• About
  • Projects
  • Articles
  • Contact

julielivingstone

~ It isn't always about getting what you want. Sometimes it's about wanting what you've got.

julielivingstone

Tag Archives: Australian Sewing Guild

Pants Fitting, and a Light Bulb Moment

31 Wednesday Aug 2016

Posted by julielivingstone in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Australian Sewing Guild, fitting, jeans, pants, sewing, workshop

At a recent neighbourhood group meeting of the Australian Sewing Guild we worked on fitting pants, assisted by I* and K*. I think this would have to be the most difficult garment to fit, you are trying to get flat fabric to go round the body at a part where one cylinder (the trunk or torso) splits into two cylinders (the legs), all the time allowing enough room for movement but in most cases still having a reasonably fitted profile. I know that I’ve tried in the past, and whilst I’ve had some successes I think they are outnumbered by the failures, to the point where I’d pretty much given up trying. Fortunately I’m usually able to buy pants that pretty much fit, so I’ve focused my sewing on less frustrating garments.

Since there was a pant fitting workshop on offer though, I decided to take up the challenge again. I needed to make a muslin to take to the workshop, so I dug into the stash for some fabric which I hoped would make a wearable muslin. I found a large piece of denim left over from making jeans for my daughter about 12 or 14 years ago, and decided to use that. It’s a fairly heavy weight denim with a white pinstripe woven in, which meant I didn’t need to mark grain lines on the muslin but could just work with the stripes on the fabric. In the end there wasn’t quite enough, I had to use scraps of other denim for the waistband, but that was OK.

I selected a Sandra Betzina Today’s Fit pattern, (number 7608), which I had made before without success. The result of that effort is still in my possession, but I don’t think I ever wore them, they were too baggy. I don’t remember where or when I bought the pattern, I don’t think it is in the current range, it’s reviewed here on sewing.patternreview.com

Having done another workshop earlier in the year with K* about accurate measuring I reviewed which size to cut, and ended up with a smaller size than I had done before. I haven’t lost weight, but I must have allowed too much ‘just in case’ fabric last time, which is probably why the pants were baggy. This time I cut according to my measurements, and basted the pants together ready for the workshop.

When I tried the pants on they weren’t too bad, but still baggy round my thighs, particularly at the back. I* advised me to undo the inside leg seam, and take in the seam allowance on the back of the pants between the crotch and knee. I took in about 1.5cms, and restitched, which was a great improvement. I had already shortened the pants by about 3cms at mid-thigh level, since they would be too long otherwise. If shortening pants you need to do it in the leg rather than just cutting off the bottoms, otherwise the width that is intended to fit round your upper thigh just ends up round the lower thigh, and is another cause of bagginess.

There was still room for improvement, but I was happier with the pants than I had been before, and since I had taken my machine with me I had started to turn them into a real garment rather than a muslin. I was still pondering the slight bagginess around the crotch on my drive home, and then there came a light bulb moment. I remembered reading, I think it was in Threads, an article about pant fitting which talked about body space. Basically you need enough space in the crotch curve to fit your body (obvious, right!), but if the crotch is too low/baggy, while it seems as if you have too much fabric, in fact you don’t have enough. More fabric, in the form of a longer inside leg seam and a higher crotch curve, means that the crotch seam fits more closely to your body. It’s the same principle as an armhole, in order to have a fitted armhole which comes closer to your body, you need to raise the bottom of the armhole, which means you need more fabric.

When I got home I went straight to the sewing machine, and restitched the crotch seam with only the minimum seam allowance, about 3/8″. Tried on again, and another improvement in the fit! Unless I take the pants apart again and add on some more fabric, then re-cut the seam line, this is the best I can do, but I’m happy enough. When I make the pattern again I will raise the crotch seam more and see what happens.

I’m so enthusiastic now about these pants that I have finished them, and they will definitely be a wearable muslin. I had to face the bottoms, since I had only the very minimum of fabric to make them and no hem allowance, plus the waistband is in a different denim, but since I don’t wear my tops tucked in that won’t matter. I’m even going to drag my previous effort out of the cupboard and see if they can be resuscitated.

Again, no photos for this post. At this time of year the only time I am home in daylight is at the weekend, and the last couple of weekends have been very overcast so no sunshine for taking photos even then. I am spoilt really, so much of the year is bright and sunny and so I just assume that I can take photos outdoors, but lately it hasn’t been happening. The forecast for this weekend is better, I must make time to go out with the camera and photograph a few projects that haven’t yet been recorded.

Advertisement

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Castaway to Couture 2016

18 Monday Jan 2016

Posted by julielivingstone in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Australian Sewing Guild, Castaway to couture, competition, recycled, sewing

I was really excited to hear that the Australian Sewing Guild is running Castaway to Couture again this year. Last year was the first year of the contest, the idea being that you take a garment or garments from an op shop, and refashion it or them into something else. This is my entry from last year:

Jacket made from an Issey Miyake pattern out of cast off men's shirts

My entry in the Castaway to Couture competition

Last year the contest was run in conjunction with Red Cross op shops, and the almost hardest part for me was cruising round all the Red Cross shops in Perth looking for raw materials. None of them were very close to where I live! This year you can buy the original garments from any op shop, or indeed use something out of your own stash or wardrobe, which makes it easier. There are also two categories, the judges choice and the peoples choice, and twice the number of prizes. Seriously exciting! I already have some ideas buzzing around in my head, just need to find time to go shopping for the ingredients!

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Using up the left overs

04 Monday Jan 2016

Posted by julielivingstone in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Australian Sewing Guild, charity, journal cover, project, sewing

A New Year. Classic time for plans, resolutions, reviewing the last year and considering what to change about the coming one. I’m not good at resolutions, not at keeping them anyway, but I can reflect and review with the best of them. Last year I did get quite a bit done, made some changes to the house, taught a sewing workshop (really keen to do more of that), did some sewing, but not enough. What am I going to change about 2016?

