The By Guess and By Golly Fitting Method (DK Skinny Pants)

I've been avoiding the dreaded "skinny pants" patterns for ages.   Besides my short stubby legs, there's this memory of my go-to casual attire in the dark ages of fashion, the long baggy sweater over leggings.   So comfortable, and so bad!  It's become clear that skinny pants are an actual gap in my wardrobe though, especially since all of my old RTW yoga-type pants are way past the shouldn't-be-worn-in-public phase.

The only skinny pant I'll wear though must have a bit of flare at the ankle - no peg legs for me, period.   Don't even try to argue the (questionable) merits!  So when I saw the fabulous seaming details on the new Donna Karan skinny pant (Vogue 1378), I couldn't get it in my cart fast enough!   No side seams!  Shaping details!  A cool slit at the bottom that gives them that bit of flare I want/need/love!   Yes!

Luckily, shams sewed these up and posted her review just before I was getting ready to make mine, and the tips in her post about fabric choice and the length of the pants (along with a phone call from me begging for advice!) were so invaluable that I'm going to repeat the info here, along with my own discoveries.

• The suggested fabric is Rayon Spandex or Cotton Spandex.   What they don't say - anywhere! - (unless you pick up the concept by reading through the pattern instructions ahead of time) is that nearly all of the seaming has exposed raw edges and topstitching - and there is a LOT of seaming!  Unless you like the curly/rolled edges look, I suggest a much more substantial fabric, like a ponte/doubleknit.
• See how tall and lean the envelope model is?   That's the body this pattern is designed for.   I am not tall and lean; in fact, my legs are not only short relative to my torso, but my thighs and knees have never, ever, been referred to as lean or skinny.   Ever.   If you are 5'6" or taller, and you have skinny legs, this pattern is designed for you.   Otherwise, be prepared to make adjustments. (More on this later)

My measurements put me in a size 14.   I'm so used to buying the smaller sizes in nearly everything, and that's what I automatically did with this pattern.   The smaller pattern grouping tops out at a 12, but instead of making a muslin (since I didn't have any ponte-type muslin fabric) I decided to go ahead and cut a 12 out of my good ponte.

oops.

• The only way to figure out how well these pants will fit is to make them.   Start to finish.   When you're done - all finished - THEN you get to try them on and see if they fit!   (chant along with me "muslin, muslin, muslin...."
• Wait.   There is an alternative.   You can sew a bit, baste a bit, unpick a bit, baste some more, unpick some more, sew some more, baste a bit, unpick some, then get to the point where you can actually baste a somewhat finished piece, say "Uh oh...", unpick a bunch, and THEN sew it up, all the while following the "By Guess and By Golly" method of fitting.   Hereinafter known as ByGABGyMOF.   This is what I did.

Luckily, It worked out in the end.

However, I don't recommend it.

Let's back up a bit.   I was prepared for the pattern being too long, so I laid out all of the pattern pieces and taped them together to get the lay of the land.   Let's call it my version of the muslin.  After taping the pieces together (and it's drafted beautifully, btw), and holding the paper next to my body, it looked like the legs were going to be about 5" too long.   Chopping the 5" off at the hemline would mean losing too much of the interesting detail of the opening slit at the bottom, so I really wanted to take off at least a portion of that in the leg.

That's an interesting assortment of seams, no?   Note the ruler just below the marked crotch line.   This was the only logical place I saw to shorten the pants.  I shortened by 2" at this spot, and figured I could cut 3" off at the bottom without losing too much detail

Here are the pattern pieces after folding out 2":

And after smoothing out the edges:

I knew I would risk my pieces not matching up so nicely (remember that most of these seams are overlapped and topstitched, with only one seam, plus the crotch seam, stitched normally), but this is where I started invoking the ByGABGyMOF.

You start sewing at the bottom, by piecing together the two pieces that form the slit at the ankle.  Sorry, it can be really hard to show black stitching on black fabric - it's way cool though, trust me!

