Flared Leggings IV

A few photos of a new pair of flared leggings I made for Gaby. I have two pairs of these for myself and I wear them all the time, they are my most favourite bottoms to wear at home. Last year I made one for Gaby out of wide rib knit and she loved them, so this year, when I came upon a good quality wide rib knit I decided to make her another pair.

The pattern is one from Knip Mode magazine, which I managed miraculously to modify to perfection.  I shortened the crotch part by 6 cm and the length by another 6 cm - I am definitely not your average Scandinavian woman :) and I also made the flare much more modest, to be proportionate to the shorter length of the legs.

Pattern: Flared leggings N4 KnipMode 10 / 2021

Size: S, shortened and modified

Fabric: rib knit

Time to make:  4 days

The only new element I introduced this time were the back pockets. I had some pieces of the fabric left, after I cut the leggings, and I thought that pockets would be a good way to utilize them. My first idea was to take the pattern of the back pockets from the Sabrina Slims (a Love Notions design). I added them properly and sewed away the leggings, only to find in the end, that these pockets were too big for the leggings and were lying too low on my behind. So I removed them and added a new pair of pockets, using the pocket pattern in my latest Burda calf-length jeans. These I find fit the leggings much better and I am quite happy with them.

I showed Gaby the pictures we took of the leggings yesterday and she eagerly approved them, now it remains to plan how to give them to her. I'll probably continue to sew for her and give her the bunch when she visits later in the summer.

Gaby's Hoodie and Sweatpants Set

My latest make - a hoodie and sweatpants set for Gaby. I used two of my already tried Burda patterns, based on which I made a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie for myself. When Gaby was home in November, I asked to try on my items and marked the corrections I would need in order to make hers fit her properly, so I hope I've succeeded. Of course, a lounge set is not a ballroom gown, so even if the fit is not perfect - this is knitwear, it's forgiving :)

The fabric for the set is sweatshirt fleece (I think this is the name in English, but I'm still not sure about knit fabric names in different languages) - it is smooth on the outside and fluffy and soft on the inside and very warm. I bought 1.5 m of it and it was perfectly sufficient, with a fairly big remnant, that I intend to combine with a couple of other remnant and make a color-block hoodie for myself.

Pattern: Hoodie #113 from Burda 09 / 2020

Size: 36

Fabric: sweatshirt knit fabric

Time to make: 10 days

I made the hood lined with a lighter sweatshirt knit fabric and I used rib knit for the cuffs and the hems and the openings of the pockets of the hoodie. i am especially happy with my coordinating metal notions - the zipper, the aiglets and the decorative tag on the pocket.

Pattern: # 135 Burda 11 / 2012

Size: 34

Fabric: sweatshirt knit fabric

Time to make: 3 days

The pants are size 34 and they are a bit tight on me, but I hope they'll be just fine on Gaby, as she is taller and slimmer than me. They have comfortable deep pockets in the side seams. The original pattern includes long cuffs and is low cut, but I elongated the length of the legs and shortened the cuffs and also raised the waist line by 2 cm.

All in all, I am extremely pleased with myself and can't wait for Gaby to be back for Christmas break and to give her her new lounge set.

Sabrina Slims III

I made a new pair of hiking pants and I tested them today.

The pattern is again Sabrina Slims, like my most worn summer hiking pants. The fabric is a small piece of ponte, 80 cm long, I bought at the end of spring with the intention of making a pair of 3/4 hiking leggings. However, the summer came and went and I never got to sewing this ponte. 

So, last Sunday I took it out together with the cuttings from three other ponte projects and started planning a new pair of full size hiking leggings. In the end I chose the colorful green ponte, remnants from my second Sabrina Slims, as a complimentary fabric to the main black ponte.

I kept all the corrections to the upper part of the pants I had introduced to my second Sabrina and I also straightened the legs from the knee down. However, I had forgotten that the Sabrina Slims run a bit too narrow down the legs and if I ever decide to make them again, I should add a couple of centimeters to the width from mid-thigh to ankles, lately I prefer more bootleg pants, not the super slim style.

However, my gripe with the narrowness down the leg is purely aesthetic; due to the very stretchy fabric the Sabrina Slims are comfortable and provide full freedom of movement during a hike, which often include climbing, stretching and crouching.

Pattern: Sabrina Slims by Love Notions

Size: 0 with corrections

Fabric: ponte, 100% polyesther

Time to make: 3 days

Polka Dot Blouse

I finished a new blouse for myself. I am a big fan of this style of polka dot pattern, last year I made a  wrap dress out of a similar ITY print and so the moment I saw this cotton jersey I knew I had to have it.

I debated between several styles of jersey blouses - the Carmen blouse, the Adrienne blouse (which I made for Gaby last year) and in the end I settled on this Burda 6202 raglan blouse with 3/4 elasticated sleeves - simple and easy to make and wear.

Pattern: Burda 6202 from Burda Catalogue 1 / 2020

Size: 36, shortened

Fabric: cotton knit fabric, 1m.

Time to make: 2 days

I matched the new blouse with a pair of capri pants I made at the end of last summer and which I refashioned this year. In the end I did not like the cuffed up style of these pants, so I let the cuffs down as much as was possible, narrowed the legs and turned them into fairly straight 7/8 trousers. I definitely prefer them this way.

In my usual daily-walk-in-the-park style, by the poppies in front of our building

White and Grey

Two more knit items I made for Gaby - a blouse with a round yoke and one more pair of flared leggings, my favourite leggings pattern this spring :)

The pattern of the blouse is from the latest Burda Best of 01 /2022, which is a collection of best selling old patterns. This very blouse was first published in Burda 06 / 2018. I liked its unusual construction, which, I hope, elevates the blouse a bit above the simple white t-shirt.

