Autumn/Winter wardrobe additions

This year, I decided I needed that I needed 9 new items to round out my everyday/casual wardrobe for the rest of 2019.

My 9 items were:

1 cardigan

2 pairs of mid-weight trousers
2 pairs of leggings

2 longer-length woven tops
2 knit tunic/short dresses

I ended up buying the leggings rather than making them. I have a favourite, inexpensive RTW brand of leggings though that I find fit me the way I prefer and I don't think there's any benefit to making them vs. buying them in terms of fabric, cost, or fit.

That left seven items to sew, and these are the patterns I picked:

My autumn/winter sewing patterns

Trousers

I made the Burda and Jalie trousers from the same large piece of slightly brushed navy cotton stretch twill. I am going to be honest: I tried to take photos but it's a really dark navy and all you can see is like vague blobs, even with the exposure cranked up, so I will keep the photos to a minimum!

Let's start with something positive: I literally cannot express how much I love the Jalie Eleonore trousers. The fact that this is a great pattern is not news to anyone who was around when it came out, because the whole world and their sister made it and (mostly) liked it. I made the full length version, in plain navy, with the pocket add-on. I made very few fitting changes: mainly I straightened out the shaping along the inner thigh and did a knock knee adjustment.

They are not a perfect fit, but they fit probably the best closer fitting/stretch fabric trousers I've made so far, and the places they don't fit well (below the butt; above my calf muscles at the back in particular) are the same place every single pair of closer fitting trousers ever has wrinkled on me. I could probably have fewer wrinkles if I increased the width of the back leg from above the knee, but the wider leg changes the whole shape of the trousers so I haven't done so.

My one complaint about the Jalie Eleonore is actually about the pocket add-on. It's true, the add-on pattern piece does create a pocket. Alas, it makes one of those sad, vestigial, fingertip-deep pockets that are almost more annoying than no pocket at all. I will definitely adjust this when I make the pattern again.

The other trousers turned out MUCH less well and in some ways I am kicking myself for not just making a second pair of Eleonore trousers! The pattern I used, Burda 01-2007-108 is a simple straight leg pattern with a top entry pocket. I made this pattern before with only moderate success, but I hoped that using the trouser block pattern I drafted for myself earlier this year would help refine the fit. Alas, no.

Having traced out the pattern, I slapped on the trouser block and adjusted the pattern to match to the best of my ability. It turns out my best ability was not very good. I made some changes to the last version of my block on the crotch curve shape and got it wrong, and in the process of fixing that problem by sewing a new curve in the part-finished trousers I was making, I lengthened the crotch curve again. Since the main problem I have with Burda trouser patterns is that the crotch length is far too long for me, I actually resolved nothing. The trousers are also overall too big at the waist and leg, and slightly too short because I made a mistake with my hem calculation. It's a litany of disappointment, in short.

So far I've worn these trousers about a half a dozen times, but I can already feel myself defaulting to almost anything else that's clean in preference to wearing them. I'll see if I get a bit more wear out of them, but if not, eh, failed experiment, move on. 

Fly  of Burda 01-2007-108 trousers. Please forgive how wrinkly these look, I dragged them out of the ironing basket for a photo!

 All that said, I did do a few things really well: this is the "sewing course" pattern in this issue of Burda and, as unlikely as this sounds, the fly instructions are fantastic and the fly and waistband overall turned out really well. I must remember to photocopy the fly instructions for all future trouser-making activities.

Cardigan

Ottobre 05-2019-10 cardigan in blue ponte

This is a really quick and easy pattern from the latest Ottobre magazine. I had a problem with the front band, which was far too short when I cut it out. I didn't have enough fabric left to recut the whole thing, so I pieced in an extra section. Luckily, the uneven stripe and texture of this  fabric totally hides this "fix". At first I thought there was a problem with the pattern that caused this not to work. However, I have since seen at another review of the pattern and they didn't mention a problem so probably it was my fault somehow!

I like this cardigan (and strangely my mum really loves it) but I find it a bit shapeless and square, and I don't particularly like the way the collar sits at the  back neck. For sure I don't like it as much as my favourite cardigan pattern I've used a dozen times, the StyleArc Estelle.

