sew is your face! » pants

the last week in sewing…

micheLLe — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 18:17:48 +0000

i’ve been sew busy sewing and celebrating that i haven’t had a chance to share what i’ve been creating this past week! i’ll start with the commissioned birthday outfit. my dear friend asked me if i could make him something to wear while hooping on his birthday. it sounded like fun and i needed to practice sewing for other people sew, i said yes. he was a big part of the design process which i absolutely loved. we decided on a masculine shirt and loin cloth type cover up, to be worn over black pants. he requested the outfit to be different shades of blue and black to match the color of his hoop. we had planned a trip to the fabric store but first, we wanted to sift through his goodwill pile and fabric scraps. we ended up finding everything we needed from what he already had. the shirt was made from a size large tee shirt that was way too big for him to wear as is. the loin cloth was made from another tee shirt (straight out of his closet) and fabric scraps that he had been saving. we spent no money. i didn’t get any pictures of my friend wearing it (was too busy hooping!) but i did photograph it before i gave it to him. it was fun to make and ended up fitting him well, what more could i ask for? next, i needed to make something for me to wear to his birthday-hoop-fest! i decided on an entire outfit. i wanted an outfit that flowed nicely and that wouldn’t affect my ability to hoop. the first thing i did was to make a flowy, skirt type garment that can be worn a few different ways. i copied this from a garment i borrowed from a friend, but made it from scratch. since it is wide open on the sides i needed a pair of comfy pants to wear under it. i had been to the thrift store recently and picked up some items to practice on. i found these homemade pants and only paid $1.99 for them. they happened to be the right color but boy, were they awful! very high waisted and made for a short person with a huge belly and skinny legs. i altered them by lowering the rise, taking them in at the top, inserting a new elastic waist, and serging the bottom of the pants to uneven points. much better. then i rummaged through my own clothes and found a nice, long, gray tank top to sacrifice. i serged the front and back of the bottom half to match the lines of the skirt. i also used the same color thread to make a more cohesive color combination. i figured i may get cold sew i decided to add one more layer. i used a pull over that i had also purchased previously from the thrift store for $2.99. it was a medium size and hung a little loosely, sew i knew it would hang a certain way after i altered it. i serged the front and back lower portion of the pullover in the same pointy shape as the tank top, skirt, and pants. lastly, i tightened up the sleeves by serging them all the way from the shoulder to the end of the sleeve. it’s a really cute outfit and i love the way all of the points flow. to see more photos of the complete outfit, click one of the pictures. ok…one last outfit. (i’m addicted to sewing, can you tell?) here, i took another pair of pants that i got from the thrift store for $1.99 and again, lowered the rise and added an elastic waist band. they were already high waters on me, sew i decided to make them more of a mid calf length. i then hand-gathered two ruffles that i made from my skull & crossbone printed cotton material. i love that material. i cut off the pants, leaving a seam allowance and serged the ruffles in place. this was my first attempt at adding ruffles and other than the gathering, it was easier than expected. in fact, my serger eats ruffles for breakfast! anyway, i then picked out a pink shirt from my closet that i got for free from a friend. my friend Lauren inspired me to cut it up! i saw her wearing her own cut up shirt that she made and was totally motivated to do the same. sew i did. i used a rotary cutter to make the first round of cuts. i was a little conservative and ended up lengthening the cuts with scissors after the shirt was constructed. the tee shirt has skull & crossbones on the front sew it now matches the ruffle on the pants. viola! i now have another cute, hoop worthy outfit =) now, i’m going to go sew some more clothes! i am determined to make or alter 80 percent of my own wardrobe by the end of the summer. then i’ll be good enough to make clothes for you too!

