole Jeans

2012-01-22T21:42:00.004-06:00

No, I made the obnoxiously loud shirt a while ago! It's the jeans I'm looking at now. Alex has worn holes in all the jeans I've made him, even before he grew out of them. In fact, he's already started wearing through these (at the heels where he's standing on them) and they've come through the wash only once.

I was determined to skinnify these jeans for a perfect fit once and for all. I may have overfit them now, but they're definitely skinny. I don't know why, but the front fly looks super long. That must be an optical illusion given the skinniness of the pants, since I really didn't choose a 12" zipper.

I like the curved back yoke and the overall fit. One thing Alex doesn't like is the front pockets. It's too difficult to put his hands in since they're higher and, um, tighter than traditional jeans pockets.

I still used elastic at the back waist. I think everyone could benefit from more elastic in their garments.

Nobody was volunteering to pose in their new pajamas, and pajamas usually remain in the obscurity of the non-blogged anyway, but I had fun making the boys some guitar nightwear. Red cuffs for boy #1, green for #2.

Sources:

"Corduroy Pants": Ottobre 5-2006-19.

Denim: S.R. Harris. 1 yard at $4.50/yard.

Guitar jersey: Mill End Textiles. 3 1/3 yards at $1.60/yd.

Night Owl PJ top: Ottobre 6-2009-34.

Stripey Legs PJ pants: Ottobre 6-2009-35.

Do-It-Yourself Cargo Pockets

2012-01-15T14:23:00.000-06:00

*This tutorial originally appeared as a guest post at The Train to Crazy.

Cargo Pocket Tutorial

Step 1: Make the pattern piece and cut out the fabric, adding seam allowances to each edge.

If you want to convert a patch pocket (in other words, a square) into a cargo pocket, just add extensions. My extensions are equal to my seam allowance of 5/8". In the photo you can see that I have added a seam allowance in addition to my pocket extensions.

It's easy to do a shaped or rounded pocket, too. Just cut a long strip (plus seam allowance on both long edges) for an extension and sew it around the edge of the pocket.

Step 2: Finish the edges.

This is optional. I suppose it's highly unlikely the pocket edges will fray to pieces sooner than the knees wear out. But you never know!

Step 3: Press under and stitch the pocket hem at the top.

Step 4: Press all the fold lines.

One set of pressed lines are outlines of the main pocket piece. The other lines will be at the seam allowance edges.

Step 5: Stitch the corners.

Pinch the corner, turn pocket inside out and stitch on the pre-pressed corner line, which is perpendicular to the edge. Before trimming, flip the pocket right side out to check. Repeat for the other corner.

Step 6: Press the accordion folds of all 3 edges.

Push the pocket extensions in and press. The fold will be centered.

Step 7: Topstitch.

This is optional, depending on how you want your pocket to look. Do three separate lines of stitching, rather than one long one around the pocket. Otherwise, when you turn the corner, you'll catch the folds of fabric.

Step 8: Pin the pocket on the garment and stitch.

The stitching you're doing here is just like topstitching; I usually start at the top edge of one extension, and go around the pocket, slowing down to neaten the corners.

Probably the trickiest part of the cargo pocket is positioning the pocket extensions so that they are stitched directly under the pocket piece. It's easy for them to slide outward.

Step 9: Optional - Add a flap and velcro, snap, or button.

Here's a small sampling of cargo pockets. There are so many options!

My Paramecium Summer Dress

2012-01-12T14:58:00.003-06:00

This is probably my favorite garment of everything I sewed in 2011, although my favorites do tend to be whatever I've made recently. The style wouldn't suit everyone (obviously) but I'm loving it because it's very "me". I rarely wear the handful of dresses I've made myself, and I think I've just been going down wrong track.

The pattern is one of Mrs. Stylebook's traceable patterns (as opposed to draftable, yay!) and I left off my usual shoulder alterations because of the French sleeves. The dress is shown in 3 views, differing mostly in length and I chose the shortest version.

The fabric is a lovely paisley-ish lawn. My dad calls this kind of print "paramecium", and I have to agree, it does remind me of pond life.

The diagrams are the only form of "instruction" for these patterns, and at some point I realized that there is supposed to be a belt, but it is supposed to pass through little thread loops at the sides. Yeah, right. If I had thought of it soon enough, a narrow belt would have gone in the side seams to tie at the back.

In the side view, you can see the dress might benefit from a little cinching, but it doesn't bother me too much. Next time!

The front and back each have six pleats. Here's a close-up of the paramecium print:

I interlined - after all, it's lawn - and used the combination underlining/faux Hong Kong finish I learned from Trena here. It was a little interesting to use the finish on the drop sleeves, too, but it works and was easy to do.

Verdict: I love it and am thinking about another version in a border print. How many more months until summer?

Sources:

Lawn: S.R. Harris.

White batiste: Mill End Textiles.

Pattern: Mrs. Stylebook 7-2009-9.

Hilda Hooded Dress

2012-01-10T19:18:00.005-06:00

When Molly's not wearing her swimsuit and a tutu, her strong preference is for "soft and cozy". I have to admit, her swimsuits have "disappeared" from her drawer, since watching her walk around in her swimsuit now that it's winter makes me feel cold and uncomfortable on her behalf. I don't feel too cruel, since she has a full Rubbermaid tote of (warmer) dress-up clothes at her disposal.

I'm happy Chez Ami did my fabric coordinating for me here. Otherwise, I would most likely have gone with a solid color for the leggings. The top is cotton jersey - a little thinner than I expected. And the coordinating striped fabric is cotton/lycra.

Ottobre calls this a dress, but it's more of a tunic length. I like the hood and kangaroo pocket style. And Molly thinks if the top has a hood, then she should wear it.

The hood is unlined - I think I prefer lined hoods, even though they're a little heavier. In this case, you want to have a very neat hem since the stitching is easily visible.

Sources:

Jersey: Chez Ami

Cotton/lycra knit: Chez Ami

Hilda Hooded Dress (Ottobre 6-2007-27)

Lily Leggings (Ottobre 6-2007-28)

Checked Vintage Romper

2012-01-05T20:54:00.004-06:00

It's hard to pick out favorite items from an entire year of sewing but this romper, made at the end of the year, would make the list.

Giant checks + vintage overalls + enthusiastic 2 year old = happy sewist.

The overalls are from a 1975 Simplicity pattern. The legs are fairly wide, but not very bell-shaped. The bodice has a good-sized facing, which is always nice. I've been tracing some Burdas the last few nights, rolling my eyes at the teeny tiny facings, wondering if I will even use them.

Molly loves them, although at her age I think she'd be excited about anything I made her. Every two year old should have "romper" in her vocabulary, no?

I'd like to make the shortall version this summer. And wouldn't it look cute with a pointy collared blouse underneath?

Sources:

Giant checked twill: Chez Ami

Giant blue buttons: Chez Ami

Overalls: 1975 Simplicity 7322

Stats for Your Inner Nerd: Version 2011

2012-01-02T17:53:00.008-06:00

It's that time of year again. I always like fresh beginnings. Evaluate the old; make a fresh start.

I wouldn't say I have a lot of new goals for sewing. I'll probably try some new techniques and work on some fitting and drafting.

The big thing I hope to do this year is to organize my recipes and do better meal planning. One of my kids eats a special diet (no grains, starches, sugar, or dairy, and some other things), which means every single thing he eats is made from scratch. Being better organized is the only thing I can think of that will make that a little easier.

But, on to the statistics, which is what you're all waiting for!

All the charts below are drawn from the info in the spreadsheet I use to record everything I sew (pattern, yardage, size, recipient, etc.). I did all the sewing and my husband (spreadsheet guru) did all the charts you see, which took him about 20 minutes. I also contributed opinions on bar chart color schemes.

In total, I sewed 166 items, using 174.4 yards of fabric. That doesn't include 1 unblogged wadder, Hot Patterns' All Wrapped Up Tank, the Fabric.com free download.

Items and Yards sewn by month

Pattern companies used. Burdastyle refers to the magazine. Japanese is a catch-all category of magazines and books. Do you think I've gotten my money's worth from my Ottobre magazines?

Garment types sewn. Yes, I did have a pantsuit category! More pantsuits to come!

Who benefited from my sewing? At least I made for my husband than I did for "Home Sweet Home".

Happy New Year to all my wonderful readers!

A Floral Dress and a Frozen Lake

2011-12-29T14:56:00.004-06:00

Molly's so happy I made her a dress. Somehow it happens she has only two dresses, despite having two older sisters. I really wonder if I lost a box of toddler clothes when we moved 2 years ago. Ah well, never despair when you have a sewing machine!

I'm trying to use my beautiful Chez Ami fabrics instead of saving them forever. They're so much more enjoyable running around on a toddler than hiding in a cupboard.

The Ottobre magazines I have are very sparse on dress patterns for the toddler size. Molly's size 92 now, just at the end of the baby sizes. I like this dress a lot, but I do think it's challenging to find two fabrics that coordinate nicely.

Shoulder darts

The funny thing about this pattern? It has shoulder darts AND elbow darts. What a great way to get the perfect fit for the 2 year old shape!

I used an orange zipper from stash. I would have loved to use a solid orange for the hem panels, but there's not much orange hiding in my stash. Blaze orange camo, yes. Orange twill, no.

Elbow dart (just above the hem panel)

Sources:

Floral Dress: Ottobre 4-2004-12

Floral twill: Chez Ami

Unpleasant poly/cotton twill: Mill End Textiles

And a scene from our daily lives: our lake, our daughter, and our plastic chair.

We've had an unusually warm winter thus far (setting some records) and very little snow. Last year several feet of snow covered the lake at this time, but now it's clear and great for learning to skate. (Don't worry. The ice is very thick - you can see air bubbles frozen into the ice at least 8 inches deep. By February, it will be 2 feet thick or more.)

When it does snow, we'll resort to one of the nearby outdoor skating rinks. I love Minnesota's dedication to the Great Outdoors; there are parks and nature areas within walking/biking distance of wherever you live.

Shawl Collar Cardigan

2011-12-15T19:49:00.006-06:00

I've thought about making the ubiquitous shawl-collared cardigan for a while, but didn't want to buy a pattern, especially since I remembered I had a draft-it-yourself pattern in one my Japanese magazines.

Earlier this year, Cindy made a nice variation on the shawl collared cardi.

Well, I ended up going the draft-it-yourself route, using diagrams from a Lady Boutique magazine. It took me ages to settle on a fabric. I never found a sweater knit I liked, but found this nice brushed interlock - but it's still not ideal. I realize now, the pattern is more of a jacket than a cardigan, so I'm getting all this jacket ease with a fabric meant for a cardigan.

This cardigan isn't as much of a fabric hog as some versions since the collar piece is cut separately. I had some mental turmoil trying to figure out how to stitch it so the seams wouldn't be visible. I didn't want the front edges flipping open, revealing the seams just inside, but unless I arranged the collar just so, the seams were very visible on the front! So, I ended up doing a French seam (a little odd in a knit, not to mention bulky). Now no seams are visible either way you look at it.

Lady Boutique magazines utilize three different bodice slopers. I've made two of the slopers now. It seemed whenever I found a pattern I liked, it used the sloper I hadn't made.

How are the slopers different? (Not very.)

#1. Fitted with darts (bust, shoulder and waist).

#2. Less fitted but with shaping built into the side seams. (Shown in the diagram above).

#3. Straight with a curved hem. (I have yet to use this one. This one seems to be unique to Lady Boutique, as I have not seen it in Mrs. Stylebook magazine.)

I can't tell from looking at the model photo what the fabric is. A sweater knit? Or possibly a boucle?

Verdict?

I like it because it's soft and comfortable and I'll wear it while lounging around the house. I was imagining a drapey cardigan, but chose a more structured pattern. I'd probably have gotten better results with a thicker, heavier fabric.

Sources:

Brushed interlock: Mill End Textiles

Lady Boutique Magazine: 2-2009-59.

Vintage Fashion for a 5 Year Old

2011-12-13T12:54:00.004-06:00

Do you consider 1977 vintage? In my mind, it's vintage. The only problem is that definition puts me squarely in the vintage category.

My poor 5 year old is a victim of my various fabricated ideas (pun intended).

This latest outfit is from a 1977 Simplicity pattern. The pants are plain elastic waist pants, which are much wider-legged than modern pairs. The waist is also right at the natural waist, which Grace is not used to.

The blouse has gathered sleevecaps, pleats in the bodice, and a tied split neck. The pattern's method for inserting the ties in the seam between the bodice and the facing held the ties for about 30 seconds. I had to stitch them all on again on the inside.

The sleeve hems are supposed to be elasticated, but I liked the bell shape they had, so just gave them a narrow hem.
I think this is the first vintage envelope pattern I've sewn. I'm looking forward to delving into my 1977 Burda magazine soon.

