Tiny Hawaiian Shirt

This Hawaiian shirt is for an 18-month old. 

It's Burda magazine #136 from March, 2007.  What a great source for children's patterns. I never throw those magazines away, and eventually you realize you have a fairly classic pattern for most children's garments, and quite a few adults as well.

I heard that Nikki was having trouble finding a Hawaiian print shirt for Carmine's Halloween costume (he's going to be Ace Ventura, Pet Detective) and I volunteered to assist.  Then I had to find fabric. 

 I realized that most Hawaiian prints are very large-scale, and would overwhelm a small boy.  Luckily, we have a great source for prints of all types here.  The Cosmic Cow.  It's a quilting shop, but a really great one.  I was pleased to find just what I wanted.

This is a photo of the pattern schematic and beginning of the instructions, in case you don't know what Burda patterns are like.

I've made a lot of shirts, but never one this tiny, and it was fun.

Narrow Pants – Marfy 0913 & Jalie 2682

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This is what I wore on Thursday of the Textile Symposium.

This pattern (Marfy #0913) turned out to be 'the one' for the narrow pants I was looking for, as far as I'm concerned. It's one of the free patterns included with the 2009 catalog, and is for woven pants, with a zipper, back darts, and a faced waistband. I used knit fabric, a blue mystery knit for the first pair, and a brown ponte knit for the second.

I added 4" in length for the blue pair, 2" above the knee, and 2" below. For the brown pair, I added another 2" below the knee, and did a straight hem instead of the curved vent. I think I might like the curved vent with a little more length, so I may try it. For the brown pair, I actually added another inch for a hem allowance, and so they're really great with heels, but I wore them with flats for the Symposium, so I just turned up the hem, with looked much like a cuff since I'd topstitched the hem both at the hem edge, and at the lower edge.

On both pairs I did a Hollywood waistband without a zipper, but still using the back darts. I didn't have to cut the waist straight from the hip since the knit has plenty of stretch, and in fact I ended up taking about 3" out of the CF at the waist, tapering to the crotch.

I used Ann Rowley's Flat Seat Adjustment, and re-did it for a little more flatness on the second pair.

I added side-seam pockets on the second pair, which will be automatic in future, I think. I should have put them in the blue pair too, but I've been wearing them with my fleece vest, which has lots of pockets anyway.

The knit top with the blue pants is Jalie #2682, lengthened. I really like how it turned out, especially with the fleece vest which was the perfect color all around. I had thought of making a brown vest from the ponte knit, and making it cropped, but I'm not sure how that would look. What do you all think? I remember a very cropped jacket a few years ago (Vogue pattern?) that stopped just below the armscye, and definitely above the bust point. I like the idea of that, but I'm afraid it would look really strange. It wouldn't take much fabric to try it I guess....

Here are the brown pants again with an older Jalie 2005 Tee. It was the right color for the Collar and Cuff set.
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This is what I wore on Saturday of the Textile Symposium.
Friday I wore my Burda WOF ruched 'twirly' skirt and blouse. It was definitely the right venue to wear interesting things, as everyone else was wearing interesting things too, and we were all interested.

Pajamas Finished

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I finished Pearle's pajamas last night, and I am very pleased with them, except for the very silly mistake I made. Not such a big deal for pajamas, but it irritated me since I was being very careful to do this correctly, and I did it backwards and never noticed until I was ready to do the hem. Sigh. Nothing is ever perfect. He says he doesn't care and wouldn't have noticed, which is very nice. Still, I'm annoyed. In case you haven't figured it out (fond wish) I made the closure the wrong way, right over left. In all the shirts I've made for him, I've never done this before, and I suppose if I had to do it, now was a good time.

Anyway, since it was a very fun project, I'm thinking of making something similar for me. Not the same fabric, since choosing a wild, "wouldn't wear it out of the house" print is half the fun.

I made a few changes to the pattern for both shirt and pants.

