Sewing Workshop - Trio Pant

I finally made the Sewing Workshop Trio pants and I love them!

Janis, on Stitcher's Guild, has sewn some beautiful pants from this pattern, so I was eager to try them. I traced off a size small, though, according to the Sewing Workshop measurement chart, my hips are between a medium and a large, and my waist is off the chart (larger than a XXL). I can often get away with a smaller pant size since my hips are small and I increase the waist, as necessary. I didn't have to fiddle with these pants.

My first pair, using a black ponte knit, fit well, but were a bit short. I am 5'5" and almost always have to shorten things, so these must run short. I left the pocket off this first pair.

My second pair are from a brown stretch woven. This time, I included the pocket. I finished the pocket with buttons from my grandmother's button basket.

I had to lighten this photo a bit to show the pants better. I am wearing these with my new t-shirt with the Marcy Tilton neckline.

Worn with my Sewing Workshop Now shirt.

Pocket detail.

Cutting Line Designs - My Hearts A'Flutter Overblouse

Many of the sewists on Stitcher's Guild are fans of Louise Cuttings patterns, published as Cutting Line Designs. I have made two pair of pajama bottoms using her One Seam Pants pattern, but have not yet made a finished pair of pants because I still don't have the crotch fit right. Up until now, that has been my only experience with these patterns.

Louise's latest pattern is the Heart's A'Flutter shell and overblouse and I decided it was time to take the plunge. I was interested in the overblouse, but was not sure how it would work on my busty figure.

As luck would have it, a friend made the pattern right after it was released and let me try her size medium, which has a finished bust measurement of 55". I knew that the medium would fit me around, but was concerned it would hike up at the front. When I tried on her top, that is exactly what happened: the front hiked up and looked very "maternity."

To fix this, I altered the pattern using my friend's suggestion – I added 3" to the bottom of the center front piece, tapering it to nothing at the side seam. Since the alteration crossed two pattern pieces, I had to modify both. I did not alter the pattern piece that goes across the bottom front.

The fabric I used it a very wiggly, very ravelly, plaid rayon that I bought at Fabrix. This fabric has a mind of its own and I had to cut it out very painstakingly. Rather than deal with matching the plaid in all of the pieces, I took a leaf from Terri's striped version and changed the grain of the various pieces. I had much less matching to worry about.

I am wearing the overblouse without anything under it, but that is for the photos only. A shell or a cami will be needed for modesty's sake – the slits are a bit above the waistline and, as the body moves, you can see more bust than anyone would want – after all, it is called an overblouse. I do like this top. I am wearing it with my new Sewing Workshop Hudson pants, which I will review when I get some better photos. :)

DD1 suggested I wear her sunglasses. Too bad you can't see them better, because the lenses have diagonal lines across them. The height of cool. ;)

TNT T-Shirt with Marcy Tilton Neckline

I recently bought some fabric from Marcy Tilton's website that she calls Light on Water Shibori Microfiber. I decided to use it with my TNT t-shirt pattern, but to also use a neckline technique from Marcy's t-shirt CD. You can use this technique on any t-shirt pattern, which uses oak tag templates that you make using the original pattern.

Unfortunately, I didn't have the t-shirt seated quite evenly on my shoulders, but you can still see the effect.

I am wearing this t-shirt with Sewing Workshop Trio pants, which I will review separately.