Sources:

Purple corduroy: Mill End Textiles

Cotton woven: Fabric.com.

Pattern: Simplicity 8216 (from 1977).

Pajamas, a Refashion, and some Embroidery

2011-12-12T12:26:00.004-06:00

I made some pajama pants for myself a while ago and, while I liked the fabric, the rise was so short/low that they were too annoying to wear even for pajamas. I've made the pattern since for myself and it worked fine after I added several inches' height to the waist.

So, I traced the same pattern in the smallest size (plus height to the waist) and my pj pants became a Sara sized pair, or rather a size too big since I didn't feel like downsizing the pattern. The crazy thing is that, even though Sara is clearly a lot smaller than me, there wasn't a lot of fabric to spare when I placed the new pattern pieces on the old pants. It surprised me, but then I haven't done much refashioning.

The shirt is raglan-sleeved, but the shape of the raglan seam is interesting.

You can see the seam a little better in the back view. It's also obvious that Sara's an inverted triangle! She got her red hair from Dad and her shape from me.

And check out this embroidered heart my 11 year old son did. This is his first attempt. Maybe when he's not climbing trees, I can have him embellishing my projects for me!

Sources:

Raglan sleeve top: Villi Viikinki Undershirt (Ottobre 6-2010-15).

Darla pajama pants: Ottobre 6-2009-39.

Cotton fabric: Mill End Textiles.

Cotton jerseys

Scandinavia meets Japan

2011-12-11T15:21:00.003-06:00

Here's a small dose of three of my obsessions: all things Japanese, all things Scandinavian and ... corduroy, of course. Grace doesn't care about those things, but she is crazy about dresses, so we're both satisfied.

Since the last buttons at the bottom don't like to stay buttoned anyway, I could have buttoned just the back yoke, and stitched the dress shut, thus saving myself a lot of buttonholes!

The dress comes in even larger sizes, but I think the poofy side profile makes the style a little babyish for someone much older.

And a close-up of the embroidery. My kids hung over my shoulders while I was stitching this row of little people and were so inspired that they started their own embroidery projects on my fabric scraps. Which means I spent more time on their embroidery than I did on my own (:

The dress pattern came from the Japanese book Natural and Layered Style (it's the dress you see on the cover), which was a gift from Sigrid of Analog Me. I made denim leggings from this book in May.

It was fairly simple to make up with just the pictorial step-by-step instructions. The skirt is gathered quite a bit, and the bodice is lined with self fabric. The bottoms of the armholes are finished with bias tape.

And where does Scandinavia come into play here? I first saw this fun book, Scandinavian Embroidery Designs, when Calder & Company showed some designs she had done. I was tickled pink that there was a Japanese book featuring Scandinavian embroidery designs.

So....I emailed Megumi, the purveyor of all things Japanese (Pomadour24 on Etsy), and asked if she'd be able to find this out-of-print book for me. Then I realized that if she did find me a copy, I would have to buy the book. My husband had a lot of fun with that one. "Oh, I think I'll call Home Depot and see if they can find a table saw for me, hahaha!" Well, she did find it for me and actually offered it for a very good price.

Sources:

Babywale corduroy

Natural and Layered Style (a Pochee series book, ISBN 4529047091), pattern A1

Scandinavian Embroidery Designs (ISBN 9784834728026)

Blueberry Stripes

2011-12-09T12:54:00.002-06:00

I've been sewing a lot, among other things, but falling behind on the blogging front. The question is, how do you prioritize when everything is a priority? A funeral and Christmas cookies came higher on the list this week.

Speaking of Christmas cookies, my kids wanted a non-traditional chocolate frosting. No red and green cookies this year!

Also higher on the list was this little romper for a friends' baby. I recently got to see two long-time friends who each had fresh babies. You can see the first outfit I made here. I used the same pattern here, but added sleeves to make a quicker-to-make one-piece outfit.

To add sleeves, I traced a new armscye and sleeves from a knit shirt pattern, as armscyes in sleeved garments are different from those in sleeveless.

No, the stripes on either side of the invisible zip don't match perfectly. After two tries, I despaired of ever lining them up, especially after realizing I'd forgotten to stabilize the area.

I still think it's cute, though. I remember some similar stripey rompers my boys had as toddlers.

To round out the gifts, I added some bibs from my bib stash. I had to make up a few more boyish ones, though.

Sources:

Bibs: self-drafted

Bib flannels: Mill End Textiles and an unknown fabric store in small town North Carolina

Mustikka Romper (modified): Ottobre 6-2009-4

Striped jersey: Chez Ami

New Ottobre Duds

2011-12-01T16:25:00.005-06:00

I'm afraid it's indoor photography from now until spring. I must not be a genuine photographer since I'm not willing to freeze to take photos. Oh wait, I'm not even taking the photos - my 11 year old photographer is happy to stay inside, too.

I didn't get close-ups of the top, but it's a v-placket and collar. Silly me forgot to do any shoulder alterations until the fabric was cut out, so I eeked the most important one (the square shoulder) out of the seam allowances and let the rest be.

I love the shirt - it's a basic, but interesting. Next time, I'll stitch the vee up an inch higher.

I've been wearing the pants a lot; they're my favorite of all the pairs I've made so far. I love the wide waistband, the interesting pocket detail, the shape of the back pockets and the flared legs.

I found the lightweight denim at S.R. Harris, a fabric warehouse. Denim colors are so hard to decipher online and I wanted something different from the same blue color I always seem to end up with. This is a slightly lighter color with some white crosshatch look to it. The bad news is: it needs to be ironed after washing!

The pockets are not as, um, precise as they could be. I think the slit should be narrower, but I imagine it would be harder to get my hands in if it were narrower. The pocket is constructed very much like a welt opening: you stitch the pocket pieces on the outside right sides together; cut the slit; pull the pocket pieces through the slit; press; topstitch.

And there's a side zip in the side you can't see. I put in an invisible one and found it next to impossible to zip while wearing, even though the denim's lightweight. Invisible zips and denim don't mix too well, I guess. So now there's a regular zip which is completely visible. Next time I will plan ahead for a lapped zipper.

Verdict?

Both patterns are winners.

Sources:
Sea green interlock: Mill End Textiles

Denim: S.R. Harris

Elegance Pants: Ottobre 2-2009-12

Jersey Top with Collar: Ottobre 2-2006-3

Mustikka is for Blueberry

2011-11-27T16:37:00.002-06:00

Thank goodness for google translate, since I certainly don't have a Finnish-English dictionary laying around. Now I know "mustikka" is Finnish for "blueberry".

I've been wanting to make the Mustikka Romper for a long time, but Molly keeps growing out of the size I've traced. But then an old friend had a baby girl, and I had the perfect size traced and waiting.

The front closes with an invisible zip and the back is seamed instead of cut on the fold. All the fabrics are from Chez Ami, conveniently coordinating with each other.

Sources:

Pink interlock and printed jerseys: Chez Ami

Mustikka Romper: Ottobre 6-2009-4

Rille Raglan Sleeve T-shirt: Ottobre 6-2008-1

I hope all my American readers had a wonderful Thanksgiving week. We had a lovely time celebrating with both sides of the family, once on Thursday and again on Saturday.

XI

2011-11-19T12:26:00.003-06:00

Peter turned XI last month. Using Roman Numerals for his age shirt was his idea, but I used the idea first on his brother's shirt (IX) because his birthday came sooner.

I have to admit, since I studied Chinese in college, the first thing I think of when I see "xi" is the Mandarin word "west".

I used freezer paper stencils and am pleased with how it turned out. I seem to get the best results with black fabric paint, possibly because it gives the best coverage over colors.

I can't believe he's 11, sniff. I don't know where all the years have gone. Only 7 more years 'till he can vote! Will he want an XVIII shirt then?

Sources:

Black and grey jerseys

Reko Raglan Sleeve Top: Ottobre 4-2008-26

Roger M.

2011-11-16T16:49:00.005-06:00

Just a year ago I made matching trench coats for my boys, the spy duo. Spying is dirty and dangerous business and tragedy struck when boy #2's coat became so dirty it needed washing. The tragedy happened when the lining fabric (even though I'd prewashed it) bled and turned the coat a nasty, splotchy green color.

He was so sad, I promised him a new one. I may have forgotten about it, but he never did! So here's the new one.

Last time, I used a twill, but for this coat I used some nice cotton gabardine. It has a slight sheen to it, and is a much better quality (and yet cost less).

I love all the details on this coat and, this being the third time I've made it, they went more quickly.
Do you recognize these buttons? Alex fell in love with the buttons I used on my blue jacket, and luckily I had enough left over.

The lining is flannel and I used twill tape for the hanger loop.

The lining and shell are hemmed separately, which is much speedier than bagging the hem and squeezing the coat through a hole in the sleeve.

Storm flap.

One happy detective.

Sources:

Gabardine: Mill End Textiles 1.25 yards @ $1.60/yd.

Flannel: Mill End Textiles 1 yard @ $2.99/yd

Buttons: Wooden Artist

Roger M. Trenchcoat: Ottobre 4-2009-27

Jalie Parka Pattern Giveaway Winner!

2011-11-14T21:45:00.002-06:00

The winner of the fabulous parka pattern, Jalie 2008, is Erica!

Congratulations, Erica! Contact me with your address and I will send your new pattern on its way.

Corduroy Appreciation

2011-11-11T19:44:00.002-06:00

Have you been wearing corduroy today to celebrate 11/11/11, the day that "most resembles corduroy"? I have. I've been wearing my tan cords made from Burda 9-2009-113.

Being a cordophile, it's not surprising that I stumbled upon the Corduroy Club sometime last year. I didn't join, but maybe I should?

I remember my love of corduroy began in 3rd grade with a pair of light grey, pin wale corduroy elastic waist pants which I wore as often as I could. This was the eighties, the era of stirrup knit pants and bright bulky sweaters. But these wonderful, comfy pants with the appealing vertical ridges blinded me to fashion. Or it could be they transcended fashion.

I was really hoping to finish a whimsical 1970s corduroy jacket with blue birds in time for 11/11/11, but haven't even had time to prepare the pattern. Hopefully you'll see it soon.

Are you relieved I didn't buy enough fabric for matching pants?

Birds in a Corduroy Sky

2011-11-08T20:15:00.005-06:00

I planned this as an outfit, thinking mainly of the colors of the fabric and not so much of the styles of the garments. A slimmer shirt would have showcased the shape of the skirt better.

Sara loves the shirt, though, and it's something she'll wear a lot, but it's a lightweight shirting and maybe I should make a version in heavier fabric for winter.

I was amazed to find I had some lace in a perfect match to this teal. I so rarely use lace trim - I'm not sure I've ever used it. But I do have a small stash of it, just in case. I might as well start using it!
The back closure has a small facing and closes with a loop. For the loop, I used a very narrow trim I found and, amazingly, I had a button in the perfect color, too.

My husband bought me this Japanese pattern magazine a couple of years ago and this is the first garment I've made from it. Just like the women's magazines Mrs. Stylebook and Lady Boutique, this has some patterns to trace, but most you draft. For this magazine, however, you don't use slopers, you use the measurements given for specific sizes, usually with a choice of three different sizes. For instance the pattern I used was a traceable one and came in 3 sizes for height: 100 cm, 110 cm, and 120 cm.

I had a little fun with the skirt. I can't decide if the embroidery is more Boden or more 1970's couch pillow.

When I made this skirt once before, I mentioned how I liked the clever zipper finish. It turned out a little neater this time.

Sources:

Paisley shirting: Mill End Textiles

Teal thin wale corduroy: Mill End Textiles

V-neck blouse: Child Boutique 11-2007-14

Garden Flower Skirt: Ottobre 1-2010-20

Jalie Parka Pattern Giveaway!

2011-11-06T13:46:00.006-06:00

Preparing to make my husband's hunting outfit, I ordered a couple of patterns and notions from Seattle Fabrics. It's always exciting (maybe addictive?) to get such packages but I have to admit my heart sank when I discovered two copies of the Jalie Parka pattern. I don't how it happened, but I never noticed there were 2 in my shopping cart. If I was going to buy another pattern, there are plenty of Jalie patterns I have my eye on!

If I returned the pattern, I figured I'd get very little money back after shipping costs and the restocking fee. So my husband had the great idea to do a giveaway. Maybe you will benefit from my silly mistake!

Leave a comment if this is something you would make. My version of this parka is here. Here are the pattern specifications.

I'll do a drawing next Sunday, November 13 and am happy to ship internationally.

Blaze Orange, Part 3

2011-11-04T11:39:00.009-05:00

Piece 3 of the blaze orange-a-thon is the coat, by far the most time-consuming, but then also the most satisfying to have completed.