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You can see the pants here with the drawstring tied at the top, the button fly at center, and one piped hem cuff at the bottom. This fabric is hard to see details in.

They wanted you to do the fly buttonhole only through the underlayer of the top fly, so it would be a hidden button, but I thought that seemed a bit fiddly to use, and just did a buttonhole through to the top.

I used a rounded buttonhole for this set, and larger buttons than is usual on a shirt.

The waist is supposed to be elastic, but he asked for a drawstring, so I put a piece of elastic between two pieces of drawstring for more comfort.

I also did the CB with a very wide SA, as is usual for men's dress pants, so I have plenty to alter, just in case.

I stitched the CB seam up to the fold point at the top of the waist casing, and left the rest of the seam, which is folded to the inside, unstitched, but placed carefully so it lays as if stitched. This way I can easily do anything necessary to the elastic and drawstring inside. I made 2 buttonholes in the front for the drawstring ends to come out of. The drawstring is quite long, and I will probable cut it off some after a few wearings.

The hem was turned up quite wide, then tucked, with the piping slid in behind the tuck and topstitched. This saved putting on a separate band for the hem, and gives a clean finish inside.

I added a side pocket to the pattern.

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I used no interfacing in the collar or stand, and just did my usual folded placket, which results in self-interfacing.

I trimmed the width of the SA of the piping and tucked it behind the inside edge of the placket and topstitched to hold.

The top of the pocket is piped.

The sleeves end in a separate band, with piping between. I basted the piping to the sleeve, made the band, turning in both long edges, and then topstitched it in place through all layers.

I only put 4 buttons on this shirt, and none on the stand.

All seams are either enclosed and topstitched, or stitched, serged and topstitched. I don't want to have to mend anything for a very long time.


Now you know all my secrets. It was fun to sew this with attention to small details that make things very personalized. I guess it's close enough that I can call this a Valentine's Day gift.

Pajamas & Knitting

Pearle asked me to make some pajamas for him, and this is the fabric he chose. I think it's quite neat, and I finished the pants tonight and moved on to the shirt. I'm using his regular shirt pattern, with a few modifications, and piping! The pants are from Burda WOF 12/2006. I knew I remembered that they had a men's pajama pattern some time ago, but it took me a while to find it.

The fabric is from Hancock's, and is a cotton. If you can believe it, the care instructions direct one to 'machine wash warm, line dry.' Well, I hardly think I'm going to line dry 100% cotton fabric for heaven's sake. So, I prewashed and dried, and it really didn't even wrinkle as much as I'd thought it might. I didn't measure for shrinkage, but it was only about 42" wide, and I bought 5 yards, which was just barely enough, with a creative layout.

I also started knitting a vest/top from the Fall/Winter Filati Handknitting magazine. It's an interesting pattern, and I'm done with the back and about 5" into the front. You can see the pattern photo and the pattern stitches here.

Burda WOF Top

Link to ALL PHOTOS pertaining to this post.

I subscribe to Burda WOF (World of Fashion) magazine, and I almost always find several patterns that I would really like to try in each issue, but I don't often get to them, or at least not in a timely manner. The August issue was different. I found a cute top pattern that I thought would be great for a shell to wear under jackets and cardigans this fall or winter, and possibly even by itself this summer. It has a high neck, but very short cap sleeves, so it's versatile.

Burda #108 08-2008.

I made a quick muslin from a very thin mesh knit that turned out pretty good, Photo Link so I made a few changes and forged ahead with a very silky, fine rib knit fabric that I've used before and have quite a bit of. That's the top you see at the beginning of this post. It's a little bit of a problem fabric, although if one had a coverstitch machine, it might be fine. Sewing across the ribs, it's difficult to make it look straight, even if it is. I solved this by using a 3-step zigzag for the hems, and I think it turned out cute. It also shows every tiny bump underneath it, and that's why there's no photo of me wearing it. I need to get a different bra, with no cup seams before I wear it. You can read my review at PR here, and see all the gory details.

