when lola became suzy

i have been meaning to sew a pair of loose elastic waist pants all summer.  i had been eyeing off the lola pant by style arc.  i like the waist detail - being a flat front and elastic back and also the elastic at the back cuff.  from the art work they look to be a narrow'ish fit, plus i haven't sewn style arc before.

when i finally decided elastic waist pants would be next up and looked into buying the pattern and i realised how gen y my sewing can be - even though i am clearly not gen y!  i was actually shocked when i couldn't find a pdf option - what wait for postage?? how could i?? this is something i haven't really done for patterns before since my return to sewing. i therefore made a last minute switch to suzy.

the suzy pattern from tessuti comes in pdf.  it seems i am in a minority in the sewing blog world, but i really like pdf patterns.  they are so now!  i don't mind putting them together at all.  i do all the cutting in a comfy chair then move to the floor or table to put them together depending how big they are.  lately i seem to be doing a better job at matching them nicely.

according to the tessuti website the suzy pant is a fun and relaxed pleated front pull on pant.  i used a rayon from spotlight but cut the pattern pieces on the cross wise grain so the wiggly lines of the pattern are vertical not horizontal.

the only thing i did different to the instructions was to use 25mm elastic, instead of 12mm.  i did originally use 12mm, but found that the pants dragged down a bit and therefore looked quite large around the hip area - perhaps this is because the rayon is a bit on the heavier side.  the 25mm elastic keeps the pants higher up and less baggy around the hips, but the trade off is the crotch seam sits a bit high.  next time i will consider lowering the crotch seam and lengthening the leg a smidg.

i went with the in seam pockets and was a bit confused at first by the instructions, but if you read them carefully and thoroughly (which often i don't do) it all makes sense and is quite easy.

i constructed them using my sewing machine with straight and zig zag stitch. am happy with this make - would like to try lola sometime, but have a feeling i will make a few more suzy's first.

am getting the itch to get stuck into some autumn and winter sewing now, is anyone else??

(lastly i should also say for a beautifully made and presented pattern from a great indie company i would be happy to wait for a hard copy in the post, but a quick pair of elastic waist pants really appeals to me in an immediate pdf format!)

emma

Kelly the First

This is the first Kelly skirt I made, my other is detailed in this post.

I get quite a few comments about this skirt, which is mainly due to the fabric.  Its a cotton drill that I got from Spotlight in Wollongong when we went there for the weekend earlier in the year.  A lot of people comment on the colours, which was what drew me to the fabric.

I used the same construction methods as my other Kelly, including french side seams and bias bound pockets.  For this version I also added a hook and eye at the bottom of the waistband as the fabric is not as stiff as my other version and gaps here a bit.

You can see in this photo that the fabric quality is not quite the same as my other version and its already fading/wearing, which is such a shame as I really like the fabric.  You can also see I wasn't able to achieve the same quality of button holes that I did on my other version, particularly the first one on the placket which I unpicked several times as the automatic function did not like the bulk in this area.  I ended up doing it manually.

The other addition I forgot to mention in my previous post on this skirt is that I added 4 belt carriers to the waistband so I can use a belt.  Apart from liking the look of the belt, it also helps pull in the waist band at the back where it gaps a bit owing to the fact that the waistband is a rectangle.  The rectangle waistband keeps this skirt really simple for beginners and I don't mind wearing a belt.  I made the 4 carriers in pink and attached them at the pleats.  I used this great tutorial from Coletterie to make the carriers. 

Did you happen to notice my bangles in the top pic? I saw Sandra wearing them in the final of the Great British Sewing Bee and googled 'Sandra Great British Sewing Bee Bangle'.  I actually couldn't believe it when the facebook site for Bee Jewellery came up.  Bee Jewellery gave some great customer service and sent them to me in Australia.  I ordered 2 for me and 2 for my mum.  I get a lot of comments on the bangles too. 

 emma