And I love the way it flares while being worn -

it's really an unusual touch!

Onward to the ByGABGyMOF issues....   I continued with the piecing and lapping and topstitching, bearing in mind the distinct possibility that these pants were going to end up being way.  too.  tight, and wondering how in heck I was going to adjust for that, if necessary, since there are NO vertical seams in the legs - they ALL run at an angle!    When I was finally able to pin and baste an entire leg together it was clear - all too clear - that these pants, in a size 12, were NOT going to work on my thighs and knees!   (have I mentioned that my Mom had the beautiful shapely legs in the family, and my Dad had the short stubby muscular legs?   And which leg genes I inherited?)   This began the unpicking session.   The first of several.  

Luckily, it was a gorgeous sunny day, and I was able to do all of the reverse sewing on the sunny front porch :).

Overlapping the seams with a much smaller seam allowance ended up working quite well.   The pieces still fit together well enough, it just took a fair amount of ByGABGyMOF'ing to make it all work.

And then, to top it off, I had to take the seaming along the midriff IN by well over an inch to make it fit between my waist & crotch!   So I probably needed a size 10 here (or maybe even an 8), and a size 14 (or maybe 16) from thighs to calves.

Bottom line re: fit?   Methinks Donna Karan does not draft for my body type!

The good news:   After all is said and done, I actually REALLY LIKE THESE PANTS!!!!  I still need to figure out how to get a good fit from waist to crotch, but that's my issue, and is true with ALL pants on me.   I'm dying to take a class with Lynda Maynard, but the timing just hasn't worked out so far - it will happen!

Again, it's really hard to see the details on black pants, but here are a few shots.   Skinny Pants!   AND animal print!   On me???   Really?   So not my usual style, but you know what?  I will wear this out in public!

I seriously think these pants give the illusion that I have long legs!   Well, normal size legs, at least...

Of course, a shoe with a bit of a heel really helps.....

You can maybe see some of the seam detailing on the upper legs here:

The positives in this design make it almost worth trying again, and now that I have a good idea of what I need to do, I think that with a little patience I could end up with a great fitting pair of skinny pants!

My bottom line advice for others who want to make these?

• Have skinny legs
• Be tall

But if you don't fit in the above category,

• Use sturdy, doubleknit, non-fray fabric
• Make a muslin
• And always.....have fun!

Tunic Love!

My short legs leave me with a tendency to usually avoid the whole tunic thing,  but I've now made 2 tunics in the last few months, and I love them both!  The first light-weight piece got a LOT of wear during the warmer months, and now I have a cold-weather piece that promises to be in wearing rotation just as much, if not more!  I made it on Sunday, wore it all day Monday; here it is Tuesday, and guess what?   Yup...wearing it again.  :)

This is the first pattern I finished in my new batch of Vogue patterns - V8962.   I had said that I hoped the shaping of the seams would work with my body, and I'm happy to report that it lived up to my hopes!  

If Vogue had not shown this piece made up in these dramatic black & white stripes:

I'm sure I would have skipped right over the pattern envelope.  I admit that I often rely on the vision of others who can see the potential in some of these cover drawings,  because my eyes glaze over when I see colors and postures like these!:

The good news on the fitting front is that I'm still giddy over the successful concept of using a basic TNT (Tried 'n True) pattern!  Once again, I just laid my own front, back, and sleeve pattern pieces over the pieces from the new pattern, made my adjustments, and was able to sew up a perfect fit without a muslin!    It still amazes me that it doesn't matter how different the seaming might be on a different pattern - in this case, a back yoke, and seams that angle from the underarm towards the center front, the TNT was so easy to make the adjustments with!

Now, if I can create a TNT for knit pants with the same results... but that's another journey...

The neckline on this pattern is very wide, (especially with my narrow shoulders) and deeper than I wanted, so I made the whole neckline quite a bit smaller.   Curiously, the sleeves were way bigger than the envelope made them appear to be - I actually narrowed them quite a lot (very unusual for me, since I'm often doing a full upper arm adjustment!)