The difference in fabric weights led to some interesting discoveries on the second (non-muslin) version. The weight of the fabric dragged down the darts from their original position, and necessitated my removing and redoing them. Since I had sewn the side seams with my serger and included the dart take-ups in the seam, I really didn't want to remove that stitching. I took out the darts and using the original starting position and depth, I curved them to end up where I wanted them. I then stitched them by hand from the outside while the top was on my dressform. That form really comes in handy for tricky things like this, that would be almost impossible to do successfully while flat.

The other big change I made was to use 2 hanging snaps to close the collar at CB, leaving the top 3" of the seam open, as a keyhole. They wanted you to use an invisible zipper, and I just don't care for zippers in knits if I can avoid them, and this works great, and is easy to get into, too. If you don't know about Hanging Snaps, I did a Technique Tip at PR on them. They're easy and so handy for closing edges that are abutted rather than overlapped. I wanted something quick, and including altering the pattern, I made them both in two days, and not long days, either. I think this would make a really cute dress just by lengthening it.

Anyway, that's what I've been doing lately, along with thinking hard about my coat, but not doing anything yet. I'm waiting for one more sample of underlining to test before I actually cut and start.

Wisteria Blouse

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This is the blended pattern I ended up with from Burda WOF #105 5/2008 and Vogue 2719
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I first did a muslin of the basic blend, and it looked pretty good, but needed more room in the bust. Some of the bust ease in the Vogue was in the kimono sleeve, and with a fitted raglan, I lost all of that, and it was enough to make it pretty snug. So, I did an FBA and tried again. This time the tucks at the neck stood out in an extremely weird way, so I ditched them and turned them into a dart instead. This worked pretty well, but I thought as long as I was doing 2 vertical darts, I might as well let them meet, and so it has the effect of a princess seam, although the front was cut as one piece. I also ended up doing the part of the vertical dart below the waist as a straight tuck since after the FBA it was way too flared. I also ended up with a wider placket than I really needed, and I decided to just leave the closure slightly off-center. It's just a casual blouse, and I like the way the 'lapels' turn back. I used a ribbon instead of a facing to cover the collar seam, and I think it's kind of cute.

I bought this fabric at least last summer if not the summer before, and I just love the wisteria print. I got it at a local quilt shop called The Cosmic Cow. Here's a side view of the blouse.


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I'm nervously awaiting the return of my gorgeous cashmere from the cleaners where it's being steam pressed and shrunk. Tuesday after noon is my mantra.

I want to thank everyone who commented on my last post, Perfect Isn't Perfect Anymore. I'm so glad to know that I'm not just a cranky whiner. I knew most of you might agree with me but may not have seen the photos already, and so I'm really glad I posted. It was especially gratifying to find that several of you had come to the same conclusion I did independently. I agree that it might be a disconnect between the designer and the workroom, but it seems like a really big problem they're going to have to solve before the next show. I guess we'll all be watching, won't we?

Quick Burda WOF Top

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I wanted a quick project, and decided that the popular #105 from the May, 2008 Burda World-of-Fashion magazine would be it. I traced it, altered and cut it out Sunday evening, then made it up yesterday. It turned out pretty well, although I don't think it's exactly my best style. I used a printed cotton, and it was very easy to make up. I like the sleeves and the way the shoulders and sleeves fit. I think it's the elastic waist I'm not crazy about. It's okay, but I don't think the poufiness of the peplum is doing anything for me. It calls for 3 large buttons and the 5 snaps underneath are the actual closure. I did as instructed, and then added a few more snaps to make things stay just right.

If I make this again, I would change the elastic to darts or tucks or something. I may just use the sleeves with my favorite saran block blouse, which has kimono sleeves. This would be a nice change, and I love the way the body of that blouse fits. It has fisheye darts in front and back, and lots of shaping in the side seams. It would be interesting to see just how much of the dart shaping of that blouse is in the kimono sleeves, and how much I'd lose if I changed to raglan.