The full suit is a little frightening, but I think now my husband will be highly visible to everyone but deer.
The sun glinting off this fabric makes it seem very neon orange, which it isn't. We took this photo this morning in the frosty air, and hubby was able to confirm his new suit is very warm. When/if it warms up in midday, the lining of the pants can be removed, and he can take off the coat and wear his purchased sweatshirt or blaze orange tee.

At the outset, making this coat seemed a little daunting because of the multitude of details, but I have to say, Jalie's instructions and illustrations are really excellent. I followed them (mostly!) step by step and had great results.

I saved myself a lot of stitching and topstitching time by connecting the pattern pieces for the sleeves and front and back which are supposed to be color blocked and pieced.

My husband, the visionary, couldn't help but improve on the pattern concept a little: cargo pockets. I actually think Jalie 2008 is amazingly well-detailed and professional looking with the exception that there ARE no pockets on the lower half of the coat, where you would normally put your hands. So it made sense to add some cargo pockets. If I had had more time, side seam pockets would have been nice, too, since cargo pockets are better for storage than for hands.

The pattern calls for zippered welt pockets covered by a flap. The flap is supposed to start at the bottom of the bodice yoke, but since I eliminated that, the flap starts in mid-air.

Welt pocket in the beginning stages.

Jalie's instructions for the zippered welt pockets are the best I've seen. They include a pattern for the welt strips with seam allowance included, so you are guaranteed they'll be the right width. "Fold in half and stitch a guide line down the middle" is fairly precise. The instructions included a lot of "guideline stitching" which I found to be really helpful.

Zippered welt pocket hidden under the flap. A loop of cord is attached to the zipper pull.

Cuff. One side is elasticated. The velcro flap allows for a custom wrist fit.

Adjustable shock cord in the hem.

Adjustable shock cord in a casing at the waist. The cord is strung through a casing in the shell, pulled through button holes, and pulled through button holes in the lining to the inside.

Inside out. I used quilted supplex for the bodice only. A heavier weight fleece seemed better for the sleeves, hood lining, and bottom since the supplex was a little stiff and not very cozy.

Hood peak.

Hood closure: velcro and adjustable elastic cord.

Collar.

Back view.

Verdict:

I'm extremely pleased with how the coat turned out and I felt the instructions and pattern were top-notch. And my husband is very happy with his new coat.

Sources:

Parka pattern: Jalie 2008.

Orange camo microfleece (?): $5/yd from S.R. Harris.

Quilted supplex: $6/yd from S.R. Harris.

Grey fleece: $1.29/yd from remnant table at Mill End.

Cord stops: $5 for 4 from Hancock Fabrics. (Plus 1 random one from stash).

Long zip: $3 from Seattle Fabrics.

Pocket zippers and velcro: stash.

Snaps: included in my snap pliers kit.

Total cost: about $35, not including the pattern.

The Coat with the Giant Buttons

2011-10-27T14:50:00.006-05:00

This is my nod to Carolyn's photography prowess. I think she calls this something like shaded sunlight (?). I'm sure I'm missing some key photography rules here, but it was a great excuse to tramp around in our backyard a little before it's blanketed with snow.

When I ordered these wooden buttons, I didn't quite realize how gigantic they would be. However, I love their quirky giantness. It makes me think of something a woodland fairy would wear. The button maker also had similar smaller buttons which worked great for the sleeve tabs.

My photographer couldn't resist the tree.

Those who know me well know I'm terrible at following written instructions. I remember my third grade teacher making a note of that.....I wasn't reformed though, since my husband always mocks me when, in the middle of cooking supper, I realize that what I've been doing doesn't look much like what I was supposed to be doing. I guess I'll never learn my lesson, though, since nobody starves in our house, and sewing projects usually turn out all right.

I should add here that Burda's instructions are so incomprehensible for this jacket, I'm glad I didn't try harder to follow them.

I forgot to add the ease pleat and I bagged out the hem (I think the layers were supposed to be hemmed separately). I was surprised that the pattern didn't make the lining pieces (at the hem and sleeve length) shorter to pull the outer fabric in a little.

I added belt loops - I have enough things to keep track of without adding a belt into the mix.

My favorite feature of this jacket is the interesting sleeve construction. It was not my favorite part to sew, since the corner was tricky to sew without puckering (the top of the two seam intersections in the photo). It's definitely best to start at the corner and sew out, then start again at the corner for the other side.

This cut-on/kimono-like sleeve is very comfortable to wear. Even though I have the world's squarest shoulders, this coat fits great without any alterations at all.

Sleeve tab with small wooden button.

I really like the shape of the collar, too.

One dislike: I would prefer the sleeves and the coat to be a little longer.

Verdict: I'll have a lot of fun wearing this coat. It's in my favorite color and it's super comfortable.

Sources:

Lightweight wedgewood blue twill.

Plaid flannel.

Jacket (Burda 8-2010-103).

Wooden buttons: Etsy shop Wooden Artist.

Blaze Orange, Part 2

2011-10-24T17:13:00.008-05:00

Wow, these are bright! I think they will serve their eye-catching purpose well.

As I mentioned in my last post, my husband wanted hunting gear that actually fit, hence the hunt for blaze orange fabric. And my husband found that even more fun than the fabric shopping was the opportunity to tweak the pattern to fit his specifications.

Now, I often tweak a pattern for fit during the sewing, and maybe add an embellishment, but I rarely try to overhaul it several times during the process (: Well, ours is a marriage of an idea man and a love-a-challenge junkie, and so these pants have ... several "improvements" from the pattern.

The orange fabric is some sort of non-stretchy, lightweight, microfleece(?). It feels like a synthetic flannel. The lining is quilted supplex. We found both fabrics at S.R. Harris and the total cost for the pants was less than $25, including the two zippers. We saw hunting bibs like this at the store for $130, but they didn't feature my husband's major improvement on the idea: a removable lining.

Making the lining removable meant that I couldn't sew the layers together, thus enclosing all the seams neatly. And I had to put in a zipper for each layer, since they wouldn't be connected at the zipper.

They are so huge, Molly is dwarfed by one leg.

Instead of connecting the powder cuff to both layers, I hemmed the shell, and attached the powder cuff to just the lining.

The front zippers are exposed zips. Unless there's a pattern error, my zip openings got a little too wide and I had to scrunch the fabric in a bit to get it to fit on the zipper tape.

Inside view of the bib front lining.

The layers attach by hidden buttons, two in the front and one in the back.

Since the top of the bibs are not attached to each other, I had to finish the edges some other way. I used single fold bias tape, which allowed me to turn under the edge and hide the bias tape. I was glad to avoid the crafty pot holder look visible bias tape would have given me!

Inside lining in the back with button.

Here's the full lining, which has no straps. In the fitting stage, my husband felt he wanted a lot more wiggle room, especially considering he might be kneeling, sitting, whatever you do when you're deer hunting.

I think I made one crucial error in making this pattern: I think it's meant for ski pants, and possibly they have less room in the backside that normal overalls have (you know how overalls are always super baggy?). Also, for the sake of simplicity, I eliminated the stretchy side inserts the pattern calls for. I just incorporated them into the regular fabric.

They definitely weren't tight, but hubby wanted a lot more mobility, so we added "godets" at the waist. Fancy, huh?

Thick fleece instead of the quilted thinsulate, to reduce bulk.

Lining with buttonholes.
The waist inserts are hardly visible in the blaze orange camo. Now the pants are definitely roomy enough! My main regret is not using wide enough elastic for the straps - they turned out really ruffly. I may tighten them up a bit later.

I had planned on adding ankle zippers, but the pants actually fit quite well over clunky boots without the zips.

The pattern I used is Green Pepper #105 which I ordered from The Green Pepper. I was surprised I had to fax my order since their website is archaic. But my order came in the mail very quickly and when I called them, the staff was friendly and seemed to have an organized system going.

Blaze Orange, Part 1

2011-10-19T08:07:00.002-05:00

Hunting season is rapidly approaching. My husband has been going hunting with his family for years and has always worn blaze orange items gleaned from the big green bin of random garments. This year he'd rather have some things that actually fit, but balked at the store prices for hunting gear.

Then came the lightbulb moment. You can BUY blaze orange fabric! You won't be surprised that no blaze orange was to be found in my stash, so a shopping trip to S.R. Harris was in order.

Garment number one is a basic t-shirt (Jalie 2918) for the (unlikely) event that it's too warm to wear a jacket. Plain orange is a little boring, so my husband printed this logo off the web and I stenciled the design to the shirt.

And what do you do when you notice both your serger and coverstitcher have orange thread? Make orange pajamas, of course!

I ordered this bohemianesque waffle knit from fabric.com a while ago intending to make myself a shirt. When it came in the mail, I noticed the gold swirls were actually letters which said, "Apple Bottoms". Hmmm.... So Sara got a nightgown (Ottobre 6-2009-36).

How to Insert Eyelets using a Snap Pliers

2011-10-12T13:19:00.009-05:00

I made these vests for my boys' Little John and Robin Hood Costumes. I really love how the eyelets and lacing looks. It's not a detail I use too often...maybe I should look for more opportunities.

Eyelets are extremely easy to install with a Prym Vario Snap Pliers. I got my plier kit a few years ago at Atlanta Thread. The kit even comes with a large variety of snaps and eyelets.

Here's a visual aid on how to do it:

Step 1: Measure and mark the eyelet placement.

Step 2: Snap in the correct plier attachments for punching a hole in fabric. The kit includes a picture diagram so you know which parts to use when.

Step 3: Center the pliers over the marking and squeeze to punch the hole.

Step 4: Switch out the hole punching attachments for the eyelet attachments.

Step 5: With your fingers, push an eyelet through the hole. It should be a tight fit. Here's the front view.

And the back view.

Step 6: Center the pliers around the eyelet (with metal attachment on reverse side, plastic on top) and squeeze firmly.

Voila! Front side.
Reverse side.

Two shiny rows of eyelets.

And laced.

The whole process should take a few minutes, or a little longer if you have a kid helping you!

Note I did not interface my fabric for the costumes I made since I had two layers of medium weight fabric.

However, interfacing would be a good idea for a thinner woven and especially for a knit, which can easily pull and stretch allowing the eyelet to simply fall out.

Pleated Sailor Pants

2011-10-08T22:09:00.003-05:00

I can't get enough of sailor pants and they're even more fun when they're small. (Although this small person has grown an inch since summer).

These have a really interesting construction with the functioning front-flap button closure.

The back view is fitted with darts.

Even though I put in all the functioning placket elements, I did add a side zipper to make dressing less frustrating.

Note that this Ottobre pattern runs slim. I always have to tighten the waist (even after slimming the pattern two sizes) in Otto pants, but this pair's fit is very precise (after my usual pattern slimming). I made Sara try these on about 5 times during construction, and was amazed the fit was great with no tweaking after all.

One thing I don't like about this pattern is that it'd be foolhardy to try to get the serger into the flap area. Zigzagging isn't very neat on this fraying fabric.

Here are some photos of the construction for those of you who might make this pattern. The sewing is not difficult, but it's hard to visualize from the written instructions how it's all put together.

The first step is to cut the two slits in the front.

In the photo above is the front facing, which is cut narrower than the width of the front flap. Sew the sides of the facing to the sides of the front flap, right sides together. Fold in the sides of the pants front (this is what forms the pleat) so you get a flat piece. Stitch together the facing and pants at the top of the waist, then turn right side out. Turn under the facing seam allowance and topstitch.

Sew on the back facing and understitch.

The big flaps are each two pieces, stitched right sides and turned out. Then they are stitched as a unit right sides together with the sides of the slits closest to the side seams. Keeping the flaps laying against the pant fronts, flip the back facing to the front over the flaps and stitch right sides together at the side. When you turn the facing right side out again, you will have an enclosed seam there for the waistband, but the rest of the flap edge below that will be zigzagged.

Fold the side flaps out toward the center and add snaps. Add buttons and buttonholes to the front flap. Turn under the seam allowance for the back facing and topstitch.

Verdict?

I love this style with the pleats and the wide legs. If Sara likes them, I may make another pair or two.

Sources:

Unpleasant poly/blend twill from Mill End Textiles.

Buttons: HomeSew.

High-rise Wide-Leg Pants: Ottobre 1-2011-22.

Wooden Buttons

2011-10-07T09:43:00.003-05:00

I was making something (surprise, surprise!) but had to put my project on hold (which I never like to do) for some buttons more interesting than the ones that could be found in stash.

I had my eye on a few different button makers on etsy, but decided on these great rustic wooden buttons from Wooden Artist.

Since I think buttons are almost as wonderful as fabric, I was very excited to get these in the mail yesterday, all the way from Slovenia (which is next to Italy).

Even with shipping (in this case only $3) I think these cost less than nice wooden buttons would have cost at the fabric store. And these are handmade. Can you beat that?

Spotted Jackets

2011-10-06T20:49:00.002-05:00

Here I go assembly line style again - the fastest, but not necessarily most interesting, way to accumulate garments.

