Mixing Patterns

Mixing fabrics has to be one of my favorite things about sewing. These fabrics were part of a Michael's Fabrics mailer from not too long ago. They are a stripe and a plaid woven on the same scale from the same yarns. They set my mind whirring. This shirt is sort of similar to a Comme Des Garcons menswear shirt that I saw at the Dover Street Market in London maybe a year ago. I used a pattern from Burda 9/09, 105. If you look up the pattern, you will be struck by the lack of resemblance between my blouse and the one in the magazine, but it is the same general shape.

Shirt Back


Cuff


Cuff


Showing off my stripe matching


Sneaker embroidery on the inside of the collar stand. It would look better if I had made the sneaker grey or something and just made the laces red. I wonder if I will ever be able to put that knowledge to use in any way?


This illustrates the changes I made to the front pattern piece. The outline is the Burda piece with a small FBA. The curvy line is the new cutting line. The vertical lines are the stripes on the fabric, which I want to line up.


Here are the front and back pattern pieces after I cut them. I closed the dart in the front because I basically have a princess seam now. I took the yoke shaping in the back and put that shaping in the back princess seam.

My explanations are really bad, but you might be able to see some of my process from the photos.

Trouser Comments

Nancy K said...
Very nice. People wonder why more men don't sew, well what exactly should they sew if there are so few patterns? I'll have to look for that one. Did you make these with traditional waistband?

Thanks. Actually, I meant to write about the waistband. Thanks for reminding me. They do have a traditional (rectangular) waistband. It is faced with a lighter fabric. The bit I wanted to write about is the interfacing. I used Ban Roll, which I have never used before. I've wanted to use it for a while, but all the trousers and skirts that I make for myself have shaped waistbands, which don't work with Ban Roll. It's really stiff, and you can shape the fabric around it nicely. I'm afraid, though, that the fabric will rub off after several washes, exposing this very plastic-y interfacing.



Lily said...
Hehe you'll look like Posh and Becks if you go around wearing matching pants!

Bernie and I have so much in common with Posh and Becks! They're coming round for tea later in the week. But, alas, I have forbidden him to wear his tweed trousers on the same day that I wear mine.

Trousers for DH

DH's birthday was, oh, 3 weeks ago now, and on his actual birthday, I got the brilliant idea that I should make him some trousers. So of course I had to finish the project that I was working on first, then start these trousers. He admired the tweed trousers that I made for myself, and I had some of the fabric left, so I used it for a pair of mens' trousers.

For a pattern, I went through my BWOF's, and I got all the way back to 9/2001 before I found mens work trousers! Wow, they really don't have many mens patterns in Burda.

the side-back view


I embroidered a polar bear inside the waistband. I photographed it before putting it in the trousers.

Velvet trouser questions

Cindy said...
I love the fabric that you used. I would love to make something in velvet but stop when I look at the all the types of velvets...poly, cotton, rayon,silk...since I have only looked online, I can't touch them! Would you recommend home dec cotton velvet for jackets and bottomweight? And poly/silk/rayon for dresses? Sorry for hitting you with these questions!

Hmm, velvet would be a very tough fabric to buy online. For starters, I would never buy a home dec fabric online if I were planning on using it for apparel. Lots of home dec fabrics have a scratchy backing that feels like glue or something, which would be unbearable against the skin. I bought the velvet I used at Designer's Guild on King's Road in London, which I'm sure is not helpful at all. I used the same velvet in different colors here and here.

A cotton velveteen would be nice for trousers, but the velvet I used is much plusher and has more sheen than a velveteen. I'm not sure how easy it would be to find a velvet with a cotton backing and rayon pile, which it what I used. The poly/silk/rayon velvets would not be suitable for tailored trousers, but would be great for more flowing trousers. I guess my advice about buying velvet online would be, get a swatch. There are so many different weights and drapes to velvet that it would be impossible to tell from a photo if it would be good for your project.




sharon said...
...ease the back at the inseam" Does that mean that the front inseam is shorter than the back inseam? By how much?

If the pattern is drafted to ease the back inseam, it will say "ease" on the pattern tissue on the back piece at the upper part of the inseam. There will be notches or circles on the pattern tissue, as well, and you can match up the symbols in the front and back and shrink the back to fit. If you fail to do this, you will still be able to wear the trousers, but you really should do it if the pattern is drafted that way.

Clothes to wear right now

The cold continues, so I'm still in love with the pleated trouser in winter fabric look. For this project, I used the same pattern as my tweed trousers, this time in a home dec velvet. The backing is cotton, but the pile must be rayon, because it has more sheen than you would get from cotton.

I took some photos of the back of the trousers, as well, but you don't need to see them. However, in looking at the photos, I saw that the drag lines in the back of the tweed trousers are not present in these velvet ones. I realized that the pattern is drafted to ease the back piece at the inseam, which I did not do for the tweed trousers. I did it for these, and hey, no drag lines!

I tried them on with heels for the photo, but I'm not sure if they will be everyday wear or special trousers. They are machine washable, and they have a deep hem so I can roll them up to wear with flats.

I embroidered a plaice inside the waistband.

Fox Stole

When I was a kid, there was this old lady who went to our church who would occasionally wear a fox stole. It was made up of several small foxes with heads, feet and all, and they were arranged in a circle with tails in the mouths of the other foxes. They had glass eyes. It may just be the most fascinating garment that I have ever seen, and it was always a treat to sit behind her in church.

A couple of weeks ago, I came across this etsy seller who is selling knit scarves modeled after the kind of stole that I remember brightening up my childhood churchgoing. If she comes across this blog, I hope she does not mind me taking her idea. I just had to have one, and I thought it would be fun to make my own.

My rendition is made from wool melton on the top, and silk organza on the bottom and inside the mouth. They are held together with hooks in the mouth and eyes on the tail. I embroidered eyes and paws. I drafted the pattern, such as it is, on my own. One tip for drafting a pattern like this one: draw it on a piece of paper in a size that you can handle, then take it to the copy shop to enlarge, if necessary. It's easier to keep the proportions under control that way.


one around the neck


two wrapped around twice


Here they are unhooked from one another. I used a different camera lens, which is why it looks like it is a different color.

hooks in the mouth

Pleated Tweed Trousers

Boy, is it cold here in New Jersey. It's time for some lined wool trousers

I try not to keep an extensive fabric stash, but this fabric has been in my pile for at least 5 years. Near as I can tell, it is a wool/linen blend. I love it, but I could never come up with quite the right project for it. Enter Sherlock Holmes, the movie, which I saw last weekend. This fabric is very Sherlock Holmes.

For a pattern, I used Burda 11/09 111, lengthened. It is part of their Folklore series. It seems like, a few years ago, I used to laugh at all the Folklore styles. Now I seem to be making quite a few of them. I wonder if they changed or if I did?


Here is the back. I did not notice the drag lines before I looked at this photo. I may adjust for them the next time I make a pair of Burda trousers.


For the zipper, I used the "Cut-On Fly Shield" directions in David Page Coffin's new "Making Trousers" book. It's a really good method, resulting in many fewer layers of fabric than I generally wind up with when inserting a fly zipper.

I underlined the front with China silk, which is a tight weave, and may help prevent the trousers from bagging at the knees. I underlined the back with silk georgette. I chose georgette because it has some give to it, and you need some give in the back of trousers for sitting and bending.


I'm trying to improve my embroidery skills. I bought a couple of books with small embroidery motifs, and I'm going to put a small embroidery in everything I make from now on. This one turned out fairly clumsy, but my skills will improve with practice.