Definitely resolved to be more organised. And if possible to waste less time. Although it’s hard sometimes to define what is wasted time. Sitting in the garden with a good book and a cool drink is not necessarily a waste of time. Such moments are all part of a balanced life, and essential to one’s well being.

On the other hand, spending half an hour looking for some black elastic, and only being able to find white, even though I’ve looked in at least a dozen different spots where black elastic might be, is definitely wasted time. What am I going to do about it? Put down black elastic on my shopping list for one thing, and have a dedicated spot to keep it for another. Time wasting problem solved!

Part of my plan to be more organised, is using up some of the stuff I already have, instead of acquiring more. I have boxes and boxes of fabric, much of it scraps left over from past projects. I’ve always kept those scraps with the idea that ‘they’ll come in for something one day’. Well, the next 366 (2016 is a leap year) are the days that at least some of them are going to fulfill that destiny. I’m looking out for small projects that I can use them up in.

One resource I found is a charity called Angels for the Forgotten, one of a few listed on the Australian Sewing Guild’s website. There are a number of things they ask for, most of which can be sewn with only small pieces of fabric, so I will definitely make some of those. I have started with a journal cover, using three of my ‘come in handy’ bits. The girl in the 1950s dress on the front is cut from a slightly larger piece, I’m going to use the rest of it to make a pouch for feminine hygiene items. That should put paid to all of that fabric, and the plain red and some aqua coloured cotton I used for the lining are also left overs.

IMG_3929 IMG_3927

I got inspiration for the cover from two of the blogs mentioned on the charity’s website, but didn’t follow either of them exactly.

Ellison Lane

Bloom & Blossom

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Handmade Christmas sewing gifts

17 Wednesday Dec 2014

Posted by julielivingstone in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Australian Sewing Guild, embroidery, fabric, gift, handmade, sewing

Our group of the Australian Sewing Guild had the last meeting for the year on Sunday, and had a Christmas gift swap. I always like to make something for these swaps, and so this year I did a needle book, following a tutorial by Nana Company.

It uses some tiny bits of fabric, 1.5 inch squares, so I was easily able to find some in my scrap box. Actually I think I have enough scraps in the scrap box to make at least a hundred of these, but that’s probably not going to happen! I had to buy some flannel, or at least it was flannelette, to use for the pages, and I bought pale blue instead of the more usual white or cream. There was white in the shop, but although they were both labelled the same the blue was definitely thicker, so I thought it would be better. Not sure of the difference between flannel and flannelette, I guess the latter is probably just thinner. I was quite pleased when it was done, but what doesn’t really show in the photos, but does in real life, is the fact that I originally put the transfer of the word ‘Needles’ on the wrong way up, so the wording was reversed. I turned the fabric over, and did it on the other side, but the mistake does show a bit, and I should have just cut a new piece of fabric instead.  A lesson in being more careful, even if it is late at night!

Here are some photos:

Handmade needlebook

Needlebook 1

Inside of needlebook

Needlebook 2

Outside back and front

Needlebook 3

Back of needlebook

Needlebook 4

Close up

Needlebook 5

Another member made some really cute sewing weights, which is something I’ve never used, I always pin my patterns. Sometime though I’m going to make myself some and give them a try. I remember long ago a reader of Threads magazine wrote that she used hockey pucks as pattern weights, because ‘they were readily available at garage sales’ in her neighbourhood. Not in Western Australia they aren’t! But the ones I saw on Sunday had fishing weights inside them, that’s what’s readily available around here! I’m going to be interested to try out the difference between pinning patterns and using weights.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Blogroll

  • Learn WordPress.com
  • Live to Write – Write to Live

Back Pages

  • July 2018 (1)
  • November 2017 (1)
  • August 2017 (1)
  • June 2017 (2)
  • March 2017 (1)
  • October 2016 (1)
  • September 2016 (1)
  • August 2016 (2)
  • March 2016 (2)
  • February 2016 (2)
  • January 2016 (3)
  • August 2015 (1)
  • March 2015 (2)
  • February 2015 (1)
  • January 2015 (3)
  • December 2014 (2)
  • November 2014 (4)
  • April 2014 (2)
  • November 2013 (2)
  • October 2013 (1)
  • July 2013 (1)
  • June 2013 (2)
  • March 2013 (1)
  • February 2013 (2)
  • January 2013 (2)
  • December 2012 (3)
  • November 2012 (3)
  • October 2012 (4)
  • September 2012 (4)
  • August 2012 (1)
  • July 2012 (1)
  • May 2012 (1)
  • April 2012 (4)
  • March 2012 (2)
  • February 2012 (3)
  • January 2012 (3)
  • December 2011 (3)
  • November 2011 (5)
  • October 2011 (4)
  • September 2011 (2)

My Tags

Anthony Trollope Art Deco article ASG asymmetrical ATASDA Australian Sewing Guild blog blogging book books challenge Christmas clothes clouds colour commonplace book competition content craft creativity design dogs drawing electric embroidery fabric fashion illustration fence freelance Fremantle garden horses ideas inspiration in every issue Jeeves Koos van den Akker labrador language learning machine embroidery magazine Margaret Preston Mozilla novels op-shop origin of phrases pattern PG Wodehouse photography phrases project property quilting reading reconstructed recycled Roald Dahl sayings ScribeFire seo sewing skirt Threads magazine transfer dyes Tris Hussey TS14Plus upcycled water weather Wooster Wordpress words workshop writing

Blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • julielivingstone
    • Join 36 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • julielivingstone
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: