Black Sabrina Slims Leggings

More basics…I haven’t made a pair of Love Notions Sabrina Slims for several years. But I have lots of them, mostly in print knits. I have one pair in charcoal grey – but I needed a black pair. I’m in a solid color mood:-)

This is a wonderful pattern. The line art:

So many options, but I just sew the plain pair. What I absolutely love is the high and wide contour waistband. I cannot stand having to hitch up a pair of leggings!

Since it’s been a while since I posted these, a few sewing notes:

• After my adjustments, my pattern is probably the size 12.
• I widened the front leg about 3/8″ below my knee on the outside edge to prevent clinging and a forward twist. This works for my calves, but no calves are alike 🙂
• I added 3″ to the length. This lets me do my hem based on my fabric and how it fits.
• On all my knit pants, I insert the elastic through an opening in the back waistband seam.

• The elastic… I buy 2″ x 12 yard rolls of knit elastic from Wawak. Did you know you can cut/narrow knit elastic, and it won’t ‘run’. Love this stuff, it’s the only elastic I use.
• Finishing the waistband so it won’t roll… well, this is personal choice. I pull up my elastic about 1/2″ tighter than I need. Then I finish with a line of zig zag stitching, which loosens the elastic a bit. Absolutely no roll ever!

Love these – I’m wearing them with a self-drafted sharkbite hem tunic. Both the leggings and the top are sewn in a terrific Fabric Merchants cotton/lycra jersey (96%/4%) that I found at Fabric.com.  It’s the best jersey I’ve used in ages, very affordable, and much nicer than anything I’ve purchased from Girl Charlee. Yes, that’s a recommendation.

Bye for now! Coco

Sarouel pants – rainy day fun

Ha! what a day. It’s been raining here for 13 days. Lots of rain. So much that I had to go out in the garden and move leaves to allow water to flow past my porch. These pics, well, wet shirt and hair, definitely no makeup.

But I really have had fun with this project. I’ve been scoping sarouel pants for some time, because they’re a bit funky and look so comfortable. Plus, my son wants some!

Could not find a pattern (do you have one?), so I worked with some things I found on Pinterest (a link here).  

Here’s my first draft, using a tie-dye rayon/lycra knit I was willing to sacrifice. The base pattern is my version of  Love Notions Sabrina Slims, because I wanted the pants to be at my natural waist, not low-rise hip-hop:

My pants, with no waistband, were awful! I had an udder at the crotch and sufficient room in the front and back for a hand of bananas. That’s about as nicely as I can describe it 🙂

So, I added the waistband and pared away the crotch excess as needed. I hope I can remember the changes, because these are the most comfortable pants I’ve ever made!!

I’m wearing them now, I wore them out to the market, I might not take them off.

Awesome! Ciao – Coco

PJ play…

Girls just want to have fun 🙂

What could be better than warm jammies with big flowers? It’s in the 60’s today, heading down down all week. I know that doesn’t sound cold, but to someone accustomed to temps in the 80’s, it is!

As with my previous PJs (here), this set is a combo of Love Notions Sabrina Slims and a modified Wiksten tank top. The fabric is cotton/rayon/spandex jersey from Girl Charlee, and it included a small disappointment – a hole about 4″ from a selvedge edge. I was able to work around it, but it bugged me.

The challenge was avoiding a big flower on each of the girls, resolved by putting one front and center instead. No other print matching attempted!

I’m starting one more set today…

Parting shot, I love getting these notifications (fabric of course).

Wishing all a happy and joyful 2018! Coco

Trying double-brushed poly/spandex knit!

Now that’s a long title!

I’ve never used this fabric before, mostly because it just sounds warm. Actually, it’s really similar to poly/lycra ITY knit – smooth, thin hand, nice drape, and no wrinkles.

It seemed perfect for a pair of Love Notions Sabrina Slim, my favorite legging pattern (here).

For this pair, I went down a size, to a 12. If I went by my measurements, I would use size 10, but I don’t wear skin-tight pants, so the 12 is perfect.

Fabric from Cali Fabrics

I’m also wearing one of my favorite tops, New Look 6323. It has the prettiest back…

As with my previous versions, I modified the leggings to drop straight down from just above the knee. This prevents any twist in the lower leg, and I just like the way it looks. I also added 1″ to the 30″ hem line.

One of the nicest features of this pattern is the wide (2″) contour waistband. Beautiful fit.

Some thoughts on using 2″ elastic:

• I use knit elastic, which I order in 12 yd rolls from Wawak (here). I love knit elastic! It lays flat when it’s stretched, and it can be trimmed to a more narrow width with no raveling or fraying. This roll is a great bargain, compared to small yardage packs.
• I leave the waistband facing seam open, and insert the elastic there, after the entire band is serged to the pants. BTW, this is how I insert elastic for everything.

Bottom line: IMO, this is great fabric – it’s washes beautifully, is easy to sew, and has vibrant color. And it’s no warmer than, e.g., ITY knit 🙂

Bye for now – Coco

 

New PJs – essential sewing!

