Making time for making things

It's taken a few weeks to get the trousers finished, I cut them out about 10 days ago and did the main seams, then earlier in the week I pinned and tacked in the zip and then I had NO time to finish them.  Until today!

Mr Wonderful took The Girl swimming so I had the house all to myself and have been able to get them finished.

I did a side zip on this pair - not sure why I opted for that but it seems to give a nice smooth line.  And I made a facing for the top instead of a waistband which is also nice and smooth.

The pattern matching is a bit shonky, but the fit...OH the fit!  They're not too loose or too tight.  They fit my bum AND my legs AND my waist!  I can sit in them comfortably and cross my legs but they don't fall down or need a belt...they really are the holy grail of trousers and I foresee a few more in my future wardrobe.

By the time I finished twin-needle stitching the hems I had this much thread left.

Fabric was from Anglian Fashion Fabrics, not the sale rail for a change!  Actual metreage, measured out!.  It is faintly itchy so must have a touch of wool in there somewhere but it's bearable.

After that I put some fisheye darts in a couple of silk tops I had made a few years ago in India.  They are gorgeous material but very boxy and shapeless so I never wore them.  Two darts later they are shaped and  wearable...I'm wearing one in these pictures, the other is a lovely amethyst colour.








And then I made some new handles for a cheapo bag I bought YEARS ago - the vinyl was rubbing off so I cut off the old straps and replaced them.

All in all a good sewing day!

Top - modified green silk from Mysore
Trousers - drafted and made by me!
Shoes - none
Hair - flyaway

Blocks and what I did next...

It's been a few weeks.  There has been sewing, natch, because I am obsessed.

But mostly I've been learning and planning and thinking.

Learning - well, at Christmas I was given two sewing classes, one each from the husband and the mothership.  They are at Makeplace which is a lovely place - nice airy room, lots of space, lovely Juki machines, really good teachers.

I chose the ones I wanted, which were how to draft a bodice block and a trousers block.  I had to wait to go on each one - and as an impatient Mr Toad I-WANT-IT-NOW kind of person that was quite hard.  But each day finally came and I am now the proud owner of two pattern blocks that fit my exact measurements, and a whole heap of extra knowledge and information and a couple of new books.

The class is run over a day and has 4 people so you get really good 1:1 time with the tutor and plenty of time to ask questions and chat, as well as space to manipulate large sheets of card to make the block.

Each class used the steps and principles of Winifred Aldrich's Metric Pattern Cutting book,
What was interesting for me is that it really reinforced that there is no such thing as a 'normal' shape - even the slenderest of people have fitting issues!  And as I have my own ample bum to think about and fit, I had never really experienced that a flat bum is just as much of a fitting issue.  But it is!

The bodice is a close-fitted style, I should be able to go pretty much anywhere into fitted blouse or dress bodice with it, and I am planning a simple dress with a half circle skirt for summer.  But the trousers...oh my!  My trousers block, in particular, is simply amazing.

The style is for nice 'normal' trousers - the kind one might wear for work.  Not too fancy, not jeans, not skinny, but properly fitted.  I spent about 3 hours drafting the block and then the afternoon cutting fabric and sewing up a toile/muslin to tweak the fit.  Mine didn't need tweaking at all, my partner was a very good measurer!  And when I tried them on the fit is dreamy!  Perfect on the waist, perfect over the bum, perfect across the leg...no pulls, no wrinkles, no need for a belt.  And because they fit they also look nice on, they're flattering - and yes, in this context, by 'flattering' I do mean that they make me look a bit thinner.  I know, I know...

Anyway,I went straight to the fabric shop and hit the sale rail as per and bought enough for a first pair, it said dry clean but has come out of the washing machine unscathed.  And yesterday I went to the market and bought a piece of wool/poly which is definitely washable and that's drying too.

I really can't wait to get them made up...