finished projects

Burda 2015-11-107 high-waisted flare trousers

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It seems like pants / trousers-making is on my secret 2016 SWAP / New Year Resolution list. Maybe I’ll even get around to making a pair of Ginger jean and/or Birkin jean this year WooHoo! But let’s not talk too much of plans lest the rebel in me finds out.

The Pattern

Burda 2015-11-1070-pat-bs201511107-1
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Actually, Burda 2015-11-116 wasn’t the trousers I wanted to make. The one my heart lusted was Burda 2015-11-106, which seems like its knit cousin & features a different closure treatment. But as this is only my second attempt at trouser-making in recent memories, I thought I give tissue-fitting another go. And of course tissues can’t stretch, so there’s no way I’d be able to tissue-fit a pattern designed for stretch woven. (I’m assuming there is slight difference in sizing since the instruction sheets called for different patterns to be traced.) So my logic goes: figure out what standard deviations I have in pants/trousers in general with this pattern for regular woven fabrics, then apply the same to the pattern for stretch wovens. So here goes…

Style Shots & Mug Shots

WORN WITH: 1-2 Refashioned halter top;

WORN WITH: 3 Burda 2015-10-109 sweater; 4 Burda 2012-05-109 top, Zara jacket; 5 Self-drafted raglan T-shirt;

WORN WITH: 6-7 Self-drafted bolero jacket, Burda 2012-05-109 top;

And now a fuller set of mug shots…just to illustrate how difficult it is to know what a good fitting fitted trousers look like. Which wrinkle in what position is acceptable / to be expected and which really shouldn’t be there?

Size Used

36, as recommended by the sizing chart.

Changes Made

I did say I was going to tissue-fit this pair didn’t I? Sorry but I didn’t take any research photos this time. Which is just as well since it didn’t really work that well. Fitting trousers by oneself is just PITA. Fitting fitted trousers with tissue paper is even worse: With only one side of the trouser it’s hard to tell if there’s just enough or it’s a bit anemic or just too much.

I think this first set of fitting photos were taken after the tissue paper tweaks that included:

  • full tummy: increased Front crotch length (at CF to nothing at side seam), & resulting increase in Front dart
  • narrow hip: decreased width at side seam from waist downward
  • torso that’s deeper front-back than side-side: increased Front & Back crotch lengths & scooped Front & Back crotch curves deeper at crotch level
  • wrinkles that points to inner thighs: shifted widths from side seams to inseams.

The result as you can see isn’t great. But by this point the fabric was cut, and even with 1″ seam allowances further tweaks were limited – especially any that involves tilting & removing/adding wedges. So my subsequent attempt trying out bendy-ruler crotch-curve tweak per instruction in Fitting & Pattern Alteration book was limited in scope. Which was just as well since I was too timid to try out the weird protrusion at CF from waist to hip that this method would have me do to accommodate my protruding tummy!

I have to say though, having multiple fitting books confusing distracting me with different miracle cures didn’t really help the fitting process! I tried & untried so many different tweaks along the way that I can’t remember what changes were made at what stage & advised by which books. So as this particular experiment in pants-fitting was rather inconclusive, I’ll spare you most of the gruesome details & skip to my final changes on this wearable muslin…

Final Fitting Changes

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  1. Full Tumy: as above.
  2. Narrow Hip: as above.
  3. Torso deeper Front-Back than Side-Side: added slightly less at inseam than before, also shifted some Front amount to Back so
    that neither angle at the Crotch-Inseam point would be too extreme.
  4. Wrinkles pointing to Inner Thighs: increased amount shifted from side seams to inseams & also increased width added at inseams.
  5. Flat Droopy Bum: decreased Back Crotch Height tapering to nothing at side seam (ie remove horizontal wedge at hip level). Also reshaped
    Crotch & Princess Seam curves above hip to match the hollow in my lower back / high hip so the bum area won’t droop so much & cause more
    wrinkles below the bum. Front darts were also reshaped for the same reason, but I might have over done it a bit – the high waist now feels too tight to breath freely. Oops.
  6. Short legs: shortened at knees instead of at hem for more flattering shaping.
  7. Big Calfs: increased widths below knees at Back Princess Seams. Not sure this has done the trick. Judging from the final mug shots I wonder if perhaps I needed a combination of Prominent Thigh + Hyperextended Knee/Prominent Calf alterations (as shown in Fitting & Pattern Alteration) instead.
  8. Moved Front darts more towards the sides to make the pin-tuck appear straighter. Not sure what body shape deviation caused the problem…