At last, cool weather has arrived. For those of us in south Florida, that means night temperatures in the fifties. Not cold! But what a difference. Our dry season has begun, with lower humidity and the beautiful temperate days that bring so many people to Florida for the winter. Best of all – open windows, fresh air, and no A/C!

I get the urge to sew new PJs in the fall and in the spring. I’m wearing these as I write, and I might not take them off until next year! It’s my only matching ‘winter’ PJ set – I admit that most of my PJs are collection of T-shirts and leggings that have been downgraded from the closet to the drawer 🙂 Terrible… and I plan to grit my teeth and do something about that! Soon.

The top is a modified Wiksten tank, and bottoms are Love Notions Sabrina Slims.

 

These are two great patterns that I’ve used over and over. The Wiksten top is designed for woven fabrics, and I’ve sewn some cute sleeveless versions in simple cottons, but it works beautifully with knits as well.

In a totally different direction, I just finished a nightgown that’s pretty enough to wear all day. I’m so in love with this rayon challis print from Cali Fabrics.

The gown is a mix of elements – I used a favorite bodice sloper, with a 1.5″ wide waistband (it’s faced on the inside), and a gathered skirt that’s simply a 50″w x 38″l rectangle.  

When I wear this, I match my house 🙂

I hope everyone has a nice weekend, spent doing favorite things.

Bye for now – Coco

Love Notions Laundry Day Tee – sleeveless

Work day in the loft…making a mess, no makeup or hair-do, just a nice morning spent finishing a few projects, watching the Wimbledon tennis matches, and having absolutely nothing planned or pressing.

 

This is my second make of this dress (first one here), and I fully intended for it to have sleeves. But – I was well into cutting out the bodice when I remembered that I needed to adjust the length of the shoulder seams. Oops.

But it’s a nice segue into a discussion of why I needed to do that at all. (BTW, IMHO, based on reviews and examples I’ve seen, a lot of sewists have struggled with the armscye area and sleeve on this pattern. Perhaps this will be helpful ).

Below, on the left – the Laundry Day Tee, aka LDT, has two cutting lines for the armscye. One for the versions with sleeves, and a second ‘tank’ cutting line for the sleeveless versions. On the right – my LDT size Medium laid on M5974 size 12 (this is the Palmer/Pletsch Perfect Knit Dress, my version here).

There is about 1″ difference in shoulder length. On Emile, whose shoulders match mine since I trimmed them a few months ago, it’s easy to see just how short the shoulder seam really is:

Since I couldn’t add the sleeves, I trimmed a bit of curve into the front armscye (the back was fine) and used self-fabric binding to finish. A view of the inside (and I still can hardly believe this armscye was meant to carry a sleeve):

Fabric: Fresh Produce Hideaway Flowers cotton jersey, from Girl Charlee

I’m not slamming this pattern at all, in fact I really like most of it, and I’ve certainly made more fit adjustments to other things I’ve sewn! I guess it irks me a little because it’s so avoidable – there’s a reason why Burda and all the Big 4 have almost identical shoulder lengths on their slopers. And those slopers fit me just fine, maybe with a change to the pitch of the seam for my square shoulders, but certainly long enough.

Bye for now! Coco

Love Notions Laundry Day Tee – fun!

What a great little pattern from Love Notions. I’ve been in the Love Notions Facebook group for some time, and I’ve watched this Tee progress through several iterations and updates. It has changed a lot – from a tee/tunic (on the left, below), to a tee, tunic, and dress, with lots of options. Tami Bunch Meyer, the designer, has really matured the pattern.

 

When Tami announced her 2017 update, (on the right, above), I decided to give it a go. I’m always on the hunt for a nice tee shirt dress – perfect for Florida weather all year long.

My fabric is a rayon/lycra knit from Fiesta Fabrics, purchased on Craftsy back in January. I haven’t used it because it has a heathered finish that’s guaranteed to pill with a couple washings. But it’s perfect for a muslin of this dress.

A few sewing notes:

• My choices: the dress, with a scoop neck and elbow-length sleeves.
• I drafted my tissue with a 1/2″ seam allowance (the pattern includes 3/8″ SA’s). I just think a wider SA is easier to sew.
• I sewed the size Medium, mostly because I have a broad back and wide shoulders. The Small would have fit everywhere else, there’s generous ease in the waist and hips.
• I’m 5’7″, and did not need extra length for my dress. In fact, I removed 3/4″. Nice!
• The pattern includes a neckband, but I just used self-fabric binding on the neckline. To compensate for the lost width of the neckband, I raised the front neckline by 1/2″ at center front. But I didn’t change the back neckline at all.
• I made an easy change at the top of the side seams. The armscye is a little longer than the sleeve cap, kind of a no-no, so I fixed it on my draft. BTW, I encountered the same thing on the Love Notions Boyfriend Cardigan. Forewarned…

 

I think this pattern is a winner, and it joins my much loved Love Notions Sabrina Slims and Boyfriend Cardigan. More good news: it’s free to members of the Facebook group, and it’s currently on sale for $5 for everyone else.

It’s Friday – I hope everyone has a nice weekend! Bye for now – Coco