Every time we would walk by the Minky in our fabric store (labeled there as "cuddle fleece") the girls would lean into its softness and wish they could bring it home. One day I gave in because it was on sale and let them pick their color.

I bought only two yards, intending to make jackets for the older two, but was really pleased to see I could fit a third little jacket on the fabric. It's a good thing, too, since Molly loves her jacket the most.

Sources:

Cuddle fleece/Minky from Mill End Textiles

"Hooded Velour Sweater" from Ottobre 1-2004-14

Zippers from Cleaner's Supply

Ren Fest Costumes in Action

2011-10-05T08:45:00.003-05:00

Looking for Karin at Making the Seam?

2011-10-03T19:34:00.002-05:00

Out with the old, in with the new...

Karin's old blog unfortunately caught a virus. Find her new blog at Sew Here We Go Again.

FYI...my malware warning system (whatever it's really called) is not letting me visit any blogs who still link to her old blog.

Little John and Robin Hood Were Walking Through the Forest...

2011-09-29T13:44:00.007-05:00

There's nothing like a scuffle in the forest to commemorate my 300th blog post!

Here's the last installment of our Renaissance Costumes and my favorite by far. Putting these together may have been more fun for me than actually going to the Renaissance Festival will be!

The boys absolutely love them. I'm glad that at ages 9 and 10 they don't think they're too old for costumes.

We went back in our woods for a more rustic photo shoot than usual.

I made the very simple hats out of felt using a video tutorial put together by a school teacher. In other words, it'd be easy to whip up twenty of these.

The capes (Ottobre 4-2004-30) are made of soft brown upholstery fabric with metallic gold woven throughout.

The reverse side is black crepe backed satin. I used 1 yard each for the lining and the shell and about 4 yards (!) of bias tape for each cape.

The vests are my favorite. The pattern is for outdoor vests from Ottobre 1-2004-25 (I plan to make the outdoor vests, too, in the near future) but I eliminated all the details and added eyelets and lacing. I experimented with a cut-on dagging decoration for the brown vest (will post a tutorial on that later).
The pants are a basic elastic waist pattern (Ottobre 1-2009-21).

The tunics are from Burda 7-2009-138 and are actually a variation of the djellabah (beach cover-up) pattern I used for Molly's Friar Tuck costume. I made the green one first and discovered the slit is extremely low and Peter insisted I stitch it up part-way (the pattern calls for a sort of fly, but I omitted it). I shortened the slit/placket for the brown version.

All the green and brown fabrics are cotton homespun.

Robin Hood and Little John are friends now.

Fair Maidens: Renaissance Costumes, Part II

2011-09-28T14:16:00.006-05:00

Thank you all for your kind comments regarding how well organized I am to get these costumes done so early. To tell you the truth, however, these costumes may serve double duty, but they are specifically for the Renaissance Festival which we plan to attend in two days. AND I still haven't started on the boys' hats!

Regarding organization, though, I'm happy to say that this year my husband and I started using Google calendar. That's not a novel idea to most of you, I'm sure, but previously I'd been using the keeping-dates-in-my-head and slips-of-paper methods. Also, the nice thing about an online calendar is that it can't go anywhere. It's in internet limbo.

For our next installment of costumes, we have two fair maidens. Neither of them wanted to be Maid Marian, so they are generic medieval ladies.

The girls chose their fabrics from the upholstery section at our local shop. I decided to use upholstery fabric because:

1. It's extra wide.

2. It's sturdy.

3. It was on sale for 50% off.

4. You tend to find good (if a bit gaudy) Renaissance-esque designs in upholstery fabric.

It's important to check if the upholstery fabric has decent drape AND that the reverse side isn't scratchy or easily unraveled or snagged.

Sara chose the black/gold floral fabric since black is her favorite color. I bought only one yard, silly me, so I used some in-stash black broadcloth for the bodice. I like the contrast but I can see the weight of the upholstery is pulling on the lighter weight bodice.

I used gold crepe backed satin for the waistbands and plastrons (nowadays called modesty panels!).

I used velcro to fasten the backs. It's quick and easy for me when the kids come running for help getting their costumes on.

For the capes, I used another upholstery fabric - a very strange pool-table covering type stuff. The lining is burgundy crepe-backed satin and the edges are bias bound. The drawback to using satin to line the capes is that the capes don't catch on the shoulders at all and the full weight of the capes is pulling on the neck.

When I was buying all these fabrics, it seemed the burgundy fabric would match the dresses really well. I don't think it matches too well, after all.

A funny story (not so funny at the time):

It started out like any other fabric shopping trip. I was sifting through bolts; the kids were standing nearby offering helpful comments. "Will you make me a jacket?" "When are we leaving?" "I need to use the bathroom." "Where does fabric come from?" "Why isn't Pluto a planet anymore?"

I took my eyes from the bottomweights to see Alex leaning against the row of upholstery tubes, which are all standing on end. "Alex, don't lean on those. You'll knock them over."

I turned my attention back to the twills only to hear shrieking two seconds later. I looked to see a huge pile of upholstery tubes strewn on the floor and a pair of tiny feet sticking out. It was an interesting experience trying to wade through the tubes to extract Molly from under the pile AND get the kids to pick the scattered tubes up as quickly and quietly as possible.

New rule: don't touch the upholstery tubes!

Sources:

Dress pattern: heavily modified Ottobre 4-2006-10.

Cape pattern: Ottobre 4-2004-30.

Friar Tuck: Ren Costume, part 1

2011-09-26T18:00:00.003-05:00

On seeing this first costume installment, you can probably guess the theme of my kids' costumes this year. I made one last trip to the fabric store today for green felt and told the cashier/cutter I was finishing my boys' Robin Hood costumes. She'd never heard of Robin Hood, and while I faltered to explain it, she helpfully said, "Don't worry about it." Being eastern European, she hasn't learned this particular cultural icon, but I do enjoy buying my fabric from another enthusiastic sewer - one who has made and filled one wall of the store with American Girl doll clothes.

Anyway, Molly has added 2 new words to her vocabulary: "Friar Tuck". All she knows is that she got a brown dress with a hood.

I thought about trying to draft this myself, but spotted a Burda mag. pattern for a "Djellabah", which is, essentially, a beach cover-up. I graded it down a couple of sizes and "djellabah" became "Friar Tuck".

In Minnesota, fabric used for clothing is not taxed (nor is RTW clothing). This brown homespun was taxed, however. Apparently nobody really uses this for clothes.

Sources:

Brown homespun: Mill End Textiles

Beach cover-up/Djellabah: Burda 7-2009-137.

Cats and Dogs

2011-09-25T18:40:00.006-05:00

I made a quick bag for Grace to hold her dance shoes. She's taking a class for 5 years olds which combines tap dance and ballet, so she has two pairs of shoes. It's a rectangle with a drawstring + applique. Grace requested a "cat" bag, but I think she was envisioning something entirely different from what she got. I think it's kind of cute, but in her mind it should have had RIBBONS.

Someone did love the bag, though, which made for another unhappy person: 2 year old little sister who didn't get a bag. "Cat! Too? Too?"

Since Molly didn't require a bag in time for dance class, I could go about her bag at a more leisurely pace (always nice).

This one is reversible: it's a cat AND dog bag! I like that the dog is made from bone print.

I used some poly poplin which I never should have bought in the first place: it was cheap and I was in my early, uneducated days of fabric buying. But poly poplin is perfect for a kids' tote bag.

I remembered that my February 2009 issue of Lady Boutique magazine (Japanese) has a TON of bag patterns, I think about 50. There is every bag concept imaginable. Most of them give you pattern measurements and a cross section of the bag, but no instructions. The bag pattern I chose to try DID have some instructions, but they were useless to me anyway.

It took some mental gymnastics (and unpicking) to figure out how to make it reversible with entirely hidden seams, AND get the appliques in the right spots.

I like how it turned out and now that I've figured out the method, this little bag will go on my "options for homemade gifts" list.

I made pattern #260.

Giveaway Winner!

2011-09-23T15:12:00.002-05:00

I wish I had 25 copies of "Fitting and Pattern Alteration: A Multi-Method Approach" to give away but, alas, it's only one. Starting from the 2nd comment (as our first commenter left an official entry comment further down the list), I counted 25 entrants. So, our winner is number 3: Marsha from Marsha Sews!

Congratulations, Marsha! You can find my email address in my profile link at the top left of the page. Send me your address and I'll get your new book in the mail! Happy fitting!

Jalie Jeans Take Two

2011-09-19T19:53:00.002-05:00

Photo evidence to the contrary, I do not feel like I just got run over by a steam roller. It was a beautiful evening, and we took a canoe and the kayak out on the water for one last hurrah before the cold really sets in. AND I wore my new jeans today, my second pair of Jalie's stretch jeans. You can see the first pair here.

Changes I made this time:

1. Made the mid-rise instead of low rise. I like this waistline much, much better, although somewhere in between the two might be closer to perfect.

2. Swapped the straight waistband for a curved one which I knew fit me (from Burda 9-2009-113).

3. Did some extra interfacing (both sides of the fly).

4. Lengthened the legs by three inches. This may not even be enough if they shrink much.

Making these was pretty straightforward since I feel like I've sewn a hundred pairs of jeans now, mostly for my boys. Have you ever taken in the waistband on a pair of boys' jeans? I did once, and prefer to make them from scratch instead.

Bandana fabric makes me happy.

So do birds. Now that it's all put together, I'm thinking the bird and birdhouse are a little too cute. Ah, well. There's always the next pair...

Total cost of jeans: about $7.00

Sources:

Stretch jeans: Jalie 2908

Stretch denim: fabric.com

Snap button: cleaner's supply

Rivet heads: grommet mart [These are great rivets, but I can't get the pins to bend, so I used the cheap Dritz pins with them instead].

Rivet pins: Dritz

World's Best Fitting Resource GIVEAWAY!!

2011-09-14T17:18:00.004-05:00

Maybe because my birthday's coming up, or maybe to celebrate our first freeze of the season (forecast for tonight), or maybe even because I'm too busy to sew or blog, I felt like giving away a copy of the best fitting book I've seen.

One lucky winner will receive a 1992 edition of Fitting and Pattern Alteration: A Multi-Method Approach. This is a massive book with every fitting problem under the sun. It has great illustrations alongside the fitting theory so you can understand both the fit issue and what to do about it. Excellent book - I'll do a better review sometime when I'm less busy (hahaha).

If by chance you are one of those people who don't fit patterns perfectly straight out of the envelope, leave a comment telling me what fitting alterations you'd like to figure out.

Drawing will be held on Friday, September 23.

*ETA: I'll ship internationally, too, even if you live in New Zealand (:

Vacationing Sans Sewing Machine

2011-09-07T16:23:00.003-05:00

The last time we went on a real vacation, when Molly was a tiny infant, I brought along some pattern magazines and actually traced a lot of patterns while Molly was napping instead of miniature golfing. But on our recent trip to the North Shore of Minnesota, I just brought along my emergency hobby (knitting), but made only a few inches of scarf progress.

Here are some more scenes from our trip. Above: the garbage dumpster pays homage to our Nordic roots.

The world's tiniest information center. We got some very useful free maps here.

This is the view from the lake cabin we rented. The shoreline was rocky, not sandy, which made it challenging for wading, but the lake was very shallow and so narrow here that the older kids could swim across the lake.

In the distance: the Sawtooth Mountains. They are more like big hills.

Minnesota's state bird: the Common Loon. (The state bird is not really the mosquito.)

Peter's first kayaking experience; I guess he's a natural.

Wild blueberries.

Alex (younger brother) tried out kayaking, too, and that was a (nerve-wracking) experience for us! But if you're going to try kayaking, you might as well do it in a shallow, quiet lake, rather than a river.

Garden Flower Skirt

2011-09-03T10:55:00.005-05:00

Is it possible to look more casual than this?

This is a fairly simple skirt to sew and makes a nice display of the fun fabric. Or it would have been very easy to sew if I had remembered I always need to adjust the waist before I finish the waistband. Usually I do this by adding elastic, but this waistband does not want to be crumpled up with elastic. So I had to unpick all the layers at the side seams, take in, and restitch - definitely worth doing, though.

I love the shape of this and think it could work well in a variety of winter fabrics.

I centered a skirt zipper from my zipper box, instead of using an invisible. I thought the zipper/waistband method was interesting. When I first read the instructions, I thought, "That's crazy and would never work." But it does work after all.

1. First, insert the zipper.

2. Before connecting the waistband and waistband facing at the top, stitch the facing's two center back seams to the back side of the zipper tape, which you have flipped out.

3. Now stitch the waistband and waistband facing together at the top.

4. Trim and flip right side out.

It's a neat trick, but the corners I got certainly aren't neat and square. I wonder if the distance from the stitching to the zipper tape would make a difference.

