SewHouse7 Free Range Slacks

Think spring…

After reading many reviews and examining photos online with a magnifying glass, I decided to try out this pattern. It’s really cute! I particularly like the narrow inset side band, not easily seen in the line art or photos, but it’s there, and wraps from front to back.

Check out the nice pockets as well…

The thing that appealed to me most is that, even with an elastic waistband, the silhouette is slim, not bunchy.

Hmmm – I cropped my head. It’s truth time – I’m letting my hair grow a bit. It’s agony. But in the end, as I age, I identify more with Diane Keaton than with Judi Dench or Jamie Lee Curtis. My hair is wiry and curly, so at the moment it’s also out of control!

Sewing notes:

• I chose my size based on my waist measurement, the size closest to my hip size to reduce bulk at the waist. So a size 8.
• And I made version 2, the cropped pants.
• I sewed the pants up to the point of the waist treatment. Which is funky. The waist takes a prodigious dip at center front, leaving a very short front rise. I’m sure the low-rise look will appeal to some, just not to me 🙂 I decided to remove the piece seen below, leaving a level edge at the top of the pants. And I added a sewn-on waistband. If you sew the pattern, this will make more sense.
  

• The result is a nice, clean waistband, with 1 1/4″ elastic, and pretty topstitching.

Fabric: Kaufman Brussels Washer linen in Pear

I really really like the result!

Ciao! Coco

More paper bag pants and exploring the closet…

As promised, another pair of paper-bag waist pants using the Sew House Seven Burnside Bibs pattern (original post here)

I love this Kaufman Essex yarn-dyed fabric in peacock. It’s a combo of navy and turquoise threads. Plus, I just love Essex linen for britches. My pics are lightened, so here’s the real thing:

I sewed this pretty much as I sewed as the grey pair, just changing the pattern to have a waistband, front and back, and keeping the wide waste-paper bag look.

Sewing tips: I’m a fanatic for belt loops that actually support a belt.

Front – I add a belt loop a couple inches out from the CF to support the belt buckle.

Blouse: Named Clothing Saraste shirt

And, back -hello Burberry – I use 2 belt loops at the CB to prevent weighty drag.

I really like these, and wore them today to miscellaneous appointments. Feeling groovy, a little boho.

I have to say that I do not like the encumbrances of the new WordPress editor. I click, click, and click.

Moving on, I went through my belt hanger today and have lots of hardware to salvage!

Ciao! Coco

Burnside Bibs to paper-bag pants

I loved my Sew House Seven Burnside Bibs when I made them (here), but subsequently found I wasn’t wearing them. In fact, I only wore them once – mostly because the straps/belt were so fiddly and not particularly comfortable.

The pants portion, however, is terrific – great big pockets and a baggy silhouette. Really cute. So I decided to do an experiment, i.e., the paper-bag-waist-pants conversion..

Sewing notes – 4 easy steps:

• Removed the bib 3/8″ above the waistband.
• Opened the top of the back waistband.
• Turned in the edges, front and back, and topstitched them to close.
• The last step was to stitch across the back to form a casing. The stitching is in line with the front waistband – together they form a casing for elastic.

Since I had those nice long drawstrings, I put the narrow sections together for an additional option!

I like these pants so much that I’m planning another pair, maybe not paper-bag, but with a wide waistband.

Bye for now! Coco

Burnside Bibs…

Here we go! to put aside all age issues, I’m over 70, and I love my Burnside Bibs 🙂

In fact, I love overalls. From a company picnic 15 years ago (and this reminds me I need some black and pink sneakers).

I am so happy to be sewing and blogging again. I spent about 5 days on these, poco a poco, but it was so much fun. These are the cutest britches ever.

Sew House Seven Burnside Bibs

 

Some sewing notes:

• I sewed a straight size 10, based on waist and hips. Perfect.
• I used the bib from Version 1 and the bottom from Version 2. Curved bib and no back darts.
• Front pockets, a tip: serge the edges and then pull up the needle threads to turn the fold on those curves.

• Belt loops. I sewed them as a tube, serged each end, and pulled my serger tails inside with a double-eye needle.

• I also added three belt loops to the front to keep the ties in place and also to keep them from dropping away when they were untied. One over the center front, and another over the outside edge of each pocket.

• Thank goodness I didn’t add to the length! because these were very long on me. It’s almost impossible to know where they will hit until they’re on and tied. I ended up cutting off 2 1/4″ and using a 2″ hem!

• I added the back pockets much closer to the waist than noted on the pattern. Unfortunately, they really poked out (flat bum), and I removed them.

• But the bibs still look great without them.

Thank you all for all the comments and support over the last couple weeks. Three tests and labwork next week, and I fully expect to be my usual funky self 🙂

Joy.

Bye for now – Coco