I graded out to a size 14 at the waist and hips, and kept the length as is.  I think the back is a bit long on me, but I'm OK with it.   (the back is several inches longer than the front)

The fabric I used is a fairly substantial yummy-feeling ponte from Stonemountain and Daughter, with a minimum of stretch.  I had a serious fabric shortage - the recommended yardage with the cowl was 2 yards, and I had a shade over 1-1/2, but by shortening the cowl width-wise by about 2" (which was actually necessary because of the narrowed neckline), and by piecing on a bit of black ponte to the underside of the cowl, I was able to squeeze it all in.   I love being able to use nearly every scrap of fabric!

Showing the cowl with black fabric pieced on:

The fabric shortage meant that I wasn't able to match up the stripes on the front seams at all.   It wouldn't have been possible to match them all the way, given the uneven widths & 3-color stripes, but I would have preferred a slightly closer match.   At least I was able get the sleeve stripes somewhat matched up to the body :)

You may have noticed the curly edge on the cowl - this was a little bit of fun that I tossed in near the end!  The drape of the cowl was fine as is, but I decided to play with adding some shaping at the folded edge of the cowl and see what it looked like.   I used some moldable plastic that I got from Lyla Messenger at Artistry in Fashion last year.   Unfortunately, it isn't listed on her web site, and I don't have any details on it - I'll add more info and a link if I can find it (anyone?).  I sewed a seam about1/4" from the folded edge of the cowl, slipped the plastic inside it, and anchored it in place with a zig zag stitch - it gives some fun options for shaping the cowl!

The finished piece:

Overall, I really like this pattern!   It was super easy to sew, and I think that the shaping of the side/front seams is a bit more body-flattering than a lot of the angled tunics that are so popular.  If I make it again I might change the cowl shape, but I call this one a winner!

The pants I'm wearing are the new Donna Karan skinny pants - they'll be next on the blogging agenda :)

Patterns and Pillowcases

I don't usually post about new pattern releases, since so many others beat me to it anyway, and do such a good job of it, but Vogue stepped up to the plate this time, so I renewed my Club BMV Membership and sent off my order.

Normally I order 3 patterns at a time - shipping for my address is $4.00 for 3, 8.00 for 6, and my frugal self thinks that $4.00 shipping is plenty.   Plus, I really REALLY don't need more than 3 patterns at a time, especially given the number of unsewn patterns I already have.  Stash-aholics (patterns & fabric alike) please feel free to join me in one.  big.  collective.  ::::sigh::::

In fact, I had every intention of only ordering 3 this time.   Here are my top 3:

Marcy Titlton's V8954.  I REALLY like love love LOVE the way Marcy has styled the collar on her Blog Post - cannot WAIT to try this pattern out!  Note:  she also includes a number of very helpful-looking hints in her post.  I love a practical vest with some visual twists - this one looks like it has endless potential!

Donna Karan's V1378.  These pants could be JUST the slim-pant pattern I've been waiting for!  I hope that the reality of how these might fit and flatter lives up to my vision of shaping perfection!  I've never joined the legions of those who love crossover tops and dresses, so I'l probably pass on the top.

V8962 (Very Easy)  I like the shaping and seaming on this one.   It might give just the sort of shaping at the hipline (for those of us.....you know....) that might actually make for a more flattering fit.   Especially if you have hips that ....you know... AND you're short!

After giving considerable thought to that extra shipping charge (not to mention the pattern charge - hey, what can I say?  If you've followed my blog for any length of time you know that I do have frugal leanings!), I ended up adding my next 3 choices:

The other Marcy Tilton, V8966:  The hats are very cute, and I like the scarf, although it doesn't look like something that needs an actual pattern to figure out.  Still, the hats ARE cute....

