The Spring / Summer Sewing Capsule

I feel rather abnormal. I mean, usually, even if I'm exhausted, a weekend of extended sleeping and lying on the couch takes the edge off. Before I know it, I'm planning something - baking a pie, making some shampoo, sewing (remember that?), knitting a new garment, a long walk with errands, doing a me-tailored yoga practice...

Weirdly, it's taking all of my energy to stay somewhat engaged, and that just cuz I'm freaked out by apathy.

I decided those jeans I need to hem are going back to the store. They're too low-rise and I don't feel like spending half my life yanking them up over the puff-ball that is my lower abdomen. Not to mention that they cost 300 bucks. For 300 bucks jeans have got to be perfect.

I did finish that pair of striped (serious stash-busting) socks. I'll photo them soon and share some new feelings about striped socks. The short story is, just don't. Unless you really want to use up yarn in @25 gram increments, in multiple colours, why inconvenience yourself? Aren't socks about simple, wearable comfort?

This morning I went through my sewing cupboard to get a lay of the land. Given that I love buying fabric, I've got a bit of fun ahead of me this aft. Seems I don't have much in the appropriate yardages to accomplish any of my preferred projects. How does this always happen??

By preferred projects I mean this:

• Garments that are tried and tested (to some extent)
• Garments that I know I'll wear
• Garments that are comfortable
• Garments that I'm not going to have to mess with overly to make them fit

Here's what I've come up with so far. I can't say whether I'll get some mojo back and go on a tear, but I sense this is my plan until the reno starts, at which point all the sewing will be packed away till my house is done. Links point you to previous posts with pics...

Kristin Spring / Summer Sewing:

• Harper Jacket - I wear this at least once a week so I think I may have found my match for the insanely gorgeous cashmere double knit Mardel kindly gifted to me years ago. This fabric is fuchsia on one side and grey on the other. It's a true winter fabric so I won't lead with this garment, but it would be so nice to have it at my access in the fall.

• Who doesn't need a new, bespoke T shirt, made from one's personal sloper? I was hoping to make one of these using a remnant of electric blue bamboo in my stash but, given that I've only got 0.65 of a yard,  I'm going to have to shore it up with some extra from the store. Hope I can find the same bolt of fabric (or one, the colour of which, works as a match).

• Hudson Pants - I wear these at home constantly. They're perfect for sleeping. They're perfect for yoga. I've got some cylindrical, thick t-shirt fabric that would work for another pair, even if it's not exciting. Of course, I'm compelled to make these with my beloved French terry, so I'm likely to be investing in another yard of that...

• DKNY Dress (V1179) -  Lord, I've worn my 2 other versions of this dress into the ground, despite the fact that my workmanship left much to be desired. I could use a striped jersey in my stash (bought ages ago from Blackbird Fabrics) but I'm likely to hedge my bets and replace some of my modal or bamboo from Shu Ching. If I can find the same bolts, I can maximize the remnants I still have in my stash.

• V8323 Very Easy Vogue Top - This is the one I haven't quite cracked (though I've made NUMEROUS muslins). Gonna buy myself a bit more nice fabric to give it one more go. I know I keep saying I've had it with this (after 6 toiles?!) but I see its potential and I've worked so hard to re-draft the pattern such that it can work for my narrow, short and curvy frame.

• Another sleeveless version of V8790. Turns out I do have a fabric in my stash to make this one. It's the fun floral (see Jalie 2921 top in that link) that Gillian and I both bought (and which she gifted me her remnants of). Added to my remnants, it's enough to make this top. Given that I didn't love the construction process last time, I do hope I find a sanguine way, going forward.

I'm bummed that these aren't more exciting but I've got to stick to the straight and narrow right now. There's just too much afoot - and my body shape is too in flux - to go on a tailoring resurgence this spring. My goal is to make these items fit so gorgeously - in such lovely fabrics - that they'll thrill even if they're aren't new-to-me patterns. And I do intend to supplement with RTW. When one's all over the map, try-and-buy is the way to go.

I Truly Don't Understand This Alteration

I guess that's why they call it the muslin phase.

Based on Sunni's post (wherein she has provided a very useful photo from Pants For Real People, with permission of the author), sense I've made the following alteration to the original pattern:

•  Making the waist higher. Yeah, I went there. I want this thing to be at least as high as those denim leggings. I'm a phase in my life where my abdomen is not only larger than I'd like but also relatively untoned - despite lots o' yoga. (I'm taking the long view peeps. Hormones are a fucking bitch.)