Pattern: Flared leggings N4 KnipMode 10 / 2021

Size: S, shortened and modified

Fabric: rib knit

Time to make:  2 days

Pattern: Blouse with Round Yoke, Burda Best of 01/2022

Size: 36

Fabric: viscose knit

Time to make:  3 days

To be honest, I'm not entirely convinced the short fringe I added is as good as the original they used in the magazine. And to my further disappointment, it turned out to be of low quality, though fairly expensive. On the upper side, I attached it over the seam, so it can be easily removed and replaced, if needed.

Hoodie and Flared Leggings

I fell in love with that hoodie from BurdaStyle 03 / 2022 from the moment I saw it. I had no idea out of what fabric I wanted to make it or if I needed another hoodie, but I knew I just had to try these sleeves. And so, I bought the pattern.

After I printed and assembled the pattern and went through my fabric stash, I decided on this purple fabric, sort of french terry, but not quite (purl knit?). I laid out the pieces of the pattern on the fabric and found that I had enough left for a pair of leggings as well. But only if I cut it all not along but across the grain.

I am usually very strict when it comes to following the grain of the fabric, but in this case the fabric had an unusual warp knit and high elasticity in both directions. And a defect right along the middle fold, where it had faded from long stay in the shop, I guess. So, I decided to risk it and cut my hoodie and leggings set across the grain. Thus I was able to lay all the pattern pieces on both sides of that middle fold, without cutting into the faded line - win-win.

I made almost no mods to the pattern but my usual shortening to adjust for my height and I also made the hood double, as the single layer hood in the pattern didn't look professionally finished at all.

Pattern: Hoodie 102 Burdastyle 03/2022

Fabric: warp knit, sort of french terry, cotton/polyester

Size: 36, shortened

Time to make: 4 days 

The pattern of the hoodie was obviously influenced by the Mother of Pearl original design. I am really glad that Burda adapted the extravagant pattern for home sewing and I hope to find other similar patterns in their next issues too.

Pattern: Flared leggings N4 KnipMode 10 / 2021

Size: S, shortened and modified

Fabric: sort of french terry

Time to make:  1 day

Flared Leggings

I found my new favourite style of pants and leggings - the flared leggings. No more skinny yoga style leggings or pants for me, just give me the flare! I love it and I find it very flattering, especially on a petite person like me.

This is, if I'm not mistaken, my first KnipMode pattern I've made for myself. I have bought probably half a dozen of their patterns for women, but because their standard women height is 172 cm and even the small size in their size table seams biggish for me, I kept postponing the actual testing and sewing of their patterns.

In the end, I fell so much in love with these leggings, that I decided to give them a go. I printed the pattern, then took out a pair of old ponte trousers I had once that I know fit me well, measured the relevant lengths and widths and ended shortening the crotch part of the leggings by 6 cm (7 cm for the back!) and additionally shortening the legs by 6 cm, so a total -12 cm from the smallest size. However, as far as widths went, the pattern turned fitted enough, just as I like it, so I didn't meddle there. Because of fabric shortage and some personal preference, I also significantly reduced the flare of the pants.

I am totally happy with how these turned out, but next time I am willing to experiment with a fully flared pair, probably in a lighter ponte fabric in a large floral print, or a bright solid colored pair with a big yoga-style waist band. Yea, we all need cheering with the awful situation only several hundred kilometers away from our borders :(

My fabric is some Italian cotton ponte of excellent quality. However, after I washed and centrifuged the fabric in advance, it shrank more than I had envisioned when buying it, so I was a couple of centimeters short of length for the back of the trousers. To save the day, I decided to add a small yoke at the back and make it a feature. I think it turned out very well and even adds to the otherwise pretty simple design of the leggings.

 

 

Pattern: Flared leggings N4 KnipMode 10 / 2021

Size: S, shortened and modified

Fabric: cotton ponte, 1m

Time to make:  2 days

 

Burda Joggers for My Son

I actually sewed these joggers, kind of, a year ago. I mean, I did sew them and Alex did wear them occasionally, but the fit was abysmal, I botched the rapids for the waist string and they fell off, leaving holes in the waistband and the cuffs were made out of some large stitch rib knit I had bought in my then ignorance about knits, which stretched awfully.

So, I decided that there was no point in keeping these poor joggers as they were - I had either to fix them or send them off to the recycle bin.  (We don't have Goodwill shops here, but I regularly collect and deliver bags of discarded clothes to H&M for recycling, very convenient. )

Well, me being me, I couldn't give up without a fight, more so that now I thought I knew how to fix the problems. I undid all of the seams except for the outer side seams (at least I didn't have to attach the pockets again). 

The problem with the fit was that the joggers were very baggy, especially from behind. So, I figured it was the central back line, which was way too long. I shortened it by 5 cm at the crotch and I also shortened the whole rise by additional 2 cm at the waist line.

Then I added a new tighter waist band, no rapids and strings as per Alex's explicit desire, and new tighter ankle cuffs out of black rib knit.

And now Alex has a pair of joggers for winter, that actually fit him really well. The fabric turned out not to be of the highest quality, unfortunately, and it already shows signs of pilling, but with these French Terries I've been buying lately it is always a hit and miss, regardless of the price :( I'll have to learn to recognize better quality eventually.

Pattern: Burda 6719

Size 46

Fabric: French Terry, rib knit for cuffs and waistband

Time to make: 1 day