Fabric & Notions Used

Construction Notes

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  • For fly front instruction, I’d recommend look elsewhere. Burda’s instruction was a bit useless because of the number of steps & all the similarly named pieces involved. I ended up referring to my Singer Sewing Pants That Fit book which has clear step-by-step photo instruction. But I complicated things by adding a lining, so some steps could not be performed before the lining was in place. Didn’t realize this at the time, so out with the seam ripper again. Oops. Maybe next time I’ll document the fly front construction as reference for anyone wanting a fly front with french fly shield for lined pants/trousers.
  • Burda instruction on front pleat tuck stitch doesn’t make clear if it should continue to the waistline. I continued mine because it looked better, but this may have contributed to too tight a fit from waist up. Oops.
  • Another oops happened with the hem. You know how they say to try it on with shoe height you’re going to wear with the pants to determine best length? Well I decided I wanted high heel & no break in the front, which meant uneven hem allowance & not enough in my lining. I had to patch on bias facing to the lining hem to hide this booboo.

The Verdict

Overall I have to say this pair is a Fail. While the final result doesn’t look disastrous, there’s definitely room for improvements. But it’s not the wrinkles that bother me the most. It’s not being able to breath in this thing! That and the fact that the pair of shoes I hemmed this for is impossible to walk in.

So I’m considering shortening this pair from both ends – chop off the high waist & shortening the legs…Possibly like these Alexander McQueen creations?5-fix-inspire

Aviator Cap & Convertible Mittens

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Lastly, mopping up the too-big-to-trash scraps of the orange-black double-sided sweater knit are these experiments with an Aviator style hat & a pair of convertible mittens.

Style Shots & Mug Shots

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WORN WITH: 1 Self-drafted mock-wrap skirt, Burda 2015-10-109 sweater, Burda 2013-11-117 jacket;

 

The Cat-ear Aviator Cap

Inspirations, Design, & Pattern

I had collected a bunch of inspirations for Aviator style cap. There was even one planned in my SWAP Fall/Winter 2014, though for a different fabric. The Block shown below was actually developed for that, which of course I haven’t got around to make. So count this make as a wearable muslin? Although this is knit, and the other isn’t, so maybe not so insightful as a muslin. Hmmm…

I had originally considered Burda 2011-10-149 fur cap for that planned faux shearling aviator cap. But because my head is really flat in the crown, I was worried standard hat pattern won’t fit well. RTW hats tend to fly off easily. And a floppy fabric one that mold to the head might just show up my deficiency. So I made my own Block from flattened plastic wrap + clear tape head mold. I added back some extra room in the crown, but not as much as in a standard pattern, just enough to disguise my deficiency slightly.

So how I ended up with ears…Yes I do feel a bit silly wear this. But you frequently see young ones in London & East Asian women in cute knitted animal face hats. I guess ultimately I still have East Asian blood flowing in me. Excuses excuses. In any case I consulted Burda 2011-10-142 animal cap which is a similar hat for children, but ended up going with the Block I already have with added ears. After all this is suppose to be a muslin right?

Fabrics & Notions

Construction Notes

I thought my fabric was thick enough to go single layer. But when I made up the single layer I found the result too floppy & unstable. Oops. So I ended up scavenging for scraps big enough to double all pattern pieces. This mishap did allowed me to hide the seams of the Ears to the cap & the strips of interfacing I used to stabilize the cap circumference & edges. The construction is otherwise unremarkable – apart from the general problems I had with this fabric. The Ears were the first time I tried using Flatlock stitches on a dart. It didn’t come out too bad. So now I don’t have to convert darts into seams – eg princess seams in my reversible skirt – to get shaping when using Flatlock as my primary seaming technique.

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The Convertible Mittens

Inspirations, Design, & Pattern

The mittens are the equivalent of impulse purchase. I had never lust after one. But as it was cold outside, I couldn’t find my gloves, and there was enough scraps left, I thought why not. I settled on mittens because fingers seem too fiddly to sew well in my spongy fabric.

After Googling “mitten sewing patterns” & “convertible mitten sewing patterns” I cobbled together different ideas & made up my own pattern to fit my hands as you can see below. There are probably simpler patterns one can use. But I didn’t want a visible seam line on the back of my hand, so I had to add extra bits like the “Back of Hand Tab”. You may be less fussy if you make one yourself! :@)

 

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Fabrics & Notions

  • Fabric: 2.5 yd Mohair/Acrylic/Nylon Double-sided sweater knit from NY Elegant Fabrics ($59.95/yd)
  • Notions: 1/8″ elastics.

Construction Notes

Construction would probably be easier on the sewing machine. But my overlocker challenged me to flatlock the whole thing & I accepted. OK, I did have to tidy a few bits with hand sewing, and the finishing is a bit on the rough side. But for what would have otherwise been scraps they’re now serviceable mittens for a season or two. So can’t complain.

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The Verdict

Regardless of whether these accessories are your cup of tea, or even mine, it’s quite satisfying to use up all the scraps without having to take up quilting or crafting! The hat – minus the ears – will probably get made again, maybe with chin closures for better practicality, for I haven’t given up on those inspiration images just yet. The mittens probably no, for I prefer gloves. Even as convertibles, they’re not as useful (for using smartphones while keeping hands warm) as I’d hope, because I discovered I actually use my thumbs as well when smartphoning.

So that’s the end of this double-sided fabric. Next up, my second attempt in recent years to make a pair of trousers.

Reversible Burda 2015-10-109 Sweater

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This one snuck in just as I resumed my SWAP Fall/Winter 2014…Because a slouchy pullover seemed so overwhelmingly right for this double-sided sweater knit.

The Pattern

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Burda 2015-10-109
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To be honest I wasn’t entirely sure about this sweater pattern. I can’t decide if it’s ugly or is it cool. The low-lying horizontal styleline might draw too much attention to my low-hanging boob / middle age spread. This + the curved shoulder seams also look a bit American footballer-ish at the same time constrictive – as I’ve learnt from a previous Burda cape project with similar shoulder shaping. But as I’m using a knit, & I’m not afraid to tinker with commercial patterns, I thought I’d give it a go. I can always test with muslin first.

Style Shots & Mug Shots

WORN WITH: 1 TopShop Martha jeans; 2 Self-drafted straight skirt; 3 Re-fashioned gore skirt;

WORN WITH: 4 Burda 2015-03-116 flare trousers; 5 Self-drafted mock-wrap skirt, Burda 2013-11-117 jacket, Self-drafted hat, Self-drafted mittens; 6-7 Self-drafted petticoat skirt; 8 Refashioned straight skirt;

Size Used

34 rather than recommended 36.

Changes Made

With the above doubts in mind, I was merciless with the pattern tweak even before I sewn up the first muslin.

Changes
Muslin take 1
Final wearable muslin
Pattern for wearable muslin
Final pattern for reversible sweater
  1. Shorten Yokes: Initially I remove an equal 2″. But when I made up the muslin, the styleline dip at the biceps & front. So I ended up shortening the front & sides further. Also, raising this seam lines also shortens them. As I was concerned about looking short-waisted & chunky – especially in a thick sweater knit – I opted to slim down the bodices & sleeves to match.
  2. Raise armholes: Again, paranoid looking short, I raised the armholes on the bodice & slim the sleeves the same amount to match so it won’t look like I only have like 3″ of torso.
  3. Forward shoulder adjustment: In the muslin the equivalent of shoulder seams definitely wanted to lie towards the back. So I move the seam slightly towards the Front (widen Back Yoke & narrow Front Yoke).
  4. Flatten shoulder curve: The muslin also shows weird bumps at the biceps as if the sleeves were mis-shapened set-in sleeves. I rather it look like slouchy kimono sleeves. So I flattened the shoulder curves on the Yokes.

For my wearable muslin made in a rather unstable cotton interlock from Tia Knight / Tissu Fabrics I stopped here. For the final reversible sweater I made some minor changes:

  1. For a more slouchy yet elongating look…Lengthened the bodices & sleeves, and exaggerated the high-low hem a bit more. I also smooth the transition of the hem at CF & CB for a less overtly edgy look.
  2. Cut Front & Back bodices on straight-grain on the CF/CB fold. Not sure the bias in the original adds anything if you’re not using a fabric with obvious pattern for that symmetrical chevron look. For mine it would just gobble up precious fabric & leave me not enough for 3 garments + 2 accessories!
  3. Because I want mine to be reversible & my fabric is too thick / spongy to double up, I cut the Yokes off at the fold lines.

Fabric & Notions Used

Construction Notes

  • For the Wearable Muslin I followed Burda’s illustrated instruction exactly. And I kind of regret it. The stay tape on the Back Yoke-Bodice seams feel restrictive when I slouch / reach forward. It may be due to my alterations, I don’t know. Anyway, this step didn’t suited me. So in my final Reversible Sweater I omitted the stay tape on the Front/Back Yoke-Bodice seams.
  • And the obligatory Oops: This would have been a really quick make had I known ahead of time that the zipper wasn’t going to work with my sweater knit. The invisible zip worked fine in my Wearable Muslin (though I don’t seem to ever wear it unzipped). But for some reason the reversible zipper I used for the the final make was too stiff for the fabric. I did put it in, then had to take it out & redo the seam like on the other side. So in the end my Reversible Sweater has a symmetrical funnel neck. And I should have sewn in this order…
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The Verdict

I like the sports lux feel of the final make. It reminds me of Alexander Wang aesthetic. Looking at the photos, I’m still not 100% about the silhouette. But it certainly feels very cozy & comforting to wear! And I got a slouchy-day wearable muslin along the way. I wear that like other non-office-workers wear their sweats. It most certainly is in heavy rotation around here 🙂

I think my fitting/design tweaks worked well.

  • Moving the styleline away from the fullest part of my upper torso was definitely the right thing to do. While my middle is still short & wide (in the side view), at least this sweater isn’t shouting about it.
  • And slimming the bodices & sleeves down in the process was a plus. It still has a ‘Relax-fit’. I can’t imagine how huge this would have been if I hadn’t done this. Maybe the original width would have worked in a drapier fabric. For my fabric however I think this sizing is just about right.
  • Lengthwise I probably have added back most of the length I removed from the Yoke to the hem, except in the CF. This does look a tiny bit short. I might lengthen CF next time. (This could also be due to the fact that I didn’t make any FBA. But I still haven’t decided where I sit when it comes to FBA on a slouchy oversized design – would it make the garment way to big?)

So yeah, overall I think it’s a pattern I could make again – when these two went to garment heaven, or if the perfect fabric comes along.

Reversible Burda 2013-11-117 Jacket

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Next up is the jacket. Because one was planned in my SWAP Fall/Winter 2014 even though I ended up using neither of the pattern candidates & was perfectly willing to sacrifice the idea of a jacket when I decided maybe a pull-over would suit this fabric better. I was lucky my frugal layout allowed me to squeeze in a Burda 2013-11-117 jacket which I had made once before.

The Pattern

0-pat-jacket-BS2013-11-117_1Burda 2013-11-117

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Style Shots & Mug Shots

WORN WITH: 1 Self-drafted mock-wrap skirt; 2 Self-drafted pencil skirt, Burda 2012-05-109 top; 3 Self-drafted petticoat skirt; 4 Self-drafted mock-wrap skirt, Burda 2015-10-109 sweater, Self-drafted hat, Self-drafted mittens;

Size Used

34 rather than recommended 36.

Changes Made

My starting point this time is the altered Burda 2013-11-117 I used for the Teal + Brown Floral Print Reversible Moto Jacket. To recap, part from modifying the bodice to fit my torso better, I also eliminated the peplum waist seams & changed the sleeve fit to a more conventional jacket sleeve look rather than the extra long & tighter fit of the Burda design. More details about these fitting alterations in this post.