Woven Tops

These are both tunic length tops, falling to about mid-thigh.

Butterick 5203 in navy patterned viscose

I have made up Butterick 5203 before, so making this version was simple. The pattern calls for a keyhole opening at the back and therefore a centre back seam. However, the neckline sans keyhole is more than large enough to slip over my head AND I have an irrational dislike of keyhole necklines (not even so much making them: I hate wearing them!) AND I hate chopping up large prints unnecessarily, so I just cut the back on the fold and omitted the keyhole. I love this top -- ultra simple to make, and it's just really pretty. I made it in  a lightweight viscose woven, which is an ideal fabric for this drapey, flowing top pattern.

Simplicity 2246 (view B) in navy and white gingham

The very first garment pattern I ever acquired was Simplicity 2246, a Lisette shirtdress pattern. I think everyone and their mother made it the year it came out (2012). My copy came on the front of a magazine, and I've hung on to it ever since as something I'd like to make. I'm not entirely happy with my version, but it's all right.

On the plus side: This shirt/tunic has a separate (rather than foldover) button band, and I am very pleased with my decision to put the bands on my version on the bias. I also bias cut the collar. My reasoning was about 80% practicality and 20% aesthetics. Mainly, I did NOT want to pattern match the gingham across all those pieces! However, the other problem was that the width of the finished button band was really awkward when compared to the width of the gingham squares, and I didn't like any of the alternatives I came up with for how to cut it (along a white stripe, along a navy stripe, half-and-half). Cutting it on the bias got rid of that problem entirely and also I think it's aesthetically pleasing to have the obvious vertical feature running down the front of the top.

Close-up of gingham shirt.

Minus side: The fit. As much as I like this shirt, it just doesn't fit as well as I would like. I needed a touch more ease over the waist and hip. It's not that it doesn't fit, exactly -- everything buttons up fine, nothing pulls -- but it's just a little bit closer fitting than I wanted for the outfits I had in my head. Still, it's fine, and since I am currently at the top of my normal weight range, there's a strong possibility it will fit more like I prefer as I fluctuate downwards again.

Knit tunics/short dresses

I like to wear leggings & longer tops on days when I am planning to spend all day at home. I therefore like to make soft, cosy knit tunics or short dresses to wear with them, to make outfits that are basically just a half-a-step removed from pyjamas but that are, at the same time, perfectly respectable if I have to answer the door or run to the post box. I tend to change up my patterns a lot -- I don't think I've ever made the same pattern twice in this category of garment.

This time I made a Butterick See-and-Sew pattern with a cowl neck and a slightly curved hem (Butterick 5870) and a very simple A-line skirted t-shirt dress from a recent Ottobre (Ottobre 05-2017-18).

Butterick 5870 in navy polka dot viscose/lycra knit. The cowl looks super awkward on Flossie and much nicer on a person

I like both of these a LOT but I actually have nothing at all to say about the construction, really. The Butterick dress turned out a little smarter looking than I entirely intended -- I can definitely imagine someone more into dresses than me wearing this just with tights out and about --  but it's really cute and I like it a lot. I'm really tempted to make the other view (which is the same dress in every respect other than the neckline, with is a V with a small scarf feature) next time I make a knit top like this. It was super easy to put together, and it's a great pattern.

Ottobre 05-2017-18, A-line skirted t-shirt dress in blue cotton-lycra knit

The Ottobre pattern was even easier as it's literally just a t-shirt dress and has no distinguishing features. I swapped out the long sleeves in the pattern for 3/4 sleeves, and I actually redrew the whole shoulder and armhole and used my own established tshirt pattern sleeve rather than the pattern, because why bother reinventing the wheel. I also lowered the neckline to a slightly deeper scoop as, as designed, this was rather high. I have to be honest: my version bears more than a passing resemblance to a nightgown. I think this might be improved by making this pattern up in a print rather than a plain pattern, but I don't think any t-shirt dress is ever going to be the most sophisticated of looks.

Overall, even though there are little problems with some of the things I made and I am not equally enthusiastic about  all of them, I am quite pleased with my wardrobe additions for the season. Some I've already worn a LOT, some of them have been waiting until the weather cooled down in October and I've only just started wearing. The definite star of the show though is the Jalie Eleonore trousers, which I love to pieces.

Next up: a wool suit! This is my BIG project for the autumn, and I probably won't have time to work on anything else at all for a while. I'm going to post more about it maybe tomorrow or Monday, so more details on this soon. :D

Trouser Chronicles, Chapter 3: Faking It (Jalie 2908)

The story of my efforts at trouser fitting so far:

Chapter 1: The Trouble with Trousers (February) In which I made many many muslins and took many many photos of my butt, and yet achieved very little in the way of improvement in fitting moderately close fitting non-stretch woven trousers.
Chapter 2: Imperfect Trousers Are Better Than No Trousers (July) In which I continued to attempt to fit moderately close fitting woven trouser patterns, and ended up with one pair of not-completely-awful-but-not-good-either trousers.

This is my attempt to stand around looking "casual" in a photo in my new Jalie 2908 trousers. Er. Maybe I'll just go back to starting straight ahead.

This week, I embarked upon round three of Me vs. The Trouser, and this time I decided that there might be An Ultimate Answer to all my problems, and that Ultimate Answer might well be: Lycra! The fact of the matter is that a nice stretchy fabric disguises many a fitting flaw, and I decided it was time to try out "faking better fit through stretchiness" as a strategy. This turned out to be a winner, and, although I've yet to subject them to the test of a full day of wear, these cobalt blue trousers definitely have the potential to be at the top of my list of Favourite Things I've Made In 2016 based on current evidence.

Jalie 2908

Today's story starts with the choice of Jalie 2908, a.k.a That Stretch Woven Bootcut Jeans Pattern Everyone Raved About In 2009/2010. It's extremely widely reviewed -- about 200 times on PR -- and any Google Image search of it produces lo, the largest collection of Butts In Jeans that you could ever want to see.

I made up the pattern as is, straight from the envelope, using the higher of the two rises supplied (view B). This seems ridiculous after I spent SO LONG figuring out adjustments the last two times I worked on trousers. However, when I compared my much-altered basic woven pant pattern with this Jalie pattern, it turned out that a lot of the changes I'd made seemed to be already built into the shape of Jalie's pattern.

Despite this encouraging discovery, I was prepared for this to be (yet another) fitting disaster and this affected my construction decisions. You have to get almost to the end of all of the construction before you can try the trousers on for the first time. Since I was kind of skeptical about the outcome, I wasn't willing to put in hours on the top-stitching and embellishment in case it turned out to be a waste of time. I did topstitch where it was required but just minimally and in my construction thread, and though I always try to sew precisely I didn't sweat the details too much. This pair of trousers is therefore probably sort of "wearable muslin" quality rather than "this is my best work, hurrah" quality. This is is also reflected in the fabric, which was at the more inexpensive end of the stretch wovens I considered, a stretch cotton twill. It's marginally stretchier than called for by the pattern and rather light weight -- fine for the autumn but I wouldn't want to wear these trousers in mid-winter. One problem is that it CREASES OMG. I pressed these trousers for the photo, but dear god, you can barely tell.

Front fit, highly over-exposed to show the details. Too tight at my thighs and upper hip due to making a size too small, but wearable, especially if the fabric grows during the day.

I made a size U from Jalie's size list. This was actually a mistake -- I am between a U and a V in the size range, and I meant to pick the larger size. Somehow in time period between choosing the size and tracing the pattern I got mixed up and ended up tracing the size U. All my fit shots below are therefore a set of variations on a theme of "just a bit too tight". That said, I'm actually OK with how it fits, especially since this fabric is already showing signs that it will grow as you wear it. For one, does anyone else think their trousers look much worse in photos than in the flesh? I definitely don't think the whiskering at the front crotch is anywhere near so obvious or concerning when I look in the mirror vs. looking at the photo. Secondly, I never wear anything tucked in. These shots are the first and last time anyone will ever see the waistband of my jeans, and very often nothing will be visible above my upper thigh because of my shirt/sweater length. So, you know, since it's not so tight that it's uncomfortable to wear, I can live with it.

Rear fit, also a little too tight. Otherwise looks like every pair of RTW jeans I have ever owned in terms of the wrinkling size and location

Overall, the best things about these finished trousers:

• I love, love, love the colour of this fabric.  LOVE.

Bootcut flare and the teeny tiny hem I had to turn. This is probably closest to the real colour.

• I like the shape and flare of the bootcut very much. I know bootcut is not super fashionable, despite a recent uptick in popularity, but I've always loved bootcut and how it looks on me. This pattern really works for me in terms of hem width and where the flare starts. It's only JUST long enough out of the envelope though -- I could only turn up only the teeniest, tiniest hem as I wanted to keep as much length as possible.

 To improve on next time:

• The fit, obviously. I will probably try going up a size next time to a V. Separately, I am becoming more and more convinced, based on some reading I've been doing, that I need to learn a knock knee alteration. This would hopefully improve both the inner thigh fit and the way that trousers/jeans hang below the knees. I'll look at this when I come back to trouser fitting in the next few weeks.

Fly front. Looks okay in this shot, but actually not great.

• The fly. I did better with the instructions I used from Burda for my last pair of trousers than I did with the Jalie instructions This sounds very unlikely, given the usual state of Burda instructions, but the pattern I used was one of their special "sewing course" patterns and the fly front instructions were great. I might just use them in future for all fly fronts. I don't like how close to the lap edge the zip is in this pair of trousers.

I didn't do anything fancy with the back pockets. I wish I had done at least a little minimal bit of a pattern! I will next time for sure.

• Some of the finishing, because it is pretty shoddy in places, to be honest, to the point where I was all maybe I'll just try not to capture that particular detail in my photos because it looks rough, tra la la. /o\ That's for fellow sewist consumption of course. In real life, nobody is going to notice, or if they do I would be side-eyeing them pretty hard for looking that closely at my crotch to begin with, but still, ugh, not my best work!

Left: Attempt 1 at a (bias) waistband, with horrible distortion after I topstitched; Right: Attempt 2, on the cross-grain, pieced from scraps. The upper edge is still a LITTLE wavy, but it's still 100% better than Attempt 1!

• The waistband. This version actually took two attempts. I cut the bias waistband required by the pattern instructions without much enthusiasm because I couldn't see how, without interfacing, it wasn't going to stretch and warp horribly when I sewed it. Since then, I have discovered most people who used the bias waistband HAVE interfaced it, so score one for my instincts, I guess, but minus one for not actually following them in any way. I tried the bias waistband without interfacing, and it was sort of OK right up until I started topstitching, and then NOPE! the hideous mess I expected ensued. In the end I had to piece a second, cross-grain waistband from my (very limited) scraps. I had so little fabric left I couldn't even piece in such a way as to put the piecing seam to match the side seam! However, again, nobody will notice  -- even I can barely see my piecing seams in this photo -- so it was worth the time spent unpicking and piecing for sure.

In conclusion: Faking it with stretch was a success. Yes, I picked the wrong size and no, my sewing was not brilliant. However, this is a perfectly wearable pair of trousers, albeit on the tighter end of the spectrum of what I'm willing to wear. Overall these trousers, while imperfect, are much less imperfect than the last pair, and I'm all about progression, not perfection. \o/

Next up in the Trouser Chronicles: I will definitely make this pattern again although not immediately. I am just bummed that Jalie don't have a non-stretch pattern that I could try! However, I was re-reading an old blog entry for some reason and was reminded that Simplicity actually do a whole range of "Amazing Fit" patterns for non-stretch trousers. Since Burda doesn't seem to be working well for me as a starting point, I decided it couldn't hurt to give one of those a try. Who knows, maybe it really will be amazing :D

For now, due to having more pressing wardrobe needs, I'm probably going to take a little break from trousers again and work on other things. Next up on my sewing table is this combination of pattern, fabric and lining:

Next: Outerwear! Outerwear! Outerwear! :D