Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Cargo Capris - Burda 7991

I was so excited to finish wedding season that I sewed these pants for myself the Monday after Lindsey's wedding.

I've had terrible luck with pants patterns in the past, so I decided to give Burda a try and test out "The Pattern that Fits".  I measure a size 18, so I checked the finished garment measurements to see if they would be huge, like so many other patterns.  I was pleasantly surprised that there was not a ridiculous amount of ease in the hips (less than 2", and that's including the pleats in the front).  I decided to be brave and cut a straight 18.  As I was sewing, I was being cautious, and I was ready to do any alterations if the need arose. I didn't have to change one. single. thing.  I think Burda may have won over another fan.  
Burda 7991
I love these pants!  I've had my eye on this pattern for a long time.  I bought it ages ago for $1.99 in a bin of patterns at Fabricland.  I loved the design so much, I planned out at least 3 pairs of capris.  When this pair fit perfectly, I was thrilled.  


I wanted to add some pizzaz to the back pockets, so I copied the stitching design from a pair of my jeans.  Turned out rather well, I think!
One thing I love about these pants is the pocket yokes.  I've never had this feature in any pants I've made before, and I love it.  It keeps your pockets from flipping the wrong way, and it makes the front fit nice and smooth under the pleats.  I'm going to incorporate this into every pair of pants I make from now on.  Genius!
The only thing that I kinda sorta dislike about this pattern is the placement of the back pockets.  They're a little low.  They don't look that bad, now that I've gotten used to them, but I moved them up 1 1/4" for my next pair.

In my excitement after finishing these, I cut out my second pair the next day.  I have them half done.  I'm kinda glad I didn't finish them right away, because after wearing my first pair for a few weeks, I've decided that I'm not a big fan of the waistband.  I'm going to use a contour waistband instead.


I love the snaps they used on the pattern picture, and I just happened to have access to the very same snaps at my dad's upholstery shop.
I'm a very happy girl!  This is the first thing I've made for myself since I snuck in 2 pairs of PJ pants for myself at Christmas amongst the 13 pairs I decided to whip up for Christmas gifts.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Lindsey's Wedding - July 24, 2010

I was so excited to see everyone dressed up, and everything finished!  I loved the accessories that the girls picked.  Dangly earrings, silver bracelets, and white sandals that complemented the ribbon embroidery perfectly.
Danielle
 Since Andrew wasn't around, Courtney volunteered to model his outfit for us.
Courtney
 I was thrilled with how the back of Courtney's top turned out.  Love love love it!

Marla
 Lindsey, you looked absolutely stunning!  I loved the green eyeshadow.  It set everything off.

 I love this random shot of the 3 girls in the frantic moments before they rushed out of the house.
 And the moment finally arrived...


 Lindsey's dad walked her down the aisle.
 I love the back!  It fits so smoothly, and the hem was the perfect length to gently sweep along behind her.
 I especially liked seeing the 3 girls together.  Our different design choices look so good next to each other.
 A happy bride...
 Lindsey, thank you for letting me be a part of your big day!

Lindsey's Wedding - The Little Things

This is my last post before the grande finale of the Wedding Day Post.  These are some of the little things.  I got one shot of Lindsey and each of her bridesmaids in various fitting stages.  They're all really cute, so I thought I'd share them here.
Lindsey & Courtney
Lindsey & Danielle
Lindsey & Marla
I made a green satin vest for Lindsey's son, Andrew, who is almost 2.  Can I just say how much I love sewing kid's clothes?  It took me longer to fiddle with the buttonholes than to sew the vest (well, not exactly, but you get my drift).  I cut a size 2, using the size 3 shoulder lines, so it would be a smidge longer.
Butterick 6894
I only used the satin for the front pieces.  The rest of it was made from cotton broadcloth.  Isn't it cute?  Notice how small it is.  It's approximately 12" wide.  Aw...
This is the only shot of Andrew that I managed to get on the wedding day.  I didn't get to see it on him before, but from what I can tell, it fits pretty good!
Lindsey's garter was the very last thing I made.  I'm not a very fast sewer, so I was shocked to discover that it only took me 15 minutes to make this!  I should go into business making garters...
 And of course, I had to try it on.  Tee hee!
 And, last but not least, this is what my shower curtain looked like when everything was done.  That's a lot of stuff!  Phew, I'm pooped...

Lindsey's Bridesmaids - Danielle

Danielle's top was inspired by the asymmetrical one-shouldered top from McCall's 4451.  This was a very loose fitting, woven design, and just for fun, I whipped up a muslin.  It was ick.
McCall's 4451
I decided to take the safer route, and I used Vogue 9675 instead.  I made a few changes to view C to obtain the design we were looking for.  We didn't like the asymmetrical hemline from the McCall's top, so instead, we decided to do some ruching on the hips like Courtney's top.  We did like the gathered shoulder seam, so I added an inch and a half to the neckline edge, and an inch to the armhole edge.  I made the pattern longer from the waist to the hips to accomodate the ruching, and I also eliminated the waist seam.
Vogue 9675
This is what I ended up with.  Pretty cute, right?
I tried it on Danielle, and I pinned the gathers at the shoulder to see what it would look like.  It fit really well, but I had to let it out at the hips.
I had one previous fitting with Danielle.  I went over the design details of the top with her, and I pinned the green cotton skirt muslin on her.  By now, I was confident enough in the fit of the skirt that I finished all the seams and put in the zipper right away.  It fit perfectly.
 For her next fitting, I put the waistband on the skirt, and I let out the hips of the top. 
 I checked the hem of her skirt to prep it for the hem and the addition of the tulle to the lining.
This is what the top looked like when I finished it.  I trimmed the neck and armholes with a folded strip of stretch satin cut with the crosswise stretch.  Works better than bias tape!
 Here's a close-up of the ruching at the side seams by her hips.
 This is the gathering at the shoulder seam.
Now that everything fit, it was time for me to switch gears and go full tilt on all the skirts.  I had to add tulle to Courtney and Danielle's skirts, and sew the ribbon embellishment on all 3.
Lindsey and I went over a few ideas as to how the ribbon embellishment should look, and this is a sketch of what we were working on.
My mom had this design in her digital scrapbooking database, and Lindsey and I agreed that it was perfect for the ribbon embellishment.
I blew up the image onto 11x14 paper, and I positioned it on the lower right side of the skirt front.  I traced the design using my tracing wheel.  (Throughout this process, I've learned that delicate white fabrics don't need coloured tracing paper.  You can see the lines from the tracing wheel by themselves.)  I had done a test with the fabric and ribbon and discovered that I could make faint pencil marks and they would hide under the ribbon.
The ribbon was sheer in the center, so I could see the marks through it.  I used my stitch ripper to fold the ribbon under my presser foot as I went around the corners.
 This is what it looks like on the skirt.  Pretty cool, hey?  I love it.
I felt like I was in a skirt factory.  Kinda shows how much work it really is to make 3 bridesmaids dresses!
Lindsey wanted to add some flowers and leaves from the lace from her dress.  I hand sewed them in place, and put a big green bead in the center of each flower.  Aren't they gorgeous?