These were quick whip up clothes for Leah that have happily turned out to be staples in her wardrobe. I used this Simplicity 1025 pattern, which I picked up for 99cents somewhere along the way.
This is the view we were most interested in.
Leah asked not to have the tee shirt part underneath - she only wanted the crossover 'jacket' part. I didn't really change the pattern at all. I simply didn't cut the front panel. Its an easy, unlined, turn-and-stitch hem/edge finish so that made it even simpler. Its one of those patterns that takes twice as long to cut as it does to sew. I made one in purple which she wears at least once a week if not twice. Since it was so easy and got so much wear I made another one in black and added a flounce to the bottom for extra fun. She wears them both tied with a belt and they are a great layer over a short sleeved shirt for school.
(I made the black one super-long on purpose so she can hopefully wear it to school next fall as well - she's shooting up so we'll see if it lasts.)
Then I also worked on comfortable lounge-wear knit pants for me. My go-to pair of stretchy pants is getting so old that I really can't wear them out of the house anymore. I decided it would be worth my effort to make some even though I knew I'd have to monkey around with the fit to get it just right. As it turned out, it only took two pairs (so one set of adjustments) to get a pretty nice fitting pair. I made the black ones first and the grey ones second, out of two different kinds of knit fabric. All of the fitting adjustments (other than overall leg length) were in the back waistband/above the butt area - I always have a big gap there because I have a skinny waist yet I like higher rise pants. No low-riders for me! It was a pretty straightforward adjustment and now I have a go-to pattern for knit pants for me to use again and again and again. Drafting skills come in so handy! Now the struggle will be finding quality knit fabrics that will last - these were made from Hancock cheapy knit for tweaking the fit. Now at least when I find good quality knit my pattern is ready to go and I have two extra pair of pants for lounging in.
Thanks to Leah for taking the pants pictures. Grace tried first and all I got was blur after blur. :) After seeing the pictures I'll probably adjust the crotch area a bit too - there are some drag lines there that would be easy to take care of in the next pair.
On one hand, its not very exciting to make plain old stretch pants. On the other hand, they'll get worn again and again and again so its awesome to have a pair (or three!) that fits. These projects were all one-day-whip-ups over the late winter and early spring. I've got a few other bags and a cute dress to blog too...
No comments:
Post a Comment