Sources:

Skirt pattern: Garden Flower Skirt (Ottobre 1-2010-20)

Flowered twill: Chez Ami.

Strawberry Fields

2011-08-31T21:01:00.003-05:00

I'm finishing up a few summer things I cut out for Sara, but fall is definitely in the air. Some leaves are on the ground and cooler weather is in the forecast. But wait! Our tomatoes haven't even turned red yet... Basil's ready for picking, though.

Hopefully Sara will get some good wear out of this, even into next year. The pattern is a tunic and I lengthened it quite a bit. The front and back bodices are gathered to yokes. The front placket seems really long to me, but I'm happy that it's the best one I've done. I think Ottobre's extra pictorial instructions are really good for this one. The self-fabric neck binding cut per the pattern was way too short, so I added a bias tape binding instead. I left off the arm hem elastic since Sara finds it uncomfortable (so do I).

And there's a tie in back. Even with the tie it's a little nightgownesque.

Sources:
Cotton: Fabric.com
Pattern: Kehra Tunic (Ottobre 1-2009-35)
Buttons: Chez Ami

Next up? Alter the skirt I just made Sara. Oops, I forgot to do a final waist fitting and there's no elastic in this one.

And then to get cracking on Ren Fest costumes for the kids, if costumes are really going to happen this year.

Yoga Pants, Shorts, Shorts, and More Shorts

2011-08-27T20:43:00.003-05:00

Actually, I should call them Pilates shorts and pants, since that's my exercise of choice. Either way, in cotton/lycra jersey or rib knit (the gray), they're super comfy and very quick to make. That's why I made several pairs of shorts, which is more than strictly necessary.

I employed the smooth waistband technique I mentioned before. I find the wide, firm elastic cut to the exact measurement of the waist at that point to be more comfortable than thinner elastic cut with negative ease.

I cut the shorts pattern from the pants pattern, but flared the leg hems just a little.

The fit is slim (hence the use of lycra) and there is a very slight bootleg cut.

I love these - the fit is closer to what I wanted than what I got from the BurdaStyle download Corinne Yoga Pants.

Sources:

Pattern: Jazz Pants (Ottobre 1-2008-5)

Cotton lycra jerseys: Mill End Textiles (black) and Chez Ami (blue)

Two Tops and Lake Superior

2011-08-22T13:04:00.006-05:00

I wanted to make myself two new tops for our vacation last week, but ended up finishing just one.

Above, I'm standing in front of Lake Superior. Have you heard of it? It's the world's largest freshwater lake (and holds 10% of the world's freshwater).

I made this tank top pattern a year ago, and it's one of my most worn summer items. The front stripe is curved (as you can see) and incorporates the dart shaping. The back stripe goes straight across. You can see back and side views of top #1 here. That first version was made out of stable interlock, which wasn't the best choice. I used cotton jersey for #2 (above) and lycra jersey for #3.

Pattern: Ottobre 2-2008-4. Note that the armhole runs tight on this pattern; possibly it's higher so it can accomodate the sleeve option.

Which brings me to another point. The pattern has two main views: sleeveless top and short sleeve top. I tried the sleeves and they did not work at ALL. There was no shoulder room. In fact the sleeve is super tiny. So I switched it out for another Ottobre sleeve that fits me well and it still didn't work. I think the slight cut-in shape of this tank top armhole is pulling the sleeve inwards. Come to think of it, sleeveless armscyes and sleeved armscyes are not normally interchangeable. I wonder if anyone else has made this top with the sleeves.

Now, I said in a previous post that we were going "Up North" for vacation. Minnesota has around 12,000 lakes. Apparently there's no official number!?! So when Minnesotans go Up North, they go to the northern half of the state, or possibly into Canada, and hang out near a lake. Many people have a lake cabin in the family, or they will tent or rent a cabin. We rented a cabin on a lake near Lake Superior and spent many hours canoeing, boating, kayaking, fishing, hiking, and sitting around.

If you find Duluth on the map and follow the shore north along Lake Superior, you have the "North Shore" where we did a little hiking one day (if you can call it hiking with a 2 year old).

Here's a river which flows into Lake Superior. The photos don't capture the dizzying height of the bridge I'm standing on.

The water of Lake Superior is frigid even in the middle of summer so you don't see many people trying to swim here.

The shoreline is very rocky and is a popular place to hunt for agates.

We had fun finding wild raspberries along the trail.

Stopping for mid-trail snack.

Apparently people will camp just anywhere, since they felt the need to post signs.

Cargo Pockets on The Train to Crazy

2011-08-18T20:34:00.003-05:00

Dress Your (School) Boy Series

I just got back from vacation, but before I put in a load of laundry and decide what to do with the overripe bananas, I thought I'd let you know about the series Andrea is doing at The Train to Crazy. I think perhaps sewing for older boys is underrepresented in sewingblogland, so it's great Andrea decided to dedicate a week to it. Check out her blog for pattern ideas and a number of garment tutorials.

And while you're there, take a look at my cargo pocket tutorial. You know I love cargo pockets!

Yoga Shorts for Up North

2011-08-12T17:43:00.005-05:00

I've been cooking all day, with a few sewing breaks in between, preparing for vacation next week. We're going "Up North" which is what any True Minnesotan does for vacation. Whenever our neighbors disappear for a week, it turns out they were "up north". If someone you know isn't staying home for the holiday weekend, it's because they are "heading up north".

For these shorts, I modified an Ottobre sweatpants pattern which looks like yoga pants. I like the wide waistband. The Ottobre instructions have you attach a piece of clear elastic down the center of the knit waistband. I tried that technique once (in boys' sweatpants) and, let me tell you, it's wretched. Clear elastic is not strong enough, nor does all that waistband look nice gathered with such a narrow piece of elastic.

So I used 2" wide waistband elastic for a yoga waistband look. Sara didn't like how tight the waistband was in the first (light gray) pair. That wide elastic is so strong, you can't go with the same negative ease you would with 3/4" elastic.

So for the second pair, I cut the elastic to the same size her waist was (at the waistband location) AND altered both the waistband and the pants so they were both the same measurement as the elastic. That meant lengthening the waistband piece and reducing the width of the pants at the side seams. Now the top of the pants don't have to be gathered to the waistband and it's possible to get a smooth waistband. If you're interested, Ikat Bag did a tutorial for the Smooth Waistband.

I like these shorts and they're very simple to whip up. I'm sure I'll make a few more colors, but that may have to wait until after our trip.

Here's a photo of the wide elastic, available at Cleaner's Supply.

Pattern: Jump Sweatpants (Ottobre 1-2008-19).

I Present to You... the Kindleope

2011-08-10T15:37:00.003-05:00

Kindleope: An envelope for my Kindle. I coined a new word and got kindle case in the bargain.

There's not much to say about this. It was one of those things I made up as I went along, basing the size and shape of the case on the scrap of car fabric I had. For the inside, I used two layers of white flannel.

I love having a kindle more than I thought I would. It's very portable (with the protective case), easy to hold, and I don't have to decide on just one book to carry along. When I'm not chatting with another mom at gymnastics, for instance, I can whip it out.

Speaking of gymnastics...

This is 5 year old Grace demonstrating a few moves. It's not as easy as it looks (I tried).

Draft me some flowers and pindots

2011-08-05T21:10:00.005-05:00

This week I thought I'd make a bodice sloper for Sara. I don't know why I did this since I'm feeling the crunch of end-of-summer activities and I really just wanted a simple dress pattern. But then - believe it or not - I do not have a peasant dress pattern, so there you go. I had to make one.

I've made several bodice slopers for myself - two from the Japanese magazine Mrs. Stylebook, and a couple of variations from Metric Pattern Cutting for Women's Wear. I based Sara's sloper here on directions from Metric Pattern Cutting for Children's Wear but used How to Make Your Own Dress Patterns for its clearly illustrated raglan sleeve method.

I liked the raglan sleeve method - it seemed simple to do. But it's not an exact science and there's some freehanding involved. So, while the front sleeve-to-bodice seams matched up fine the back seams required a little easing.

The designs for these two dresses really evolved even as I was stitching and finishing them. For a second while I was stitching #1 (the flowered version) I paused to check the pattern line drawing for its topstitching recommendation. Oops. My scrawled idea sketch didn't indicate any topstitching.

Both versions pull nicely over the head, but the floral version gapes a little at the neck without the elastic to pull it in. I used 1/4" elastic to pull in the empire waist.

I shirred the blue version, but I think the shirring it a little too high in the back.

Sara picked out both fabrics and insisted there be no elastic in the armholes. So uncomfortable!

I was feeling the late 1970s or maybe early 80s with the blue, pindots and peasant style, so I had to complete the effect with some nice red rick rack. This is something I would have worn at her age.

I also whipped out some white bike shorts to wear under her new dresses. Of course I forgot I already made her a white pair about two months ago.

Sources:

Floral broadcloth: Chez Ami

Blue pindot cotton: Fabric.com

White jersey

Out with the Grey; In with the Aqua

2011-08-01T22:07:00.002-05:00

My old gray sweatshirt has been begging to be replaced for years. I think it must be a decade old. The zipper likes to come apart at the bottom and holes are appearing. I'm glad this ultra soft aqua fleece shouted to me at the fabric store because I know I'll feel much cheerier wearing this one. I might even wear it out of the house.

From my stash, I unearthed this jersey with the perfectly matching stripe for the hood lining.

The lingering question is ... is it VERY noticeable the zipper is too short? Should I break down and actually buy a zipper for a specific project (instead of using the "good enough" one from my zipper box)?

Besides the zip, I love the sweatshirt. It's slimmer fitting than I thought it'd be - something worth noting if you're between sizes or tend toward an FBA, which I obviously don't.

Sources:
Fleece: Mill End Textiles

Striped jersey: Chez Ami

Hooded Sweat Jacket: Ottobre 5-2007-19

Here is a view from my non-sewing life (except that IS the washer which so kindly prewashes all my fabric).

It became necessary that I wash Molly's beloved pillow case. It was most traumatic.

Tom Sweat Jacket

2011-07-26T17:47:00.004-05:00

Another bit of fallish sewing before I get back to some summer things. Alex pored over patterns and fabric with me to finalize this sweat jacket. Are 9 year old boys normally so interested in fabric and patterns? Maybe he'll be a designer some day.
I really like the contrast between grey and navy here. The two piece shoulders are nice, too. They're only a bit of extra work to stitch, but they definitely add shoulder shaping.

I'm certainly not impressed with the zippered welt pockets, but they're not the most wretched things I've done. Happily, the dark color camouflages them a bit. The welt lips are made out of a matching cotton, instead of fleece. The problem is that the lips are not supposed to overlap here. I would have been better off skipping the welt pieces and having an exposed zipper. In a garment for myself, I'd do some seam ripping, but for speedily growing 9 year old, not so much.

All in all, I really like the jacket. The pockets were good practice and I'm sure it will get worn a lot.

Sources:

Fleece: Mill End Textiles and Fashion Fabrics Club

Zips: Cleaner's Supply

Pattern: Ottobre 4-2010-38 (Tom Sweat Jacket)

Some Fall Stitching in July

2011-07-25T11:58:00.004-05:00

Swimming lessons, gymnastics, holding down the fort while hubby is away for a week, canoeing, cleaning...sewing time has been scarce around here.

But I've turned out a couple of things in the scraps of time I've found. I really like how these pants turned out. Alex needed some dressier pants, but (unlike his brother) is diametrically opposed to khaki. I think he's scarred by the pleated khaki dress pants I made him wear once. So brown it was, and with plenty of details and topstitching.

I like the shirt, except I think the choice of red for the shoulder pieces makes the shoulders appear larger than usual.
Alex has sprouted up to the next size in Ottobre (140) and, while I'm still slimming the pants two sizes as usual, I think the bigger sizes are cut a little slimmer than in the younger age range.

I added elastic at the back waist. You can just barely see the curved seams on the back legs.

The outside edge of the pocket is flat, but the inside edge is cargoed.

Sources:

Brown twill: Mill End Textiles

Striped jersey: Chez Ami

Little Buddies T-shirt (Ottobre 1-2010-24 b)

Finn Pants (Ottobre 4-2010-39)

Next up: zippered welt pockets in fleece - something I never thought I'd attempt. I'll tell you how it goes.

Nose Smudge Reduction Campaign

2011-07-15T20:50:00.005-05:00

We've lived here over a year now, but this week a "last straw" incident finally induced me to sew up this rectangular piece of home decor.

On walking past the front door my husband felt it should be the last time he had the unsettling experience of suddenly noticing a neighborhood kid's face pressed up against the window, eyes following him. They're friendly kids, just coming to play... But why not make a curtain?

Funny enough, I have noticed one kid cupping his hands around his eyes trying to get a better view through the curtain.

