Parasol trousers

First garment sewn from my MakeNine list for 2019 was these Parasol trousers from Ensemble patterns. The pattern also contains a jump suit pattern, but that's not something I can see myself wearing. I really like the style of the trousers though with the wide legs, the side pockets and the high waist without a waistband. The trousers have no side seams they are instead constructed with a seam at the center of the leg, both in the back and in the front.

I used an old black twill with some stretch, probably bought from Stoff & Stil some years ago. I have realized, however, that the fabric is not the best, especially not in black since it attracts all lint and dust in the surroundings - lets just say that I'm glad I don't have any hairy pets :)

I sewed up a size 6 and graded down one size in the waist. Initially had some serious problems with a lot of extra fabric in the back leg giving strange drag lines from the front hip back to the knee. Got rid of some of it by doing a fish eye dart adjustment in the back, so the fit now is ok I think. The fit in the waist and the hips are is better than expected. I also adjusted the crotch length a bit by lowering the crotch seam about 1 cm and took in the front inner seam about 1.5 cm.

I struggled a lot with the fit and also had some problems with the instructions, but I learned a lot and they turned out ok int the end. 

Jeans and sweaters!

Now when the new year has started and plans for it are in the making, it might be a good idea to first sum up the makings during the autumn.

The jeans making continued, with a pair out of the same pattern as the black ones I made earlier this year. The fabric for these are a stretch twill from Stoff & Stil (if I remember correctly, it has been in my stash for a few years or so). The colour is a bit lighter in real life than in the photos. The jeans turned out ok, but I need to tweak the fit some more, or maybe try another jeans pattern the next time. They still fit a hundred times better than any store bought jeans though, just the fact that there's no gaping at the waist mean I can wear them without a belt :)

I've also made two sweaters, the first one is a wearable muslin. The pattern is more or less self drafted, I started off with an ordinary t-shirt pattern. Modified it as follows:
- Widened the bodice 2,5 cm at each side, giving a total of 10 cm all around
- Lowered the shoulder point 2 cm and redrew the armscye by lowering it a total of 4 cm
- Modified the sleeve to fit the armscye, by widening it 3 cm and modifying the shoulder seam.
- Shortened the bodice length 7 cm.
The fabric used is some strange jersey knit that I've had in my stash forever, donated to me from my grandma.
The sleeves and bodice were just folded up and hemmed. For the neckline I used a grey stretch cotton for the inside since the main fabric is a bit itchy.

Last make was a chunky knit sweater in the same pattern as the grey one. This fabric has also been lingering in my stash for 10 years, I bought it during a work trip to Kuwait. It's probably some kind of polyester, but it's warm and cosy and the colours fit perfectly with the jeans above :)
Sewing with this kind of chunky knit was new to me and it was difficult to get a nice finish of the seams. I used a zig-zag stitch for the seams and a tre-step zig-zag for the hems. I first tried to just fold up the hem and stitch it, but that made the hem way to wide and wavy. Unpicked it and used a rib knit at the inside of the hem to hold it in place and that turned out much better.

Summer sewing

Now that the summer is coming to an end it's time to sum up what was made sewing wise. This summer was the warmest since at least 1756 here in Stockholm, and that did call for summer clothes.
I continued this years pants-sewing with two pair of shorts, both from the same pattern,  Burdastyle, no 3/2011. The original pattern has side seem pockets but I modified them for the second pair to more jeans style pockets. The first pair was made in a thinner denim that has been in my stash forever and the second pair was made in a plaid linen/cotton mix bought from Stoff&Stil last year.
I sewed a size 38 and graded out to size 40 over the hips. The fit is in general good, but the back crotch seem might need some modification. They have been worn a lot, and was really well worth the effort.

I've also sewn two tops. Both are made in viscose jersey and the patterns are from Ottobre design. The short sleeved top with a V-neck is from no. 2/2014 and the the tank top is from no. 5/2017.
I sewed a size 38 in both tops, with no modifications. I had som troubles with getting the gathering around the V-neck looking good, and the V-neck could have been a little bit deeper but it's still perfectly ok. The tank top is with side panels, that really doesn't show in this snake jersey, but could probably be good for some colour blocking. It also gives a more figure hugging fit which I like for tank tops. The only thing I would change if I make it again is to make the armscye a bit deeper. The pattern might also be a good candidate for sewing some active wear tops.

Now I've started planning for some autumn sewing, but have no concrete plans at the moment. I would really like to make some sort of outer wear, more jeans are always needed and of course warmer tops and sweaters. Decisions, decisions ...

Night gowns for a little lady

I sewed a "sleeping dress" for this little lady for Christmas and she has since then refused to sleep in anything else so I was asked if I could make some more of these, and of course I could :)
I used the same pattern as for the last one, from Ottobre 6/2015, and found some fabric in the stash that was left from earlier projects. This time I kept the full length of the dress since she has grown some and it worked out perfectly.

 The length is just perfect for hiding the toes :)

Landerpants!

So, I've made another pair of pants! This time something completely different to the two pair of jeans I've made earlier this year.

I fell in love with the Landerpants from TrueBias as soon as I saw the pattern, but was a bit uncertain about how they would fit me and if I would like wearing that style.
I bought a nice linen fabric from Korps at the last Syfestival and it was perfect for these pants. The pockets and waistband are lined with a cotton fabric from Nano Iro that was lurking in my stash.
I did a few alterations to the pattern, starting at a size 8 and grading in at the waist both at the side seams and center back. Widened the legs at the outer side seam a bit over the thighs. No alterations to the crotch curve. Changed the shape of the waistband to a curved band, and put two belt loops in the center back.
Super happy with the fit, even if it's not perfect. Things I might change if I make another pair - or maybe a pair of shorts - are: shortening the front crotch a bit, take in the waist even more especially in the back. Maybe by increasing the darts a bit, I left them untouched this time. The back rise is also a tiny bit to high, a swayback adjustment could maybe take care of that.
Really nice and comfy summer pants that I hope will be used a lot!

Another pair of jeans!

Since the last pair of jeans I made did fit really well I was encouraged to make yet another pair!
The pattern this time is also from Ottobre design, but another issue (5/2012). These have a much more slim fit than the other ones, but a more straight leg. The fabric is a stretch black jeans denim that has been in my stash for at least a few years.

I chose a size 40, and then did some modifications to the pattern to get a better fit, the most important ones being adding some width at the outer hips/thighs and took in at least one size at the waist. One more modification was reducing the length of the inner back seam about 1 cm by lowering the crotch curve, according to a tips to get rid of excess fabric under the seat according to a fitting tips from Closet Case Patterns, and it improved the fit compared to the muslin. I still have som strange wrinkles above the knee at the back leg, but it will have to do.

 This time I also added rivets to get the complete jeans look :)

Finlayson in wool

Time to blog about this winter wooly sweater I made for my husband a while ago. The pattern is the Finlayson sweater from Thread Theory design and the fabric is a soft but a bit thicker merino wool, unfortunately I don't remember where I bought it, the hood is lined in a cotton jersey.

I made size M and the fit is good without any modifications. The only problems I had was that my sewing machine was not handling double layers of the fabric that well, but in the end it turned out ok anyway.

This is the second pattern I've used from Thread Theory Design and I like them a lot, it's not that easy to find patterns for menswear!