I'm ready to topstitch the collar and lapels on the Marfy #1234 jacket, but I thought I wanted some Tiger Tape to help me make perfectly even stitches. I was amazed to find that none was available in town, even with all the quilt shops here. I have read some more since, and decided that I can probably do just fine without it. I hope so anyway. I think I'm going to just go for it, as usual. I've been doing samples, and I like a thicker cotton thread the best.

Jacket Muslin

I don't often do "real" muslins, more often a kind of possibly-wearable muslin, but for this Marfy jacket, I wanted to do it right, especially since I now have a couple of ideas of fabrics I'd like to use with it if I can get it just right.

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I made it to JoAnn's yesterday and bought a bolt of muslin (with my 40% off coupon of course) so there is no excuse now. I also got some very nice $2/yard cotton canvas type fabric for my coat muslin from the home-dec clearance they were having. Marji has convinced me that muslins are the way to go for at least tailored things, if not more.

I'm fairly pleased with my flat pattern alterations, all except one. When I do my FBA it also adds width to the lower part of the front piece. I don't necessarily need that, or not all of it, and so I used the method in Palmer/Pletsch's Fit for Real People to remove it. I thought the method seemed a little cavalier, and I don't remember doing it this way before, but I couldn't recall what I usually do, so thought I'd try it. Well, it was not a success.

They basically have you slice it off the side of the front piece at an angle from the bottom. Unsurprisingly, this causes the front piece to swing to the sides, making it look like it's much too small around. Since I left very wide SAs when I cut out, I'll just add it back in, and then remove the amount piecemeal from the other seams, and maybe some from this seam, but certainly not all of it. What was I thinking? Very little apparently. Perhaps hope springs eternal for the quick, easy fix.

I haven't put the sleeves in yet, but the collar and neckline is just lovely. I'm a little worried about over-fitting this if I start in to put a little more shape in it. It's really supposed to be fairly loose, at least for Marfy, but it should have some shape. Well, after I get the sleeves in, I'll be able to tell a little more.

The thing I'm really excited about now is that I think I have stumbled upon a group of fabrics that would be perfect for the June Capsule Collection at Stitcher's Guild. I had hoped to join in this, and then I became sure I wasn't going to be able to sew for a while yet. Suddenly, I am getting some sewing time in, and it's just great, but with all the fabric I have, I was stymied when I tried to figure out what to do right now, besides work on this muslin. I need some summer pants, and I want easy care over anything else. I just don't need going out and looking stylish clothes right now, although I wouldn't sneeze at them either.

I have 3 fabrics I bought within the last year that match beautifully. One is a reversible bottom-weight with a silvery taupe on one side and a dull aqua on the other. At the same time I bought an aqua jersey knit and a fine linen-look fabric. It could be linen, it was a mystery fabric. They look great together, but there was no "pop" to them. I was holding things against them, and tried the Green Multi Tweed from Nancy Erickson that I got this spring, and it's absolutely perfect! It just made my heart sing, and made me want to sew again right now. What a great find. I want a jacket of the tweed in the same Marfy pattern I'm working on now, pants from the bottom-weight (and there's enough of that for something else too), a tank top from the jersey, and a camp shirt from the linen. I love it when the decisions are made. Even if I change my mind later, it seems like once I have something to change it from it's so much easier to get down to it.

I can't decide whether or not to order the laminated wool fabric that is shown at the bottom of the last post. It's a lightweight sweater knit with no lengthwise stretch, but good crosswise stretch. I don't really know what to do with it. I really like it, and maybe just a knit top is what I should do rather than something more involved. I was thinking of a Burda WOF dress, but it's for 2-way stretch fabric, and I'm not sure this will work. I think it would, but I don't want to stop everything else right now to make a dress 'muslin' with a similar knit.

This is 103B from the 2-2008 issue.