Isn't this amazing fabric? Sometime down the road you will see it in a garment.

In other news...this cute scene is the view outside my kitchen sink window right now. Ironically, I'm guilty of peering into the private life of a family who doesn't have a curtain.

Faux-Vintage in Faux-Linen

2011-07-10T22:21:00.013-05:00

I found this embroidered linenesque at Hancock, where I rarely shop, since Mill End is cheaper and closer. But as soon as I saw it, I knew it was meant for the retro pattern waiting at home for me, already traced and altered.

I did my usual host of shoulder alterations, which I've developed using the book "Fitting and Pattern Alteration: A Multi-Method Approach" by Elizabeth Liechty. This book is worth its weight in gold. Anyway, the shoulder alteration I do changes both sides of the shoulder seam: at the shoulder and at the neck, so I had to alter the collar, too. And the cap sleeves, but I got so carried away in binding the armholes, I forgot all about the sleeves! I like the dress without sleeves.

I'm going to say it straight: I passionately dislike facings. Yet, I traced the pattern pieces, altered them, and lay them on this lovely fabric. Have you ever noticed how much fabric facings eat up? Facings are miserable; they waste beautiful fabric. Hmmm...bias binding to my rescue and I'll use the remaining fabric for something else. I bound the armholes and the back of the neck. I did face the neck placket, using a turquoise poplin.

I'm really glad my collar alteration worked out, since I didn't do a muslin. (Another passionate dislike which I may some day regret.)

Welt pockets with flaps.

Invisible zip. The top of the armhole is closed with the bias bound armhole and the zipper tape is tucked in there. Fortuitously, Trena demonstrated this method JUST before I was about to instill my invisible zip, so I took the opportunity to approximate my own not-quite-as-suave version.

The verdict? I really like it and don't think it's too outlandish for public wear. It fits well and is comfortable.

Sources:
Linen blend: Hancock

Retro dress: Burda 7-2009-107.

Another note: this Burda pattern comes in petite sizing (sizes 17-21). I'm just slightly taller than the petite sizing, but after comparing the pattern to my sloper, I felt I didn't need to lengthen it anywhere.

Yet another note: I raised the neckline (bottom of the placket) two inches. Originally, it was about even with the bottom of the armscye, ha ha.

1970 McCall's 2390 (image from Vintage Pattern Wiki)

I flipped through a bunch of 1970s and 1960s pattern to try to date the style of this dress. The A-line shape is classic mid- to late-60s (although this version isn't extreme a-line), but the split-collar-placket-unit was very popular in the mid-70s.

I found two patterns from 1970 with the basic elements: McCall's 2390 with the A-line shape and the welt pockets; and Simplicity 8711 with groovy collar and placket.

1970 Simplicity 8711 (image from my stash)

Supplex: waterproof, cooler than twill, and naturally mosquito repellant

2011-07-07T14:36:00.005-05:00

We love to be out in the great outdoors and the best time to do that in Minnesota without freezing to death is during the three months we call summer. One thing we like to do is hike on trails through the woods which, unfortunately, are the territory of the Minnesota state bird: the mosquito.

And so these pants were born. These were so detailed with all the piecing, pleats, and topstitching that, if the rest of the family manage to get pairs, they will be boring in comparison.

I used supplex (windbreaker fabric) which doesn't take to topstitching (or pins, or cutting, or marking, or pressing) as well as twill does. Although the fabric won't breathe, I suppose, I think it will be comfortable on warm days and still protect the legs from mosquito bites. And no need to worry about mud puddles.

The waist is elastic and the pockets close with velcro.

When out hiking, we usually take our binoculars along to look for birds. I got a binocular harness for Mother's Day (best gift ever, huh!?). Here you can see our young birder-in-training, spotting birds from her stroller.

Sources:

Supplex: Mill End Textiles

Gutermann topstitching thread: cleaner's supply

Pluto Outdoor Pants (Ottobre 6-2008-27)

Plaid and Khaki

2011-07-05T15:04:00.003-05:00

We had a wonderful and busy 4th of July. Today we're recuperating from the sun and late nights. The boys didn't come into the kitchen for breakfast until about 10:30 this morning!

I've been sewing things for myself lately and neglecting my poor children. So Peter got a few essentials this past week: shirt, shorts, pants, and pajamas.
He was super excited when I showed him this plaid fabric for his shirt-to-be. It is nice, isn't it? The shirt is a classic collared button-up, but it's not supposed to be. I forgot to cut the front on the fold so I couldn't do the polo placket opening it was supposed to have. I did consider just sewing a seam down the front and doing the polo placket anyway. Good thing I got rid of that bad idea right away and cut out some full-length plackets.

It's a nice classic shirt with two pleats in the back sides below the yoke. There's no collar stand, but the neck is finished with a bias tape. Actually, I think it's easier to just do a collar stand ?!?! They're less picky than bias bindings, although I do like how a neatly done binding looks. Anyway, since the collar does not extend beyond center front, the bit of placket that does go beyond center front is not covered by the collar. I was confused by the instructions...was I supposed to the finish the top of the placket with the bias binding? Or should I have treated the placket as if it were part of a convertible collar, and fold it back on itself, enclosing the top seam allowance? I did something like the first option.

Verdict? I'd finish the collar differently next time (and actually do the polo placket), but Peter is pleased. I finished the shirt after bedtime, so I set it on his dresser. We had to get up early next morning; when I went to wake him up, I discovered him asleep in bed wearing his new shirt! And, yes, he likes to wear it buttoned all the way up.

To match the spiffy new top, we have a pair of shorts made from leftover trench coat twill.

They're supposed to be bermudas but somebody did NOT appreciate the ankle-bone-length! So now they're genuine shorts.

The patch pockets are double layered. The stitching you see near the top of the pockets is decorative. I apparently misunderstood the pattern markings for where to put the stitching because the placement of the pockets looks really off. They should straddle the side seams more evenly. I didn't remove any of the stitches to reposition the pockets, since seam ripping was causing fraying in this fabric already.

Next time I'll skip that decorative stitching part and place the pockets with more of an eye to aesthetics.

Sources:

Art Camp Plaid Shirts (Ottobre 3-2011-21)

Painter Bermuda Shorts (Ottobre 3-2011-22)

Plaid shirting (Mill End Textiles)

Khaki Twill (fabric.com)

Buttons (cleaner's supply)

Apple Green Cargo Skirt and Swimming Deer

2011-06-27T20:05:00.004-05:00

I haven't made myself many skirts. In fact this is number 4. When I went to hang it up in my closet, I realized the other 3 skirts are also green. Maybe I should branch out a bit?!

But I do love this color and this is certainly my favorite of the skirts I've made. The asymmetric pleats are very nice and I like the casual cargo pocket at the side. I dug an antique looking metal button out of my stash.

The magazine describes this as "tulip-shaped", but it's straighter than that, and easier to walk in.

I used apple green linen (probably a blend) from Mill End Textiles. It's the same fabric I used for this kimono sleeve top from a year ago. I could hardly wear them together, I suppose!

I did a lapped zipper instead of an invisible, since I had a lime green skirt zipper in stock. I skipped the side pockets since I always have bad luck with those things sticking out, particularly in Burda patterns.

Pattern: Burda 6-2010-112.

And in other news: we spotted this little guy in our backyard a couple of times today. It was really interested in some of the leaves in the brush pile. I was surprised to see him/her out in the middle of the day.

Speaking of deer (here's the exciting part of this post!)... We took the canoes out on the lake last night with all the kids. Mostly we skirted the shoreline and tried to paddle straight through the water skiing course. Suddenly we heard a giant splash and turned to see a buck galloping into the water (do they gallop?)

It started swimming across the lake and we followed it (imagine me in the back, with 10 year old paddling in front and two small girls on the middle seat and hubby and two kids in the other canoe). It kept swimming and we kept paddling for about half an hour. We could hear people shouting with amazement from docks and boats and one pontoon started following, too. Finally, it reached the other side and jumped out near a public beach, to the excitement of all the swimmers.

Then we realized we had to paddle all the way back across the lake. We declined the pontoon driver's offer to tow us, haha. I'm sore today, but glad we learned two new things:

1. Deer can swim really far.

2. We can paddle across the lake and back in an hour.

Wide-Leg Capris, Japanese Style

2011-06-21T14:17:00.004-05:00

I've been dreaming of tiny pinstriped capris. The "tiny" here refers to the pinstripes and not to the pants legs! My bell-bottoms craze is not over, apparently.

I made this pattern last year, but just when they got to the finishing stage, my serger devoured them.

The pockets stick out a little. There are front darts right next to the pockets - I wonder if that's affecting how they sit?

The fabric is quite lightweight, even though I found it in the bottomweight section at my local mill end store. I think that's causing the bit of wrinkling on the fly. Ah, well. They are VERY comfortable.
I almost didn't show the above photo, but for the sake of truthfulness in pattern analysis. I think it's clear this one is drafted for those with very flat back views. I'll always wear my shirt untucked anyway.

I like the cuffs and even the wide legs, however unusual.

The pattern is from the Japanese magazine Mrs. Stylebook #151 (Summer 2008). There are pull-out traceable sheets that include these pants with variations. But directions are also given for drafting them from your measurements (waist, hip, etc.), so I tried my hand at that and compared my draft with my size on the tracing sheet.

Plenty of Stripes and Not a Ruffle in Sight

2011-06-18T19:18:00.003-05:00

My efforts in digging through the large remnant bin of knits paid off. 4 yards at $2 a yard = $8. Not too bad for 5 sets of jammies.

How I'm going to sort them all out in the laundry is another story.

I might have to pull my Christmas picture from this pool of photos, since I doubt I'll ever get more cooperation than this. New pajamas is a great incentive to sit still for just a moment...
before the wrestling urge takes over.

Fabric: jersey from S.R. Harris.

Patterns: Night Owl Pajama Top (Ottobre 6-2009-34)

Stripey Legs PJ Pants (Ottobre 6-2009-35)

Ruffles and Asymmetry

2011-06-14T15:53:00.003-05:00

It may be that I've been unwisely spending my brain cell reserves drafting and sewing ruffly tops. Or it could be that I've been polishing my rusty geometry skills.

Pondering what's-next-on-my-list potentials, I was flipping through a Mrs. Stylebook, and the appeal of the ruffly, asymmetrical details sucked me right in.

The front is plain. It has a facing, so the arm and neck opening have clean edges. There are bust darts, as you can see. I'm not entirely sure the bust darts were meant to be sewn into the fabric, or were meant to be dealt with in the pattern (bust darts being rare in knit). But, if you fold the dart in the pattern, something must be done with the resulting bulge and I didn't see the fullness released anywhere else on the pattern. So I did the darts.

The front facing is partial and if my fabric were any thicker, I think you'd really be able to see it through the front.

The front neck is gaping a little because, being creative, I understitched the facing. I think that's preventing it from softly turning under.

The front was interesting enough, but the back took a leetle more brainwork. I really like the asymmetric opening and think it would look neat without the ruffles, too.

The back is two layers: the inside is a full back bodice, cut shorter; the outer layer has the triangular opening and is pieced. The ruffles are attached to the inside layer, but I handstitched the legs of the triangle to the ruffled layer.

This page is the entirety of the instructions. I used a sloper I had worked on and tweaked a while ago. Drafting instructions are given for making 2 different slopers, but the one used in this pattern is also included as a traceable pattern. So I traced my size and altered it from there.

This top has some oddities as I've constructed it since there are no instructions: it's one thing to make a standard pair of trousers based on previous experience, but this unique top was quite a bit more challenging and took me several more hours than "just sleeping on it". I tried that, too.

The verdict? I really like the top, even though ruffles are severely underrepresented in my wardrobe. The biggest thing is that this was a test of how my customized sloper would perform and how good MSB's drafting method is. I'm pleased: even if my construction was a little quirky, the fit is spot-on.

Source: Japanese pattern magazine "Mrs. Stylebook" #154 (Early Summer 2009)

Cuffed and Welted

2011-06-10T22:04:00.006-05:00

It's desperately trying to be summer here. We had one record hot day this week (100 F/37.8 C) but it's been unusually chilly otherwise. But I know I will make use of my new shorts eventually.

I hope the denim will soften up a bit in the wash. Even though I prewashed and dried the fabric twice, it's still a little stiff. I usually stitch with lighter weight denim because, well, there's no denying lighter weight denim is on friendlier terms with my sewing machine than is heavier weight denim.

I'm really liking how the shorts turned out. The (customized) fit is so much better than the RTW shorts I still have in my closet. In other words, they're not too tight in the waist and baggy everywhere else.
It's my tendency to zoom through projects to get more things done, so I hesitated over doing the welt pockets. However, this year I'm trying to slow down (just a little bit, mind you) and do more of those time consuming details that are so satisfying when you do them well.

I've done a handful of welt pockets, but never a single welt. I spent 3 seconds glancing at Burda's instructions - even time to confirm that I'd be wasting my time trying to figure them out. Step 2 was to check my sewing books. Not too helpful. Step 3: the internet, of course.

What I'm looking for in a tutorial is:

1: Clear pictures, where the fabrics are NOT all the same color, and the right and wrong sides are clearly labeled.

2: Clear pictures where you can actually see what is happening. Or better yet, a clearly marked stitching line since, if I can see where the stitching goes, I am generally able to get the machine to put it there.

3. Concise, logical instructions (as opposed to the wordy, conversational style, which is great for conversation, but not for step-by-step instructions)

Google found me a number of pretty decent tutorials, but none that gave me that lightbulb moment of clarity. Then, scanning down a little further in the google results, I was reminded that my SIL did an ENTIRE series on pockets, complete with tutorials.

And believe it or not, this tutorial meets all my finicky criteria.

Ikat Bag's Single Welt Pocket Tutorial

In the photo above, you can see that I attached denim to the pocket bag fabric so the welt would be denim, but the pocket itself would be a thinner cotton.

One thing I'd do differently next time I stitched these up would be to exchange the straight one-piece waistband here for a 4-piece curved one.

This time around, I added 1" to the length (above all the cuff folds).

Sources:

Denim of unknown origin

Pattern: Burda 7-2009-113.

Sailor Wear

2011-06-08T19:11:00.004-05:00

The story I heard was that five years after having twins and then selling all their baby stuff (phew! done with that stage of our life!), guess what, our neighbors are having a boy. I made this little outfit for the shower. Last year, I made the same outfit in the same fabrics for my cousin's baby. Those little shorts take less than half a yard.

I'm glad I'd made it before since I started stitching the outfit the night before the party: put the kids in bed and started interfacing. 4 frenetic hours later I had an outfit, minus the shirt buttons. I've never timed a project before. If I paid myself $10 an hour, that'd be more than $40 for the outfit. Plus the 2 bibs I dug out of my bib stash. Do you ever do a labor calculation on the things you make? [Truly, I do it only because I enjoy it. In this case, the project was a known entity within my skill set, so in my mind it still qualified as "hobbying", not a stressful item to cross off my to-do list.]

It was funny. As the mom-to-be opened the gift, everyone exclaimed about the bibs. "Did you make those?!? Wow!?!" Nobody said anything about the outfit, hehe.

Sources:

Fabrics from fabric.com.

Trim from JoAnn.

Skipper Sailor Shirt (Ottobre 3-2009-13)

Ahoy Baby Shorts (Ottobre 3-2009-14)

And the winner is...

2011-06-05T20:16:00.003-05:00

My bejammied, post-bath, watermelon-faced assistant is here to choose the winner for the Groovy Bellbottoms Challenge drawing.

And the winner is... Steph from 3 Hours Past the Edge of the World. Congratulations, Steph! You can find my email address in my profile. If you send your address, I will get your package in the mail this week.

I've never mailed anything to Australia before! I think the closest I've been to Queensland is...Mexico.

A Gallery of Bell-Bottoms!

2011-06-03T12:42:00.007-05:00

This is officially my grooviest blog post ever! Today I'm pleased to show you all the entries in The Groovy Bell-bottoms Challenge. If you did not have a chance to make a pair yet, don't worry, it is NEVER too late to make bell-bottoms!

When my random number generator wakes up from her nap, I'll do a drawing for the prize. Each pair of bell-bottoms counts as one chance to win. The winner will be announced tomorrow!

(click to enlarge)

Top Row left to right:

Katie's Disco Bell-bottoms

Karen's Geometric Pocket Design Bell-Bottoms

Cindy's Sailor White Bell-bottoms

Katie's Cuffed Bell-bottoms

Katie's Bell-bottoms with a refashioned housedress

Steph's 30's Bell-bottoms

Bottom Row left to right:

Carolyn's Bell-bottoms in Plum Cord

My Bell-bottoms with understated topstitching

Taran's Mile-Long Leg Bell-bottoms

Karen's Inspirational Bell-bottoms

Sara's Turquoise Cord Bell-bottoms

Geometric

2011-06-02T20:44:00.004-05:00

I'm sorry to say I have nothing Japanese for you today. We'll say it's Finnish, and call it good. This pattern comes in a dress version and a sleeveless top version. I've had the dress planned for a while, but decided to whip up a much needed top first. It took just under a yard.

The armholes and the v-neck are finished with self-fabric bias binding. The pattern has you cut a contrasting hem band and bindings, but no coordinating fabrics in my stash meant no contrast in my top.

There is a side zip and, would you believe it, I had a zipper in this exact teal color? That never happens.
This was relatively quick to make and I was pleased with how well it all fit with the cross-over front and all the dart shaping (4 in front and 2 in back), with the obvious exception of the super low cut bodice. I was expecting this from versions other people have made, and knew I had a matching tank top on hand.

Sources:

Geometric print cotton from Fabric.com.

Zipper: probably from a Home Sew zipper assortment.

Pattern: Cross-Front Top (Ottobre Woman 2-2008-8).

It's a Wrap

2011-06-01T16:46:00.003-05:00

Here I continue my Japanese sewing trend with a wrap dress. I'm liking this one because the skirt wraps around very securely. I could possibly have gotten a slimmer fit in the bodice, maybe by taking some SBA-ish tucks along the front neckline. But I'm happy with the fit considering I did no muslin. I did alter the flat pattern with my usual shoulder adjustments.

My son asked me, "Where in the world are you going to wear this?" as if I had just appeared in a silk gown. I guess he doesn't see me in dresses very often.
I very rarely wear belts or waist ties. Here I widened the thin waist ties to about 2 inches wide. If I'm going to have something around my waist, something substantial is more comfortable than a string.
The pattern is pattern "i" from Machiko Kayaki's Sewing Talk. ISBN 4579110528. The paisley-ish pink and cream lawn is from S.R. Harris, a local shop.

The pattern calls for facings, but after much musing (and a shopping trip for white batiste) I went for full lining on the bodice and interlining on the skirt and am very glad I did. The lawn is just a little sheer and the weight of the batiste lining gives the skirt enough body so it doesn't fly around.

For finishing, I did a combination of French seams, bias bound seams, and a combination interlining/faux Hong Kong finish.

I won't detail the nifty technique here but the Slapdash Sewist did a mini photo tutorial for the combination interlining/faux Hong Kong finish.

Ruffles and Jeggings

2011-05-28T16:51:00.011-05:00

I don't do ruffles much, and I've never done jeggings (jeans + leggings), but here they are. I was immediately drawn to the intriguing ruffle-y neckline when I saw it. And the tunic length clearly needs to be paired with leggings, which apparently was a big, gaping hole in my wardrobe. They're quite the opposite of bell-bottoms, eh?

I'm glad I had done a v-neck before (using Jalie's helpful illustrated instructions), or this ruffly version would have been tricky. In the above photo you have a good view of the interesting raw edge finishing. The outer edge of the ruffle is raw, and so are the armholes. They are stabilized with a self-fabric bias binding which is sewn on the inside.

I love how the neck turned out. The pieces are cut as spirals so that, when straightened, the outside edge ripples.

The big question is the length. Even though the magazine's modeled photo does show it this long, I somewhat illogically thought it'd be shorter on me.

The pattern is Tunic C from this Japanese book which, translated, is titled something like "My Clothes Sewing: Always Wear, Many Times". It is by Mizuno Yoshiko. ISBN 4529048543.

The fabric I used is cotton interlock from Chez Ami. Interlock may be too heavy for summer, but I thought I needed something with weight to hold the shape of the ruffles. I have no idea what fabric the pattern called for, but it does look like it could be interlock knit.

The illustrations are numbered step-by-step and give a pretty good idea of the finishing techniques.

The leggings are super comfortable. I was glad to be able to use up this ultra thin and stretchy denim since it wouldn't have worked for regular jeans.

The pattern came from this book: "Natural and Layered Style", a Pochee Special in the Heartwarming Life Series (ISBN 452904791). The book was a gift from the creative and very funny Sigrid of Analog Me. Thanks, Sigrid! The book is full of lovely girls' and womens' clothes and little did I know the first thing I'd make would be simple leggings.

Here you can see the modeled photo and the pictorial instructions.

Now, the question for you, dear readers. I've tried to demonstrate the tunic in a couple of different lengths, besides the almost dress length it's at right now.

Should I:

1. Leave it as is, worn with leggings.

2. Shorten it to a more common tunic length (above photo).

3. Shorten it to long top length (photo below).

4. Wear it as a dress (i.e. with sandals).

5. Other.

Bellbottoms are for Men, Too!

2011-05-27T20:19:00.007-05:00

I've said before that my dad and father-in-law both opted out of the bell-bottom fad. Maybe they didn't realize what wonders flared hems can do for one's figure. Or maybe, as young people, they already knew their "individual" styles.

Case in point: when my husband came home from work the other day, he took one look at me and exclaimed, "You look like my dad!" (This said with admiration, naturally.) It took me only a moment to realize that, yes, I was wearing shorts and black socks. All I was missing were the white tennis shoes.

Moving on... here are some beauties from the 1975 Sear's Catalog.

Who can resist corduroy? I can't.

Jeans joint?

More jeans with great topstitching lines.

And even though they're not bellbottoms, I can't resist sharing these gems with you:

Notice the denim boots. You could really go all out with the denim: jacket, bellbottoms and boots.
And you could even do an extra layer in there with a blue denim lesiure shirt jacket.

Don't even try to resist corduroy when it's stitched up in a Richly Masculine Corduroy Sportcoat.

I'm not sure if this photo disqualifies my blog from family friendly status, but check out the Terry-go-rounds! (Notice the term "richly masculine" is nowhere to be seen in reference to these towel skirts...).

Burda Magazine - Then and Now

2011-05-26T15:39:00.010-05:00

I got my first issue of Burda Magazine in July of 2008. The news service I bought it from gave me a free copy when I bought a subscription. (I don't think they do that anymore). I've let my subscription lapse after two years, now that I have hundreds of patterns at my fingertips. My library happens to have a subscription if I'm ever dying to see the most recent issue.

I picked up this tattered copy from 1977 on ebay. Burda magazine began in 1950 and started including traceable patterns in 1952. Long ago, it included recipes, knitting patterns, and lots of ads. Now, it has cut the ads and recipes, and has more feature items: analysis of the runways or biographies of designers. I'd really like to see an issue from the 1950s!

From September 2001.

From March 2009.

From November 2010.

Just about as interesting as the changing fashions is the evolving tracing sheets. This one's from 1977. The lines are in just two colors. Each pattern piece in the magazine is indicated by a number, which you locate in the margin. One of the lines in the piece you want to trace will be parallel to this number.

By 2001, they had added multiple colors and notes on the pattern pieces (such as fold lines and grain lines).

For several years, they reduced the number of patterns per sheet (by adding more sheets) and it was comparatively EASY to trace.

In the 9-2010 issue, the crazy overlapping lines were back again.
This is an instruction sheet from 1977. The magazine didn't have any sort of master list of the patterns included. You had to flip through the entire magazine.

Now the magazines have both a photo view of all the garments and a black-line drawing view.

The modern directions seem a little longer now than in 1977. I wonder if the instructions were as cryptic then as they are now?

One other interesting thing I noticed: modern Burda patterns each come in varying ranges of 5 sizes each (for example 36-42, or 44-52). Most of the vintage patterns came in just one random size; a few came in 2 or more - making grading and fitting patterns a little more challenging.

A Shorts Variety Show

2011-05-24T12:05:00.005-05:00

Sara has a good number of summer tops, but is short in the shorts department. The bike shorts I whipped up last week went over so well, I've been inundated with requests for more. The girls have been searching the stash for more colors, not as concerned about the lycra content of the knits as they should be (:

The black cotton lycra shorts will also go well with Sara's gymnastics leotards. They are a shortened version of Ottobre 3-2010-10 (Lime Jersey Shorts).

Next up are a pair I drafted with instructions from Metric Pattern Cutting for Children's Wear. I was greatly disliking these when I first made them, mostly because of the unpleasant poly poplin I used, but also because they are baggier than I envisioned and my freehanded pockets look ridiculously tiny. Sara chose the fancy fake metal button for embellishment.

Now that I've let the shorts sit for a few days, I don't think they're so terrible. In hindsight I should have used a tailored block instead of an easy fitting block to get the fit I was envisioning.

Last up are my favorite pair made with a leftover scrap of wonderful cotton ripstop. I wish I had bought yards and yards of this. But alas I didn't know what it was at the time.

The pattern is from an old Ottobre I have, published in Finnish: Ottobre 2-2002-32. I had to downsize the pattern this year, but I know it'll be one I use for years to come. The pattern also gives a bermuda length and has a three length women's version which I've made several times.

