Mustard Pants (Burda 7214)

Yesterday was a public holiday in Australia, and although the weather was fine and going to the beach on Australia Day is a very Australian tradition, my kids wouldn't have a bar of it.  The new school year is about to start. and I suspect they are trying to eke the holidays out for as long as possible by avoiding doing fun stuff; everyone knows time flies when you're having fun!

No matter; I spent the day sewing, and finally managed to finish off a pair of pants started ages ago and very nearly finished in December.

This is how they were looking in December - so, so, SO close to done!  All that remained to do was the buttonhole and button:

The pants are now finished, and I'm pleased they're done, but putting them on again reminded me why I hadn't finished them earlier - I don't like them. The colour is not doing me any favours, and the fit on my backside is not good at all.

The fit seems to have got worse since December - it could be that I've changed weight (probably) but it could also be that ironing the pants stretched out the fabric in the backside.

Let me show you how they were looking yesterday afternoon:

In these front / side views you can see the front crotch curve is too long; that's why I get a fold of fabric on my upper thigh when I move:

There's also a lot of wrinkling on the side seams. The wrinkling alongside my knees is fine, but the wrinkling at top of my thighs unfortunately relates to the problem at the back of the pants:

There's a lot of extra fabric there - my backside is flatter than the pattern :(. 

I know what to do to fix these issues; I had to work on exactly the same problems when I did a pants fitting class using a Vogue pattern. I wish I'd compared the Burda pattern pieces to the Vogue ones I'd adjusted to fit, but I was too lazy! Next time... 

Although I'm not very happy with the fit of these pants on me, I think this is a terrific pattern, and I've seen it look great on many others.  I really like the proportions of the waistband and yoke (I hate a long yoke!), and the order of construction is very sensible, allowing you to take the pants in to fit at the CB seam rather than just the side seams. 

Speaking of taking in, I should mention the adjustments I made to view A of this pattern. I started with a size 40 (EUR)/ 14 (US), corresponding to my measurements, and then I: 

1. lengthened the legs (I don't recall how much, but it would have been at least 5 cm for my 174 cm height);
2. omitted the knee patches;
3. omitted the zips on the lower leg side seams;
4. omitted the zips just below the front pockets; 
5. omitted the belt carriers because I wasn't liking the pants enough to bother - though if I'd ended up liking these, a belt would have been useful, as the pants sit at the low waist;
6. took in the pants at the side seams by 1 cm for the full length of the pants, suggesting I should have gone down a size;
7. took in the pants at CB by another 1 cm, tapering to nothing at the junction with the CF seam; and
8. removed 3.5 cm in the height of the pockets after pinning the originals in place, ready to top stitch. On fitted pants, my preference is for the back pockets to finish ON the backside, and not encroach into thigh territory. For someone with more curve in their backside than me the original pockets should have been fine. 

There's one other part of the pattern I'd change if I made these again, and that's the front pockets. The pocket bags are deep and their outlines show through the front legs in my stretch cotton, so next time around I'd make the pocket bags from a much lighter fabric and perhaps also make the pants themselves from a heavier fabric.  I'd also change the shape of the pocket opening, as I find it quite low and very wide - I prefer a smaller opening to that pocket.

I'll leave you now with some "in the flat" photos so you can see the details properly, including my dodgy repair to the inside of the waistband at CB where I'd accidentally snipped away fabric, and the place where I left the seam finishing too late:  

 

Happy sewing!

- Gabrielle x

Japanese Seersucker Check Gabby

Most New Year's Eves, we catch up with cousins, aunts and uncles over a quick glass of champagne before walking to the water's edge to watch the early fireworks across Sydney Harbour.  I know it sounds posh, but it's still a casual sort of get-together, so this year I decided to whip up a quick top for New Year's Eve with some pretty fabric that had attracted me in Tessuti Fabrics.  I gave myself heaps of time - more than two days! - and set to it. 

I had a few pattern options in mind, but the one I ended up sewing was the Gabby dress, cut (obviously) to top length.  It might even be a tad short to tell you the truth, but there's no spare length in that hem, as once again I didn't buy quite enough fabric...

... to the point where I had to make a sneaky join in the back of the top - which you'll be able to see in the close up:

When it was nearly sewn, I knew I liked it, but I wasn't sure I'd like it on - sometimes seersucker looks like a child's fabric - but no, I love it.  I love the wavering blue lines of the check, the slightly vintage vibe of the fabric, and its lightness in our humid weather. I think that by making a top rather than a dress I've steered clear of childishness, and closer to the "hip" end of the style scale. Which is all good. And I was going to wear it for New Year's Eve, hooray!

But then Mr UpSewLate reminded me that our usual hosts were away, and we decided to go to a different spot that provides great views after a bush walk in the dark, and I decided to avoid not catching my new top on a pointy branch in the dark and ripping it by not wearing it straight away.

Anyway, I've been wearing the top LOTS ever since - with these jeans, but not the heels. It doesn't need heels! I can't remember why I was wearing heels for these pictures (taken a few weeks ago at the very start of the year) but it may well have been just the joy of the new silver shoes that I'd been hoping to take for spin on New Year's Eve.

I only wish I'd bought enough fabric for matching 3/4 length pants, but I guess that's still possible... 

I should give you the sewing details, shouldn't I? 

I cut this out in a size S, which is my usual Gabby dress size (I've made it before in a starry blue version, a striped stretch version that's now an awesome top, a paint splat Nani Iro version, and a red and white picnic version). The dress is quite flared, and I left that flare in the top to keep it super airy. Sewn and overlocked with white thread, hemmed with matching blue on the outside. 

There's self fabric bias binding for the neckline, made by just folding and pressing with the iron, and I didn't even miss the Clover contraption that's been put away god knows where.  The checks on the side seams don't match up (they're offset by a 1/2 repeat), but who cares; the shoulders are satisfyingly symmetric! 

It's simple but I love it.

The End.

Happy sewing!  

- Gabrielle x