The reviews I've read on this pattern are pretty positive, and I PM'd one of the reviewers who said she thought it ought to work with a one-way stretch knit. They both said the front skirt that underlaps should be full width, which I'd agree with, so then I'd have to figure how much extra fabric, and the skirt at least would need to be lined so it would slide rather than catch on itself. Oh decisions, decisions! Maybe I'll just wait and if the fabric sells out, it wasn't meant to be.

Birgitte just asked such a good question that I'm going to edit this post and add my response.

She's thinking of the same Burda dress pattern, but with silk jersey (yum!) and wonders "What kind of lining would you use?" I honestly hadn't thought it through, but was just thinking vaguely (like so much of my thinking) of a slick lining fabric so the top layer of skirt front would slide over the lower, but of course, it's going to have to stretch. Then a slip came to mind, but that still wouldn't help the top layer/lower layer bit, although I did think about attaching the underlap to a lining layer if I don't have enough fabric to get clear to the side seam. From the layout it looks like I should have no trouble, but you never know. Then I combined my ideas and came up with tricot. I think a very nice quality tricot, especially a satin tricot, such as you'd make a nice slip or lingerie from would be ideal for this. It would stretch, and it would be nice and slick. Nylon is not hot like polyester either. Of course for silk jersey, you might want another stretch silk, but either one would work. I have lots of really nice tricot in some good neutrals, so I think this is a plan!

Skirt Muslin

 

I wasn't going to post a photo of a "muslin", but it turned out that I really like this skirt. Since it was just a muslin, I didn't add a hem allowance to it, and this has a serged edge that's turned up once and edgestitched, so I only lost perhaps 1/4" - 3/8" in the hemming. I like this length, just at the bottom of the knee. I think skirt length is much more critical if you're going to wear flats than it is with heels.

It's my usual straight skirt pattern (Burda 8566) to which I added some flare. I tried to get a photo of the front, but for some reason they all turned out really dark. Must be some karmic thing..... Anyway, you get 2 side shots instead. It's going to be a casual skirt that I can wear around the house and still look decent if I have to run out to the grocery store or somewhere. I finished the "real" version last night, and it has quite a different look because the fabric has much more body than this, and it stands out more. I'm working on the top now.

 

Another Warm Garment - Fleece Pants

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These pants were inspired by the really nice warm fleece top I made at Thanksgiving. I found more of the same fabric, and bought enough to make pants, which were intended to be pajama/lounging pants, but which turned out looking good enough to wear in public if necessary, although around the house is where they will most likely be seen.

As you will see in the next photos, I did an unusual hem treatment. I wanted to have elastic at the hem so that if I did wear them as pajama pants, I could pull them down over my always-cold feet. I made them extra long, and put the elastic in loosely, and when I turn the elastic up, the pant hems appear normal. I am so pleased with this, as I don't think there's much that's flattering about elastic-bottomed pants.


Here's a close up of the hem in it's normal position.

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And with the pant leg raised to show the elastic.

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And here you can see the actual length of the pantleg, with my toe pointed, and just peeking out the bottom.

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Here's a Side View,

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And a Back View.

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I used my TNT Burda pant pattern, with my wide-leg pattern add-on. This leg falls straight down from the widest point of the hip, and I like it very much. I made these with a drawstring waist, adding a 2" high yoke-like casing at the top. This style always fits me better than just cutting the top of the pant higher to accommodate it, although for very thin, drapey fabrics I like that better.

The little patch pocket was definitely an afterthought, as I realized when I tried them on after hemming, that I had nowhere to put my MP3 player or a cellphone, and that would never do. So, a fast, quick patch pocket was my solution.

I think these are a real success, as they're not only warm and comfy, they look pretty good as well. What more can you ask for?

A Learning Experience

I've been poring over all the fashion magazines the last couple of weeks. Vogue, W, Harper's Bazaar. The spring runway shows are on now, but I've been ignoring them to keep my focus on fall. I've been planning out my sewing projects and attempting to be organized, and I'm not sure all this has done me much good if my latest project is anything to go by. Perhaps it's a lesson to stick to the plan and to the generally pretty basic styles that look best on me instead of lusting after the interesting and unique designs that come along.