Sewing Talk

2011-05-18T13:08:00.003-05:00

And we have sun! Summer sewing plans are in full gear. And as usual, I have far more ideas than I can possibly have time to implement.

A few weeks ago, my husband had to travel to LA for a week. When he told me, which thought do you think popped into my head first:

1. Darn, you're leaving me alone with the kids for a whole week.

2. THERE'S a KINOKUNIYA IN L.A.!

FYI: Kinokuniya is a Japanese bookstore. Yes, I know the locations.

He braved his way through ridiculous traffic and brought me home three (3) Japanese pattern books, one of which was "Sewing Talk" by Machiko Kayaki.

This is an extremely simple sleeveless top. The neck and armholes are gathered with elastic. The hem is supposed to be elasticated too, but I narrow hemmed it this time.

You make bias strips for a binding/elastic casing. I don't think I was supposed to add seam allowances to the shirt pieces, though, since the neck seems higher and the arm holes wider than they should be.

I felt the shirt was pretty loose, so I removed 4 inches total from the waist point, tapering back out to the hip and armscye. I probably tapered too sharply, since the hem sticks out at the sides a little. I should have just removed some width from the hip, too. Next time I may try elasticating the bottom hem to see if if that suits me, after all.

Here's the front cover of the book. The ISBN is 4579110528.

Here's the top in striped shirting.

The instructions are quite minimal and don't include any sort of order of construction steps. But certain techniques are illustrated: making your own bias tape with one of those nifty little hand tools and an iron (something I did for the first time!), and inserting elastic in a casing.

The traceable patterns come in Japanese sizes 9, 11, 13. I made size 9, which corresponds pretty closely to my measurements. The shoulders fit well (after my normal shoulder adjustments), but there's quite a bit of ease elsewhere. So I think you'd have a decent amount of wiggle room if you don't fit one of the sizes exactly.

Here is the same pattern made into a dress.

I made top "b". The dress is pattern "c".

My fabric was madras plaid from Mill End Textiles.

How's Your Groove Coming Along? and some Bellbottom Family History

2011-05-17T15:59:00.004-05:00

The Groovy Bellbottoms Challenge finishes in just under two weeks. How are your flares and godets coming along? Don't forget to leave a comment and label your flickr picture so I don't forget to include you in the drawing and photo gallery.

Do bellbottoms run in your family? Here's picture proof I have a least one stylish side of my family. I love this picture of my mom and her brother (presumably mid-70's). I forgot to ask where this photo was taken, but I'm guessing somewhere in northern Minnesota, not really the fashion capital of the world.

My dad and father-in-law both deny involvement in the flared leg fad; I still need to ask my mother-in-law, but I would guess bellbottoms were a happy addition to her former wardrobe.

Can you trace your bellbottom family history?

Paisley Butterfly Tee

2011-05-16T17:02:00.006-05:00

The kids and I spent several hours at the arboretum today (or "barberetum", as my 5 year old calls it). Here I'm standing in a nature sculpture sporting my new paisley t-shirt. I made this pattern a couple of years ago with poor results. Now that I've had all this time to work out my shoulder alterations, I thought I'd give it another try. It's much better now, especially since I used the stretch fabric the pattern calls for.

I dug the interesting stretchy jersey out of a $2 a yard remnant bin. It wasn't until I'd stitched the shirt up that I took a good look at the print and realized there are butterflies in there among all the paisley flowers. Of course, all the butterflies happen to be upside down.

Verdict? This is the t-shirt I wanted: it's slim-fitting, but not skin tight because I used a stretchy fabric. My shoulder alterations are working. Next time, I'd shorten the sleeves a little.

Pattern: Ottobre 2-2006-1.

Stretchy jersey: SR Harris.

Below are pictures mainly of interest to my grandparent readership.

A bunch of iron sculptures are visiting the arboretum. They are inspired by tree roots.

A telephone booth: a vanishing relic of America's landscape.

Getting a good view of all the pennies in the fountain.

A turtle on a log in the bog.

Lime Jersey Shorts

2011-05-14T15:15:00.010-05:00

It's hard to be making summer clothes when the weather refuses to be summer. But I've managed somehow.

The two white pairs are for wearing under skirts and dresses. The colorful pairs are meant for wearing on their own, if I have willing recipients. The girls were highly skeptical of these while I was cutting them out, but the great appeal of an easy garment kept me going.

The long pairs go to the knees, or a little lower and the waists are a little below the navel. If I make more pairs, I'll shorten them to a normal shorts length, as I did for the white pairs.

The verdict: Sara loves the blue pair. Grace refuses to put on the striped shorts, but loves the white pair. "They are SO comfortable."

So, now I have requests for more colors.

The details:

Pattern: Lime Jersey Shorts (Ottobre 3-2010-10)

Blue and blue striped cotton lycra jersey: Chez Ami.

White cotton jersey: elsewhere.

Bellbottoms in Turquoise

2011-05-09T15:40:00.004-05:00

You're not tired of bellbottoms yet, are you? The fact that these have flared legs is a complete coincidence, since I cut the pattern fabric last year (in last year's size) and finally got around to them. The big hem pieces are constructed from 6 wedges each.

I made this pattern once before and found it to run long, so it's good I happened to wait a year to make these, since they fit perfectly now. I like the pleated back pocket with flaps. The pattern calls for the same pockets on the front as well, but in the last pair, the front pockets seemed way too bulky.

The legs are narrow hemmed, which is tricky to do on medium weight corduroy with a bunch of thick godet seams to turn under.

Sources-

Corduroy: Mill End Textiles

Pattern: Pumpkin Pants (Ottobre 4-2006-22)

Ketchup for the Home Sewist

2011-05-05T15:12:00.006-05:00

I do not fall into the category of those who consume large quantities of ketchup. Occasionally I'll dip something in ketchup, but if I were living alone (as if!), I could get by with one of those cute miniature glass bottles.

However, there are people in my household who consider ketchup to be something like soup. You have your soup (or ketchup), and then you have a few things on the side. My 2 year old affectionately calls it "bepup".

Of course you can buy ketchup. But making ketchup from scratch really appeals to the "do-it-my-selfer" mentality I picked up somewhere. Who am I kidding? I was born with it. [Speaking of the "independent" personality, child #4 inherited it. I feel grateful that I can relate to her, but frustrated that most of the advice I've read or heard is useless. The only thing that (sort of) helps is remembering to "live and let be" which keeps the battles royales to a minimum...Phew.]

On to the ketchup!

The recipe:

46 oz. tomato juice

2T allspice

1/4 c. vinegar

1 tsp. onion powder

1/4 c. honey

1/4 tsp. salt

How to do it:

1. Mix all ingredients in a large pot.

2. Simmer on low heat, stirring occasionally, until liquid has been reduced by about half. You'll know it's done when it's the consistency of ketchup.

3. Pour into containers when cool.

It's incredibly easy!

Some notes:

1. This ketchup is stronger and less sweet than commercial varieties. For milder ketchup, use less allspice.

2. I use far less honey than called for (I just drizzle some in). Regular sugar will work just as well too, if you're not trying to avoid sugar.

3. Canning is optional. I use quaint canning jars and refrigerate them.

4. The Texan mentioned she uses the crockpot for an even more hands-off approach.

5. Note that all amounts are approximate. Ketchup recipes abound and they are all different.

6. I've used tomatoes instead of tomato juice. This is especially good to do when your garden is overflowing with ripe tomatoes. Just remove the skins and seed pulp. If you leave the seeds in, it will be fine, but will have a salsa feel to it.

7. For the sake of my eldest, who has food allergies, I have a tiny jar I use for traveling.

Here's the recipe in French, for my francophone reader(s). Hi, Karine!

1.36 L jus de tomate
12 gr piment de la Jamaïque
60 gr/60ml vinaigre
2.4 gr poudre d’oignon
85 gr miel
1.5 gr sel

Velma Vintage Skirt

2011-05-03T14:41:00.002-05:00

After sewing jeans and leotards for the last few weeks, I'm ready for something easy and colorful. Now, this certainly qualifies as colorful.

I cut this skirt out for oldest sister last summer, but fall and winter came, as they do, and big sister has sprouted up to the next size. It's plenty big for middle sister here, but that means it should fit her two summers and the super bright green is more suited to her personal clothing tastes.

I love rick rack but rarely use it. Maybe I don't sew enough 70's inspired items.

The skirt was very easy to make: a large rectangle gathered to the waistband. I used a nylon zip I had on hand instead of an invisible. In hindsight, I should have lapped the zipper.

The verdict? I like the skirt. Rick rack, polka dots and green and yellow holler "spring" to me. Does Grace like it? Despite her habit of flamboyant dressing, she's a true stoic and won't give me any indication of her opinion on the matter. The proof will be in the wearing.

Sources:

Pinwale corduroy: Chez Ami

Pattern: Velma Vintage Skirt: Ottobre 3-2009-30 (size 104 width/116 height)

Flares, Bell bottoms, or Bootlegs?

2011-05-01T20:20:00.007-05:00

Ha! My original post title had "bootlegging" in it, which is something else entirely.

Here they are finally. I don't know why it took me so long to work through these, but they're done now. I had visions of some dramatic bell bottom action, but my version is very subdued, after all. I won't have any hestitation about wearing these in public.

The fit is good - I actually had to tweak these less than I normally do for Burda pants. For this pair, I made no post-pattern-cutting fitting changes (besides cutting 2 inches off the hem).

My one dislike is that the side seam pockets stick out. This is my 3rd pair of side-seam-pocketed Burda pants and I have come to believe that the laws of physics require that they stick out. It is possible they could stay flat if you were shaped like a board.

The belt loops are tabs permanently buttoned down.

I added back pockets (from my stretch Jalie jeans) and had some fun with the design. Deciding on a pocket design took 2 days, which is terrible for productivity, I must say.

I LOVE the flare on these. I ended up liking the minimalist topstitching I did at first, so left it at that.

ETA: There are 4 godets on each leg: front, back and sides.

Here's a closeup of the pockets and my low-tech approach to machine embroidery. The photo is pretty self-explanatory. Those are mandolins, by the way.

I had some clever photo shoot ideas for the momentous occasion of my first bellbottoms. But....as I was standing at the back window with my cereal bowl this morning, watching the birdfeeder, I uttered aloud, "What are those white flakes floating around in the air?" Yes, it was snowing on May 1. Really, I'm a Minnesota native, so I should not have been too surprised. But I was. Clever photo shoots will wait for warmer weather, and by then I hope to have a groovy tunic to join in.

Sources:

Lightweight denim with no stretch.

Pattern: Burda magazine 11-2009-25.

Here's a link to the line drawing on Burda's French site. I am very amused that, in French, the trousers are called Patte d'éléphant which, translated, means "elephant paw".

A Pictorial Analysis of Bellbottoms

2011-04-28T16:46:00.013-05:00

While my personal bellbottoms are waiting patiently for a waistband, I thought I'd take a stroll through the pages of the Sear's Catalog of the 1970's. Thanks to my sources (e.g. random googling) several facts have revealed themselves:

1. Bellbottoms reached their height (or should we say width?) in 1975.

2. Bellbottoms have their origins in sailor pants, a style which was also fashionable in the 1930s.

3. For sailing folk, the flared legs made it easy to put boots on and to roll up the legs in case of high water. Both features are, of course, still useful to us today, sailors or not. ETA: Ladykatza noted that the main reason for the flared legs was that if a sailor ever found himself overboard, the pants could quickly be removed, tied off at the ends, and used as a flotation device. I knew bellbottoms were a fashion statement; I didn't know they were a safety device!

4. I wasn't able to find a concensus on the definition of bellbottoms other than that the hem is flared. How much do they flare? Are they fitted at the waist and hips, flaring below the knee (hip-huggers)? Or are they wide-legged? The choice is yours.

5. Bellbottoms came in a WIDE variety of fabrics.

6. Despite their obtrusive nature, bellbottoms need NOT be made in unobtrusive fabric!

Seersucker: an excellent choice for picnics.

Plaid and polka dots: another excellent choice for picnics.

Twill: solid and sturdy.

Red and blue: good for patriotic Americans, Brits, Cubans, Norwegians ... and plenty of others with red and blue in their flags.

I won't lie. Double knit acrylic is not my favorite fabric. But you can't beat pull-on styling WITH cuffs.

Maternity: there's no reason to forego style just because you're expecting.

Denim: pair with a Western shirt for the rugged look.

Plaid: What can I say? Effortless.

More double knit: a matching cardigan and front leg seams add that extra touch.

Corduroy: a versatile favorite.

Corduroy jeans-style bellbottoms.

Dress it up with tweed.

Nothing elongates better than stripes.

Well, I don't know about horizontal stripes.

Tired of the same old flared legs? Try a geometric print.