Fitting changes
  1. The fit of that Teal/Brown jacket was a little bit off in the back neckline with a bump of fabric just below the CB neckline. Seems like the CB was too long & back neckline too wide.  Removing the equivalent of a vertical CB neckline dart + horizontal fish-eye dart seems to fix this (see photo illustrations above). The back neckline in the collar areas of the Center Fronts were shortened to match.
  2. The back collar wasn’t sitting right, exposing the back neckline seam. Pivoting at the shoulder-neck point & effectively increasing the length of the outer / bottom edge of the collar seems to fix this.
  3. Although the waistline is technically correct where it was, my low-hanging boobs & short-torso above waist make this placement look unbalanced. My intention to lengthen the bodice got lost in the piles of pattern alterations, so I had to extend the narrowest bit of the bodice down a bit instead. Still look a bit off though.
  4. Narrowed back waist a little bit for a less-boxy fit.
Design changes
  1. Zip closure on both sides

Fabric & Notions Used

Construction Notes

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  • Again, apart from the general sewing problems I had with this fabric, the other main tricky bit are the zipper princess seams. I did these the same way I put in the zipper on the skirt – with mock flatlock seams that are essentially overlocked edges to fake the flatlock look, then zipper & princess seams assembled with hand fell-stitches. The rest again is fairly straightforward, though the shoulder – back neckline – shoulder seams were much harder to flatlock than the teal / brown jacket because of the spongy fabric.
  • And the Oops?
    • Well, I forgot that the two zippers should be one on each side of the reversible jacket. I was so smug having neatly inserted both zippers on the orange side – it looked so satisfyingly symmetrical. Thank God I basted & tried on & discovered I couldn’t zip both zippers this way. Rip & redo time!
    • The other drama came in form of zipper tape choice. Originally I was going to use the tape from Quest Outfitter’s waterproof one-way separating zipper. This has one presentable shiny side which I thought could do away with the need for something to hide the zipper tape & finish the collar edge on the reverse (black) side. Unfortunately separating tapes always has the slider on the left side of the teeth. So I couldn’t reverse it & still get the same look for left & right sides of the jacket. I had to go back to a standard separating tape that looks the same on both sides of the tape and petersham ribbon to cover the zipper tape / finish the collar edge on the revers (black) side. All this added lots of extra waiting time &  shipping costs. Bah.

The Verdict

It’s OK. I would have liked the jacket a little bit longer. And I was all out of ideas in terms of styling. But I know I’ll wear it plenty. Just like I wore the Teal/Brown version plenty. It’s so comfy without the usual tailoring that goes into a standard jacket. And it’s got just the right amount of lux (thanks to the fabric) & edge (thanks to the pattern) to keep me happy.

But I think next time I want a biker style jacket I might try a new pattern. Two of  this huge collar one are probably enough for a while. Maybe when these two are ready to go to garment heaven then I might make this pattern again.

Reversible Muppet Mock-Wrap Skirt

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Let’s start with the one that actually sort of went according to plan shall we?

Style Shots & Mug Shots

WORN WITH: 1 Self-drafted raglan T-shirt; 2 Self-drafted ruched-bust T-shirt;

WORN WITH: 3 Zara blouse, Self-drafted detachable-sleeve jacket; 4 Burda 2015-10-109 sweater, Burda 2013-11-117 jacket, Self-drafted hat, Self-drafted mittens; 5 Self-drafted ruched-bust T-shirt, Burda 2013-11-117 jacket;

WORN WITH: 6 Burda 2013-02-121 Sweater; 7 Refashioned sweater; 8 Burda 2012-09-123 T-shirt;

The Inspiration, Design & Pattern

Inspiration & Design:

So this was supposed to be sewn for SWAP Fall/Winter 2014 . The starting point was the sweater knit. I was feeling rebellious & wanted biker chic…pencil skirt, front slit/vent, asymmetry, exposed zipper…AND reversible.  That was the vague idea. The devil was in the details. What exactly did I wanted & how can I make it happen. Here are some of the inspirations I collected…

- SWAP2014aw-1I ended up with this when I planned the SWAP – a princess line wrap pencil skirt with asymmetric hem. Princess line because to make it reversible with a single layer of fabric, I settled on flatlock seams & overlocked hems. And I then had to ruled out darts because I wasn’t sure they’d look good in my spongy fabric with flatlock seams. Wrap skirt because I ruled out simple side front slit as being too risqué.

When I actually started drafting the pattern this year, I was inspired by the reddish brown Reiss wrap skirt above to omit the princess line on the front overlap piece, and utilise the unsewn dart to exaggerate the asymmetry.