Here's what happened. I fell in love with a skirt pattern in the September Burda WOF. It's #116, and there's nothing wrong with it except it looks awful on me.I kept trying it on and hoping it was going to look better when I got a little further along, and finally after I faced the top edge and the next step was the lining, which I luckily hadn't cut yet, I asked Pearle what he thought, and he immediately said it was just really bad in many ways, and especially because it made me look really wide, which he then very kindly said I'm not, so I felt a little better. He also hated the fabric, which I think is cute. Please note that the embroidery is nowhere near as shiny as it looks in the photo. It's much more matte with just a hint of sparkle. Anyway, that's the end of that one.

 

I really thought the style was cute. I've always liked those tapered skirts with interesting pleat details, but I guess they don't like me.

A Real Quickie - Sundress

I felt like sewing something, and since I need to go through my fabric inventory and really decide on my plans for Fall as a whole, I didn't want to start on anything major. I just needed that quick fix of a fast project. I had some cute printed knit fabric that I bought from Wazoodle last year, planning some sort of sundress. The May 2007 Burda WOF had a cute top and sundress from the same pattern, only with different lengths. It's not my usual thing, but it's been so horribly hot the last week or so that my brain is fried I think, and it's finally hot enough that I think of sundresses for me, rather than other people.

I did the top first in a tricot to try it out, and found that the V-neck hit way too low. It was cute though, and I decided to raise the neckline. I just made it horizontal instead of a V, and I think it came out very cute. I like the fact that the straps almost completely cover my bra straps, except where the knot is. It has a self-fabric tube as a belt, although I think if I wear it, it will probably be unbelted. It would be cooler that way too. The colors in the first photo are the most true.


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I got my Marfy patterns yesterday! That should spur me on. I also just finally went and bought the new Vogue Knitting magazine. I have to call them now and tell them mine never came.

Fall Sewing - Ruched Skirt

Link to larger photo.

I knew when I saw this skirt pattern in the May 2007 Burda WOF magazine that I wanted to make it, and I knew the perfect fabric. Timmel Fabric had had a plaid mesh fabric that kept popping up in my head, but I never knew just what I should do with it. Until I saw this skirt. The original was a plain tulle underskirt with a border print overskirt, but I thought a plain overskirt would be more wearable with such a stylized design. So, I ordered the fabric along with a plain brown in a light weight, and proceeded to do nothing with them for a couple months. I'm glad I waited, as it really seems to be a Fall skirt rather than a summer one, and when I had finished it, my real problems began, as I tried to find something that I wanted to wear with it.

I had lots of help from some very discerning eyes, and the consensus was that it went best with a Marfy zip-front jacket that I made a couple years ago. (The colors are better in person, as I lightened this photo a bit so the skirt shows better.) So, now I had a jacket, I now needed a blouse. I had enough left of the plaid to make a blouse, and so I tried on several styles to see what I liked with the jacket, and decided on Vogue 2719, which I had made previously in a batik. You can see the collar under the jacket above, or here's a photo of just the skirt and blouse.


Link to larger photo here.

I put 2 collars on the blouse. I used the brown skirt fabric for the undercollar on the top collar and the top of the lower collar. It's a small detail, suggested by Linda's description of an Armani jacket, although completely different, and not nearly so wonderful. It was fun to do something different, though.


Larger Photo Here.

...Tan Shoes & Pink Shoelaces...

Actually instead of a polka dot vest, it's polka dot pants! I don't know how many of you remember that very silly song, but it takes me back to my 4H Song Contest days. Our group didn't sing that song, but we heard it a lot from another club, and it stuck. For us, our leader picked serious song literature.

................."Ja Da, Ja Da, Jing, Jing, Jing.".............................

Anyway, on to the polka dot pants.

Link here to this and a front view.