Koos van den Akker V1377.   The likelihood of me making THIS coat is slim, very slim, but I'm a sucker for his artistic details, and I can often find some gem that's worth using in his patterns!

And Hey!  Vogue!!!   How about actually using some of Mr. van den Akker's construction methods in your patterns, instead of making up your own (less effective, more work-intensive) techniques?!?!   Vogue???

And finally, Sandra Betzina's V1375 made the cut.  I hope it's not just the black & grey stripes that are calling out to me....   I do think a long sleeveless vest could be highly wearable, although this one will need some tweaking to work on my body.

I'm excited!   Now....finding the time and energy to sew them all up.... :D

And then there are pillowcases!

At the end of our fabric sharing soiree last weekend there were a few unclaimed cuts of cotton that gave me a little "aha!" moment.  I've been wanting to join in Rhonda's Pillowcase making project (900!!!  pillowcases benefitting Mary Bridge Hospital) for some time, and this was just the impetus I needed.   Although I only used 2 fabrics that came from the delightfully generous Lori's stash, most of what I used was actually given to me, so it was exceptionally wonderful to be able to pass on the gifts in the form of something useful :)

I know that Rhonda is nearly at her goal of 900 cases (if she isn't there already!), but quilt shops all over have some form of donation connections for pillowcases, blankets, etc.,  so I'm betting many of us don't actually need to send items like this off in the mail.   Animal shelters as well - bedding for the critters is often needed.     I'm lucky to have a local fabric store (Stonemountain & Daughter) that has a box by the front door to drop off all of your scraps - shoppers can go through the box & pick out what they want, & the rest of it is used for various projects.    I encourage you to find a use for your leftovers, and please think twice before throwing any of it in the trash!

I admit that I'm not much of a fan of dressing up animals,
but this pic I could NOT resist!!!!! :D

Have a Safe and Happy Halloween, all!

BABES in Fabricland....

Yesterday I had the pleasure of gathering with yet another group of fabulous local (and semi-local) sewing friends - my delightful group of BABES (Bay Area Bash Expressly for Sewists).   Not that we ever need an excuse to get together, but we had a good one - long-term BABES member   Lori, who blogs at  Monkeyroom was back home for a short visit after 2 years in Germany, so we made sure to gather the troops while she was here.

Little did we know just how much we were going to benefit from this visit!  But more about that later...

A number of us attended the always-loaded-with-inspiration Artistry in Fashion this year and have been working on patterns we got from Sandra Ericson of Center for Pattern Design.  We showed our finished (and semi-finished) pieces, and, in true opinionated sewing form, both dissed and praised her unique style and pattern-making techniques (I'm definitely on the prone-to-praise end of the scale, but then the 3 patterns I bought from her were carefully curated by me, and involved as much trying on of finished pieces as I could manage!)  I shared my experiences with the CB Bolero and the Spiral Blouse (coming soon to a blog near you....).  The lovely Lisa was wearing her muslin of the Spiral Blouse, Vicki showed a highly wearable "muslin" of the Spiral Coat, Heather modeled several versions of the Pyramid Dress (which has the most amazingly unique pattern pieces I've ever seen....you really need to SEE it to understand it....no wait, even seeing it won't help you understand it.....).   There were a few wadders involved - I admit that FITTING Ericson's unusual designs is not the easiest sewing task to master; luckily the bias drape of many of her garments solves a myriad of potential fitting issues.

Here are shots of a couple of the CPD pieces:

Vicki's gorgeous closure on the Spiral Coat:

Lisa having fun with bright shiny objects -

I think her Spiral Blouse muslin is awesome!

Georgene, of the inactive but still amazing blog Sewing Divas, showed her progress on the 3-years-in-the-making-during-her-spare-time Chanel Jacket (and it's looking good!!)

