house potatoes

It’s been a while!

We’re doing a pretty big remodel right now to update the bathrooms and electrical and all sorts of things. Which means that we had to pack up all our stuff into storage and move out. Which means that I have no sewing machine or tools or fabric.

I didn’t think that I would want to make myself maternity clothes (seemed like a waste to make clothes that you wear for a few months). And I also never thought that I’d want to wear dresses on a regular basis. But now in my 3rd trimester, with very limited pants options, I wish I could make myself a few tank dresses or tshirt dresses. $50 seems an awful lot to pay for something like that.

So, instead, you get some Polyvore sets I made about it:

tshirt dress by joclin featuring michael kors jewelry

tank dress by joclin featuring a stripe dress

P.S.
I actually did manage to make myself a pair of pants before we packed up, out of desperation when none of my jeggings fit anymore and the maternity pants I bought wouldn’t stay up early in the 2nd trimester. I based it on my yoga pants, used a lightweight stretch twill, and added a knit waist (+ extra elastic for security). I don’t really like it though, and it still doesn’t do a very good job of staying up. I think the secret is to think of it like the way you construct strapless dresses with a waist stay — except it’d be a hip stay? And instead of your bust, it’s your belly.

Wikstenmade is one of my favorite design/fashion blogs, and her recent collection included some beautiful simple ikat pieces.  So when I made a rare visit to Berkeley and stopped by Stone Mountain Daughter, I noticed a blue ikat cotton knit remnant for sale and picked it up.  I think I would like to make something in a very basic shape that shows off the print.

My first ever pair of pants.  Top stitched and everything.

And … in action:

It’s rather difficult to figure out a way to photograph pant waists and fit without 1. removing your top or 2. having your shirt tucked in all frumpy.  I went for the bank-robber-victim pose.

I went through a spool and a half of topstitching thread. The waist does not gape at all when sitting down, which is exactly the reason I sewed these pants. Yay! There are many mistakes, but normal people probably won’t be able to tell.  Gory sewing details below.

——

For anyone sewing the Anita jean pattern:

• I recommend creating a fly shield, even though the pattern comes without one.  With the close fit in women’s jeans, you don’t really want to have to watch out for a metal zipper each time.
• There is a mistake? in the pocket step.
  Sew, don’t baste, the pocket opening fabrics together.  I have no idea why it tells you to baste the thing — it implies you’re supposed to pick it apart (don’t) and I used crappy colorful thread, which showed later on.
• There is a mistake? in the front pant pattern on the front fly stitching line (looks like a backward J).
  It showed the stitching line for the smallest 2 sizes, which has the crotch seam end / zipper start at a different point from all the other sizes.  It’s missing the stitching line for all the other sizes: the end of the J is supposed to be under the end of the zipper.  I didn’t know that and ran into trouble.

I ran into weird issues with a baggy back thigh area after I practically put the whole thing together. I was so annoyed.  The lovely experts at Pattern Review helped me figure out how to fix it.  It’s known as a Flat Seat Adjustment.  You have to take out just the fabric in middle of the back thigh because your butt is not as round as the pattern maker thinks it is.  Useful links:

• Pattern review thread where I got help, along with many pictures of my backside
• Excellent video explaining how to fix this in muslin in the first 20 min, by Silhouette Patterns (also goes over sewing jeans in general)
• Flat pattern fix, with a great set of photos in flickr

Finally!

I bought even more fabric, so I figured I should start going back and finishing projects before I’m buried in a mountain of stash.  I had been planning on joining the MPB jeans sew-along back in May, but I missed even that (especially as they did everything in a single week).  I’m using the blog posts now though, as a really handy step-by-step of what to do.

So … I fixed the muslin first.  Lesson learned: if you want the waist higher, do NOT use the lengthen/shorten line across the hip.  That is for people with longer or shorter butts.  Instead, extend the waist/yoke up.  I ended up keeping the front waist, raising the back center yoke by ~1 inch, and taking in the top of the back center seam by ~1-1.5 inches.  The fitting aspect probably was the most painful part to do.

The rest has been mostly easy.  I’ve cut out all the pieces and sewn in the front pockets.