This is my favorite Double Burda pattern in polka dot embroidered linen from JoAnn's. I think they turned out kind of cute. I wore them to dinner tonight, and I have to admit that every time I looked down for my napkin and got a glimpse of the dots I was sure I had spilled something. I think they look cute with the windowpane blouse, and the linen is almost a perfect match for a gorgeous Sewing Workshop vest that I got from Pam. How amazing is that?

These have my favorite Hollywood waist treatment, a left side invisible zipper and a right side inseam pocket. I have finally learned that I have to hem the right leg about 3/8" longer to make them match. High left shoulder and high right hip I guess. I don't feel all squinched up, but apparently I am.

I got a new knitting pattern book. It's Anny Blatt: Timeless Classics from the Knit Collection
I saw a copy the other day, and it has some really wonderful patterns in it. The yarns will have to be substituted I'm sure, as it's not a terribly new book. I hope I'll actually get to knit some of them. Surely I can get to one of them at least.

More Inspiration

Better than Christmas is an interestingly full mailbox.

More inspiration arrived in the last few days in the shape of books and magazines.

First came the Ralph Rucci book from Amazon. (I also got a 1930's-green metal colander, but that's strictly utilitarian, although I'm pretty thrilled with it.

Then I got the new Vogue Patterns Magazine, Threads and the July Burda World of Fashion on the same day!

So, now all I'm waiting for is my Marfy catalog, which I was really sure would be here by now. At least I was hoping quite a lot. Next chance is Thursday I guess.

Thinking of the colander makes me think of food, and we had the first sweet corn of the season last Friday! It was only average. Too old, in my opinion, but one of the guys who farms for us says his first should be ready by the end of the week, so that will be much better. Fresh out of the field can't be beat, and he raises some delicious and very tender varieties. 'Sweet corn' and 'tender' was an unheard of combination for many years, but in the last decade or so, things have greatly improved. Can't wait!

Flat Seat Adjustment Success

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I finally hemmed the pants I tried Ann Rowley's Flat Seat Adjustment on, and I rather like them, to say nothing of the fact that the alteration is just pure magic, in my opinion. I wanted a pair of pants that I could wear pretty high heels with, and the ones I have on in the photos are about 3 1/2", and the hems just almost brush the ground, so it's best if I stand up very tall. I had drooled over some of the cuffed pants in the runway shows last fall, and I'm finally getting to doing a pair. I haven't had cuffed pants for years, and in fact, unless I made them myself, if I bought a pair of pants with cuffs, they would almost always be immediately let down so that they'd be long enough, and there went the cuffs.


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This fabric is a polyester which is supposed to imitate linen, and it has a little shine to it. I like the color, and it goes with a lot of things I have. I think they'll be nice clear into summer, with heeled sandals. I just think there's nothing more swishy feeling than really long pants, with heels.

I think the folds in the backview are from the way I'm standing, but perhaps not. I never noticed them when I was looking in the mirror, but that doesn't always mean much.


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This is my favorite Double Burda pants pattern, which is two Burda patterns I've put together to get what I want. It has a side invisible zipper, side pocket, and Hollywood waistband.

Burda WOF Skirt

I finished the skirt (#103)I've been working on from Burda World of Fashion's August, 2006 issue. I used a corduroy from my inventory, in a mottled oatmeal color. I had to lift the back at the top, about 3/4" because of flat seat, but I think the fit turned out pretty well. I like this skirt a lot. It feels very "girly" to wear, and yet it isn't too frou-frou. I really think I might make it again.

I used Ann Rowley's suggestion to put the zipper in one of the side-back seams rather than in the angled hip seam, and it worked very well. You definitely need some type of mark on the inside at CF, as there are really no obvious "markers" to tell you if you have it on straight.

I like it with this Marfy jacket as well, and the little knitted shell has been a favorite for years. Here's a side-view, which shows the flared back panels, and you can see more detail here.

From Burda WOF (8-...