mistakes = opportunity

micheLLe — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 18:39:23 +0000

have i mentioned how hard it is to be 4’11″ and find fun, flowy pants that fit? and i’ve got curves sew the kids department doesn’t work for me (believe me, i’ve tried). again, i thought i would try my hand at making a pair of pants that i can hoop in, out of this wonderful, soft, earthy, green jersey i found for $2.00 a yard out of a scrap bin. as always, it was a learning experience and didn’t go off without a few hitches. i traced another pair of pants (making some changes) and used that as a pattern. i freehanded the flare at the bottom sew somehow, i ended up with a shorter hem length in the back than the front. and, i pinched the fabric by the knee while serging but you can’t really tell. everything was fixable enough and none of my mistakes are very noticeable at all. side note: serging brings a whole new meaning to “making a mess” for me. i keep wondering what can i do with the scraps? there’s gotta be something useful to do with them. maybe make hair falls out of them…anyway, after i proudly finished up the pants, i thought i should make a top to go with them. i decided on a lovely halter top out of brown and green. i ended up using a brown, cotton, stretchy, long sleeve, tee shirt for the body of the halter and the same green jersey for the top part. i cut off the bottom of the brown shirt and did some nipping and tucking to make it more fitted. then, i cut out two tear drop shapes from the green jersey, stitched them together at the top, gathered them to fit, and pinned them in place. after attaching them to the brown shirt bottom, i then sewed pieces of brown shirt scraps across the front in a zig zag pattern to um, hold my junk in place. at this point, i fine tuned all of the seams, fitting the shirt exactly to my body. i was pleased, but thought the outfit needed one more thing to make it complete. gauntlets, of coarse! i made them out of the sleeves from the brown shirt by first, cutting off 12″ of the sleeve and keeping the bottom hem. next, i cut thumb holes in each sleeve. then, because the sleeves were quite loose, i turned them inside out and serged over the original seems until i was happy with the fit. i left the top unfinished sew as not to hinder their natural stretch. they turned out great! here’s a look at the entire outfit (minus the gauntlets) i took the outfit for a test drive by wearing it while hooping and, to my delight, everything stays in place! (there’s nothing more embarrassing than accidentally flashing your audience.) i’m pretty happy about the way everything turned out. each of my mistakes ended up being an excellent opportunity to try something new and to make it work. i used every piece of the original shirt because after all was said and done, my boyfriend ended up with a tiny shrug to wear…isn’t he adorable?

one persons trash is anothers new pants.

micheLLe — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 21:25:56 +0000

this robe thing was in my give away pile.Â someone had gifted it to me andÂ i’d already harvested the buttons off of it and decided that i didn’t want the garment. it was waaaay too big and kind of dated looking anyway.Â then i got a wild idea to make a short, flowy pair of pants out of it.Â i mean, why not?Â it consisted of about a yard or so of fabric.Â something to practice on at the very least, right? to my surprise and elation, they turned out pretty good considering this was only my second try at pants. i took a pattern off of a pair of yoga pants that i already had and shortened them to land right above my knee.Â i used the already constructed ruffleÂ from the end of the sleeves to finish off the bottoms of the long shorts, turning them into short pants.Â =)Â this is a pattern that i would like to perfect, as they make really cute pants for hooping because they flare a lot when you turn.Â there’s enough fabric left to make a matching top and/or sleeves…now to find or create a pattern for them!

take off your pants!

micheLLe — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 01:09:45 +0000

in my never ending quest to find clothes that fit, i just plain give up! it’s so hard finding ready made comfortable clothing that i decided it’s time to take matters into my own hands and make my own clothes. yesterday, i made a top that needed a bottom. sew today, i made the pants. i took a pair of culotte’s that i already owned (way too long for me, i’m vertically challenged) and took a pattern from them, shortening the legs by three inches. i also lengthened the fold down waist band by four inches. they came out pretty good considering i’ve never made pants before…let alone on a serger! speaking of the serger (i think i’ll name it “the beast”), this sewing excursion taught me sew much! it took about an hour to adjust all four tension settings correctly and i can see it in my loose seams. but all in all, i’m thrilled that i can wear my new pants and say that i did it myself =)

p.s. sorry about the bad quality photos, my photographer had the day off…

sew, you gained a couple a pounds from the holidays?

micheLLe — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 05:09:22 +0000

sew, you gained a couple a pounds from the holidays? sew did i! still have 5 holiday dinners to attend? me too! pants feeling too tight? same here! well, i’ve got the perfect solution: cut open the sides of your garment and add your favorite material to make them bigger!!! make sure the insert is stretchy if the pants are not (to accommodate future indulgence). this is my favorite tune up for pants that i’ve outgrown.