Block Used:

Princess Seam Pencil Skirt Block, which was derived from my 1-Dart Pencil Skirt Block.

Design Changes Made

  1. Eliminated CB seam & redistribute the dart allowance to Back Princess Seams & Side Seams.
  2. Reduced the ease at Back Princess Seams in the Hip area. The knit is puffy already. I might as well take advantage of its stretch property & go for a more streamlined silhouette, especially since I don’t have the booty to do that ease justice.
  3. Left Front is two-piece with a princess seam: 1 CF piece + 1 Side Front piece. This is the top flap when worn with black side out. As the flap closure will be a simple hook & bar at the waist, the flap edge on CF is extended straight up rather than curve along the waist dart so the flap will hang straight.
  4. Right Front is one-piece spanning 1 CF piece & 1 Side Front piece. This is the top flap when worn with orange side out. The flap closure on this side is the exposed zipper, which extends down to just below the hip. So the flap edge can incorporate the waist dart curve.
  5. The hem is raised all around from Left Front flap edge to Right Front side seam, then slopes down to create asymmetric hem in the front.
  6. To remove the gap in the waist created by the Right Front’s lack of waist dart, I pivoted it clockwise. I’m a bit fuzzy about the logic, but I think the dart wedge is moved to the hem (see the triangle formed by the thin red solid line & dotted line in the left bottom of the last pattern illustration above), but shows up as a slanted gap opening up from zipper bottom downward. Anyway, this pivot exaggerates the asymmetric hem further.
  7. 2-steps-d The OOPS: Originally the waist also had an asymmetric front created by step 7. But after I sewn the skirt up & tried it on, I changed my mind. It just didn’t work because my choice of overlocked waist edge, messy zipper stop finishing, and an initially over-tight petersham waist facing on the black side. The leveled black side waist looked better. So I redesign the waist to have level waistline on both orange & black sides by chopping off the blue bits in the pattern illustrations above.
  8. Finally, the seam allowances, urgh, the seam allowances. Most were straightforward once I decided on the seaming technique: For the flatlock seams I use 1/8″ seam allowances so that the 1/4″ flatlock stitches is centred on the seamline. The overlocked hems needed no hem allowances. The problem is the exposed zipper. This did my head in. How much to deduct for the width of the exposed zipper – ie where are the seams exactly. Then how much to add back for the seam allowance. How to do this so the transition to the vent looks tidy on the orange size & hides the zipper altogether on the black side. I ended up sticking to the 1/8″ SA for the Left Front princess seam, then moved the seam line on Right Front just over 1/4″ inward (towards CF) giving me this amount for the exposed zipper. I added back this amount for the seam allowance along the zipper, then 1/4″ hem allowance for the overlocked hem edge below the zipper.

Fabric & Notions Used

Construction Notes

Apart from the general sewing problems I had with this fabric, and the waistline design Oops mentioned above, the only other tricky bit is the zipper princess seam / vent. I wanted the zipper to be hidden on the black side, which means the tape had to be trim down to fit into the 1/4″ flatlock seam. I wasn’t confident I could flatlock this, especially as the overlocker’s foot is a bit wide. So I had to fake the flatlock alongside the zipper by overlocking the fabric pieces separately, then baste the CF + zipper + SF, then hand fell-stitch the fake flatlock in place on both the orange & black sides. The Left Front princess seam below the zipper I ended up flatlocking because I couldn’t be bothered to do more hand sewing than is necessary, and it’s neater by machine.

The rest are fairly straightforward & most of the steps are illustrated in the above construction photos. Not shown is the waist finishing. This is just tiny hem allowance turned to the black side & covered by the petersham ribbon which is fell-stitched in place along the top & bottom. It’s my standard skirt waist finishing for skirts without a waistband.

The Verdict

Well, MR isn’t a fan of the Muppet orange side. And I was tending to agree with him…until this photoshoot where I ended up having more fun & styling ideas for the orange side than the black side.

It’s also a really warm skirt. Maybe a tad too warm. Except from the exposed knee down. But when worn with tights the Front bunches up most ungracefully. Static perhaps? So I can’t really wear this until I make myself a half-slip.

And as we’re on the impractical / unearthy wavelength, please indulge me another hippy style shot, the result of mucking about with a new app on my phone called PicsArt.

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