• Making the upper, inner thighs roomier. Not surprising since that's the only place where fat lives on my legs - just up at the top, as the altered pattern indicates. Also, remember I bought the size 10 because I read that the pattern runs large. In a 12, I'd probably still have to adjust the curve but maybe not as much...

• I've added a bit of extra fabric to the front crotch and quite a bit to the back curve. Here's where things get dicey. I can see how the original pattern comes together with a deep "u". Mine is the oddest "v". Hmmm... This kind of goes against my need for an L shaped crotch curve (vs a J shape). I have read elsewhere, however, that in close fitting knit pants the J shape is used to best effect. That's sort of the shape of the unaltered Claudia crotch curve. Whether the v works on me, we'll have to see.

BTW, I really recommend Pants For Real People, hideousness of the design and layout aside.

Thoughts or feelings on this?

Slippery Sloper

On the basis of a couple of comments yesterday (thank you!) and an email exchange with S., I had this moment of sewing memory lucidity...

Remember these? (Please ignore my deathly sick look...)

Well, they just happen to be pants made for a stretch woven. Sure, they're the jeans version of leggings, but note that I made those with denim that barely stretched. I mean, it doesn't stretch at all which is why I haven't been wearing them lately...

For kicks, I took out the pattern. Egad, that seems almost "sloper comparison-esque".

Here's what my altered version it looks like:

Seems that I had to a) lengthen the denim leggings at the hem but I didn't shorten them in the rise tremendously much and - note this with interest! - I actually raised the waist-line twice to get them to sit at my real waist.

And here are the relevant pieces of the Claudia pattern overlaid:

Fascinating, yes?

There's not a tremendous amount of difference between these curves. Sure, there's the need for refinement in length and depth - and the first try might not work perfectly - but I am starting to see how this pattern is not cut for an Amazon.
This bonus photo shows that the length of the Claudia pant is about 0.5" longer than the denim leggings sloper, but that's before any refinements...

So that's where I'm at right now. Strangely grateful for a sloper of sorts, to potentially have saved me from slicing and dicing the Claudia (I traced it! It wouldn't have been a disaster!) in accordance with a loose-fit pants sloper designed for wovens.

Whatcha think?

Getting With the Program

OK, even though y'all (and my patient fitting friend, S.) have been pushing me to sew from slopers, I've been slowish on the uptake.

I say slowish because I do routinely use three curves I've worked hard to determine - crotch length and depth for woven pants, crotch length and depth for knit lounge pants and armscye length and depth (plus sleeve head) for knit tops.

My primary issue with the sloper concept has been that - and I do realize this is stupid - I always feel like, what's the point of having all kinds of patterns and designs if you just duplicate the same basic elements again and again. Yeah, I know, patterns have lots of unique details and some basics don't interfere with overall design. Or do they?

Look, I'm fairly confident that I can design a pattern based on a sloper (albeit a simple one). But I don't want to! I want to buy patterns and just use them and get fun, different results. Where's the excitement factor in constantly pulling out the slopers??

Admittedly, the lows are nowhere near as low.

So here's where I'm at.

My goal this year is to:

• Develop a woven (tailored jacket) sloper - most likely this will be princess seamed.

• Develop a sloper for stretch woven pants - I've got one for leggings and one for wovens but not one that spans the gap and, let's face it, the stretch woven pant is relevant in my wardrobe!

• Commit all of my slopers to oak tag or some such thing so that they are sturdy and reusable. (Please, need thoughts on best methods here...)

So, today, I got started and drew out the woven pants sloper crotch curves and the knit top armscye/sleeve curves:

I just traced the relevant bits to make it easy to put them on top of other pattern pieces. Now I'll have no excuse to consider going renegade.

Next thing I did, this morning, was to pull out my Claudia Pants, recently purchased and arrived from StyleArc.

(Brief sidebar: I'm not super thrilled with the customer service they've got going on. I won't harp at the moment, but I may in the near future. And I'm not talking only about my Bengaline which still has not arrived. I'm half considering calling Australia since they haven't been responding to my still-friendly emails...)

In truth, I don't know that this pattern is going to suit me, but it's good to try new things, right? And I do appreciate the stretch-woven factor and the real waist height.