Materials: “Wrangler” twill + metal zipper from Britex, cute mermaid fabric I had laying around (from Eddie’s Quilting Bee) for the pockets and waistband lining.  I’d ordered some other twill online, but it was much too lightweight for pants.

If you haven’t heard about the Debbie Reynolds auction … an amazing collection of famous Hollywood costumes was sadly auctioned off this past weekend.  I’ve been reading about it on blogs, but what I hadn’t realized was that there’s a whole auction catalog you can look at.

If you like costumes, you should download the catalog pdf before it goes down.

Wizard of Oz, Ben Hur, My Fair Lady:
debbie reynolds hollywood costume auction by joclin on Polyvore.com

I particularly liked the Cleopatra concept art buried 244 pages in.

My new favorite blog is “Of Another Fashion“, self-described as “An alternative archive of the not-quite-hidden but too often ignored fashion histories of U.S. women of color”.

I don’t know about you, but growing up, I very much liked looking at and learning about historical costumes, from ancient Roman togas (purple stripe reserved for senators) to Colonial calico dresses.  I might even have a regency gown pattern floating around the house somewhere, purchased in a brief fit of insanity.

But, of course, since it was the U.S., all of the information I found was Euro-centric and the photos and drawings only showed Caucasians.  I had a hard time imagining myself wearing any of the costumes and feeling right in it.  Which is why I think this blog is wonderful.

This particular photo is by Ansel Adams of a 1940s Japanese-American nurse, and the blog is mostly full of fantastic old family photos submitted by readers.

The pants sew-along started.

It is ridiculously quick and satisfying to put together and try on a pants muslin — I cut out and sewed the whole thing this evening (about 3-4 hours).

There is no way I am posting pictures of myself in a pants muslin. Most unflattering thing ever.

I made quite a few changes to the pattern in paper:

• took out 2″ height below the knee
• took out 5/8″ height above the knee
• graded from one size to 2 sizes down at the waist because of the next point
  (this gets wonky around the fly, pockets, waistband, and yoke unless you’re really careful.)
• most importantly, raised the waist by 1 1/2″
  (Burdastyle said they’d lowered it by that much, Juebejue also raised it by an inch, and I didn’t want the butt-hanging-out issue)

And guess what … the muslin fits perfectly, except that the waist is sitting 1 3/8″ too high.  Oops.  Guess I shouldn’t have assumed that the pattern lowered the waist too much.

Side notes for the Anita pants:
They don’t post the finished waist sizes, so I had to measure them out to figure out which ones to grade to.  Here you go:

• size 42 = 34 7/8 “
• size 40 = 33 1/4 “
• size 38 = 31 1/4 “
• size 36 = 30 “

I think I’ve mentioned before that I have a hard time finding jeans and pants that I can wear to work (yay Silicon Valley dresscodes).  I don’t know why every single store sells low rises, because sitting down means an unflattering view of your butt/undies.  Also, it squishes all your fat out of the pants so that it pours over your waistband.

So, I bought, downloaded, printed, and taped together the Anita pants pattern from Burdastyle.  I’ve already cut out all the pieces, but had to raise the waistline 1.5 inches to make it medium rise, which made grading the pieces a bit fiddly.  Still need to buy all the material — I’d like to make it a gray twill with a slight stretch, but that seems hard to source.   Not quite ready to attempt jeans yet.

I’m hoping that posting about this will get me to put together a muslin.  In the meantime, you can look at Juebejue’s very cute Anita jeans (she also raised the waistband).

I was originally planning for my next big sewing project to involve drafting a really solid basic woven t pattern. It would be worked out first in some sheer white cotton and sage green polka dot fabrics I already have, then modified in some interesting way to take advantage of the nani iro fabric I just acquired.

nani iro ideas by joclin

But the cupcake goddess sewing blog is starting a pants sew-along, and I’m kind of tempted. Good fitting non-plumbery pants are hard to come by, and I’ve never sewn pants before. Plus, I think it’s fun to work on projects with others.   Perhaps the Anita jeans or Ellen pants patterns from Burdastyle would work.

pants project by joclin

The question is really, should I buy more fabric (and make pants), or try to make a dent in the stash I have (and make tshirt blouses)?

So yes, I have been doing more than just massaging persimmons.