Wendy, Rose, and Vicki had all attended the Education of the Textile Arts Sew Expo the week before (if I can learn to say & remember that mouthful, it sounds like an event worth attending next year!)  Wendy showed samples of some techniques she learned from Jan Bones at one of the many workshops given during the Expo.  Wendy, btw, is  very knowledgabe with her sewing techniques already, but she felt that she really got a lot out of the workshops she attended.   It sounds like a great venue!

Lori brought her beautiful dress - shown here on her blog - and the yummiest scarf that she wove herself - I have weaving envy!  There were a few other show and tells, and oh, did I mention a tableful of deliciously delectable goodies that we munched on?   Like....all day long?   I should remember to take pictures of the food tables at some of these events.   Sewists can Cook!

There were a few other show & tells...

and then....

the Fabric Feeding Frenzy Fun began....

In the interest of preserving the privacy of a certain Fabricaholic, I won't name any names.  But in order to clear out some of her (apparently rather large) stash before returning to Germany, one of us brought Four.  Large.  Tubs.  of fabulous fabric in the desparate hope that some of it would find new homes.

This is what happened:

Jennifer and Wendy begin with Polite Fabric Inspection: 

Fabric Tugging Ensues

Mine.  No, Mine.  No no....MINE!:

The pile grows larger while people politely pet and eye

certain cuts, waiting to see if someone else wants it more....

The Unnamed Fabricaholic gazes at the stash, 

wondering if she's really ready to let that piece go, 

while Irene reaches for a goodie that has caught her eye.

Rose of Needles, Pins, Thorns inspects all sides of a beautiful bit of brightness,

while Georgene and Lisa fondle other goodies:

Rose's smile indicates that this one is definitely coming home with her!

Hands reach for that last bit of 

unclaimed fabric.... 

with absolutely unprecedented results, the above tiny piles were ALL that was left of the stash-sharing-giveaway!   This speaks to the quality of Lori's stash (oops, did I just give her name away???  My bad....)  The bad news...sort of...is that we always send off our unclaimed fabric & notions to a school in the Philippines, and we usually have a LOT to give.    This time...yeah...not so much.

I was really happy to help out the cause of clearing Lori's stash.   And help I did.   A lot.   I thought I was doing so well with the large bag of fabric I brought to give away...but I went home with nearly twice as much:

Not only that, but check out those labeled cards with fabric content and amount!    I feel so righteous when I actually manage to do that when I bring new fabric home....maybe this will help inspire me to be a little more conscious?

Yeah....doubt it.

Thanks Lori, for your gracious generosity, and thanks to all my bodacious BABES buddies for a fantastic day!   :)

My Asian/Cowboy/Betzina Duster

I admit it.   When I first saw Sandra Betzina's duster pattern (Vogue 1356) I didn't get it.   At all.  It was immediately filed in my "No Way!" category, until shams performed her magic on it.  The minute I saw her Geisha Faces Duster I converted from "No Way" to "I Want!" faster than I've ever done before.   I snapped up the pattern at the earliest sale, and immediately shifted my plans for a trio of linens I had from Plan A to Plan Duster.

I started working on it pre-robbery, and had a number of construction notes and pics in the computer, but they were in the (rather large...sigh....) pile of photos that never got backed up (yes, I DO have an external hard drive now, and yes, I AM using it regularly!)

So we'll just have to jump straight to the finished product, while I dig through my brain & try to remember the adjustments I made.

I used some of my Marcy Tilton Asian-esque silk screens on the coat, but it holds this Western sort of essence to it in my mind - you know, the craggy-faced cowboy with the rough & ready duster flowing in the dust as he strides towards his horse....   Anyway, I keep finding that I want to wear my jeans & cowboy boots (shit-kickers, where I hail from....see how this thing is affecting me???) and to date that's all I've worn it with.   I know it has a lot more versatility than that, though!