BTW, I'm going to use this stretch rayon denim fabric from Gorgeous Fabrics:

It's sort of grey/soot (not black like the monitor shows), very light-weight with good drape and some stretch. It's got enough structure, I believe, to suit these pants, but not too much. Just washed this fabric and it's beautiful. It could easily make a dress. It doesn't wrinkle and the hand is delicious. I can see how I'm about to stash binge again...

But wait! Look at what happens when I put my pants sloper pattern piece (albeit a WOVEN sloper) against the unaltered Claudia stretch woven pattern:

Here's an unfettered view of the crotch curve of the Claudia pant:

If you look at the distance between the depth of my crotch curve and that of the unaltered Claudia pant, you'll see that it's 4 inches deeper than mine (never mind the difference in length of that curve). BTW, my sloper is navel, waist-height - not low-rise in any way.

I've read that the Claudias are very long, and I'm short, so I measured the length of my slopers against the below-crotch length of the pants. Guess what? They're both exactly the same length - 30 inches before hemming.

It would appear that ALL of the length I need to get rid of in these pants is in the crotch depth.

Is that not high on drugs???!!! Really. Am I doing something wrong, or is this high on drugs?

Sure, my crotch depth is really short - cuz that's where I'm shortest, in the lower torso. But my legs, as I'm routinely reminded, are actually average-length to long. Peeps who are 5'10" aren't lengthening the legs...

Is it silly that this makes me feel like a supermodel?

I bought the pattern in a 10 because everyone says it runs large and StyleArc advises that you go by hip measurement. Having measured the pattern at the hip, I don't know if I should add an inch. It's 0.5 inches smaller than my hip measurement, but the fabric does have stretch. Any thoughts on this??

What I will say is that the waist runs large by comparison with the hip. The 10 has a 33" waist? Ah, wouldn't it be great if I could remember to remove the dart width from the equation. The waist is drafted at 31"...

I think I'm glad I didn't go with a 12 - though I forgot about this when I ordered the Elle pants recently. Here's hoping that wasn't a mistake. BTW, I had to buy those pants because Gillian will not stop talking about them and I've been bamboozled!

So this is where I'm at today. Please share your feelings about whether I should increase the hip by an inch and best techniques for preserving my slopers. Also, what do you think of these pants? Let's talk!

The Fall Capsule Collection: More About KS3115 V Neck Top

So, it appears that I do have a knit top sloper (though I suggested to Susan, in comments, that I do not). See, while I haven't really given much thought to my, hard won, T shirt sloper for like, over a year, technically, it does give me key info about the armsyce curve I require on a dart-free, knit top.

And really, what's KS3115, the V neck, if not a dartfree, knit top?

What I discovered is fascinating!

Y'all know - and pls. read this for more context - that I reverted from a weird small-med mash-up, back to a small for my next version of the KS, V-neck exercise top. When I was trying to figure out whether I'd have enough fabric to make shells and t shirts from my fabric remnants (post on this will follow), I ended up comparing the T shirt sloper to the size small, V neck top pattern and I realized a couple of key deets:

• Both tops are effectively the same in width and in length - eerily so. They also have almost identical shoulder seams.

• The only visible difference (aside from neckline, which is alterable depending on the version of a T shirt one chooses to make) is in the shape and depth of the armsyce. 

Man, those two armsyces are on different planets! No wonder KS3115 doesn't fit. Even with my reversion to the size small, the armholes are SO low and wide!

So, here's my fix (as yet untested in the exercise shell - though it does work for the, made-in-the-past, T shirt pattern):

Much as one must often alter a crotch curve (see here) one must also consider the best shape and depth of armhole. I've added about 2 inches of height to the side seam at the underarm and I've narrowed the side seams by about 1/2 inch. Having said this, and you can sort of see it in the first photo, when I reverted to the KS3115 size small, I actually left about 1/3 inch extra seam allowance on the front and back side seams as I wasn't convinced that it wouldn't be too small. (You can see it on the original pattern back piece but, the front piece is a tracing of the original so those seam lines aren't there.)

It seems that I'm slightly larger than a Kwik Sew small, but nowhere near as wide as the Kwik Sew medium - which is quite a bit wider than the small, truth be told. I love that my T shirt sloper corroborated this exactly in its dimensions. How fun is that?

So, I've cut out lots of patterns - T shirts and KS 3115 exercise tops (see tomorrow's post for more deets). It remains to be seen if they fit though, if my t shirt sloper is anything to go by - and I did spend lots of time on it a while ago - then this armhole should give me the look I want without mega-gaping at the front.

Thoughts or feelings??