I must have nearly a dozen Betzina patterns, but for some reason, I've simply never managed to move one to the top of the queue until now, so this is my first.   I must say, I'm impressed!   She includes a lot of construction details and helpful hints (even though I don't agree with some of them), and her fit is designed for a more mature, "real" woman's body - narrower shoulders and wider hips, for instance.  And she's managed to get Vogue to do it her way!   She writes her own instructions (apparently most Vogue patterns do NOT use the designer's construction methods, which is likely where a lot of confusion comes from by the time it reaches the home sewer).   Go Sandra!

Pattern Notes:

• The coat is described as "very loose fitting", usually a warning that screams "BAGGY" when it comes to Vogue, but with the cut and the darts (fish eye darts in the back, plus bust darts), it actually skims the body.
• The sleeves are two-piece and cut on the bias - a very nice shape!   But I found them to be VERY skinny, surprising coming from Ms. B., since she's usually very conscious of designing sleeves for *ahem* 'mature' arms.   The sleeves are also VERY long!   I shortened mine by several inches (maybe 3"?)
• The pockets are simple, but unique.  There are two pockets on each side of the front, one nested inside the other.   I didn't use her pockets - no particular reason other than the fact that I tested my silk screen on a bit of fabric and decided to use that as a pocket, so I stitched it down to another piece of contrast fabric and called it done.   :-)   (NOTE:   I usually silk screen my finished piece, but I test the screening on the fabric I'm using, then lay the test pieces on my finished piece before I start the actual painting on the garment.   Yes, it has caused issues, but I've always managed to turn them into a "Design Element" lol!)

POCKET:

• The facing pieces are very large - this I liked, especially since the coat is unlined.  The facing construction instructions, however, were odd to me.   They call for sewing the interfacing to the RIGHT side of the facing pieces, then turning them right side out before sewing it all in to the coat (thus ending up with finished edges where the facing & interfacing are sewn together.   It sounded awkward to me.   I think I ended up doing essentially the same thing shams did, and fused interfacing to the wrong side of the facings, sewed them in to the coat, then finished the edges (fray-prone linen!) with folded over bias strips. 

Finished Back with bias strip edged facings, and Hong Kong finishes on the sleeve seams.

(And paint bits showing  post silk-screening)

• Another oddity is that the placket used for the front closure is supposed to be cut on the bias.  This makes NO sense to me, unless you're using a fabric that has stripes, or some other design element that you want to showcase with a bias cut, but even then wouldn't you have to interface the stuffing out of the thing to get it to hold its shape?   I just cut mine on grain.

Alterations:

• I cut a Size B at the very top, and narrowed the shoulders by about 1"
• I expanded to a size C at the waist
• I changed the armscye shaping to suit me a bit better
• Did a full upper arm adjustment (easy to do with the two-piece sleeve)
• Shortened the sleeves by about 3", still leaving a very deep hem so that I have the option of turning the cuffs up
• Shortened the coat by 4"
• Lengthened the side slits by....something or other.

Oh, I also added a contrast yoke at the back.   This was one of those "Design Elements" required by having a shortage of fabric.  For some reason this ended up causing me a fair amount of angst, I think because the bottom of the yoke ended up right where the lower armscye meets the side seam - not good planning!   But, as I say, I was working with what I had, fabric-wise, so it goes into the category of "it is what it is".

I ended up using plastic "invisible" snaps for closure at the placket - I intended to use snaps and buttons, but I didn't plan out my silk screen placement all that well, so I eliminated the visible button or snap option and used the invisibles.   I'm not sure if I used too much thread, adding some depth to the snaps, but I find that they need a bit more pressure to snap shut than I thought they might - anyone else have experience with these?

Back View, Inside Out:

Front View, Inside Out:

The Wearing of the Duster:

The tough Cowgirl look (yeah, right....)

The Bottom Line:

Thumbs up on this pattern!   It's perfect for a three-season Bay Area evening in linen, and would work well in a cotton, a light wool, or any number of blends.   I can definitely see making this one again, although it may be awhile, since I think I'm on another coat & jacket binge, and have a slew of patterns I want to check out :)