As I noted in a previous blog, I'm strangely attracted to double sided fabrics. I guess it's the feeling of getting two for one!
This is a fabric I picked up from Marsha McClintock, owner of Saf-T-Pocket patterns. She was the keynote speaker at Artistry in Fashion, which is a an event put on each year by Canada College's fashion design program. This knit is another mystery fabric, a soft brown heather knit on one side and a brown poly knit on the other. Although it's two fabrics together, it's still a very light-weight drapy fabric. This fabric immediately said lounge wear to me. If I were to start my life over, I think I would become an active/loungewear designer - I love the fabrics and comfort of these clothes. If only I could wear yoga pants to work...
I decided I would make the pants from my TNT Silhouette Pattern Yoga pant. (This is probably the one pattern in my collection that I've made the most, from lounge pants, to pants I can wear to work, and even capris) One change I wanted to make was to add a bit more flare to the bottom of the leg to mimic one of my favorite pairs of yoga pants. To do this, I measured the width of my yoga pants at the bottom, decided I wanted to add an inch in total to the width. I started with the front piece of the pant and began extending the width of my pattern from the knee to the hem adding a 1/2 inch in width to both sides of the pattern piece. I found that the back pattern piece was wider than the front piece - so rather than add a full inch to the width of the back piece I only added a 1/2 inch total, following the same process as above.
fun trend I see in active wear is lapped seams exposing a raw edge. I wanted to incorporate that look because I thought the little bit of raw edge that would peak out might show the other side of the fabric for a fun effect. To create the lapped seams I used a fabric glue stick. I know, fabric glue - how cool! First, I drew in my 3/8 seam allowance along the side pant edge using chalk. This was my guideline to know where to overlap the front side to the back side. Then I applied the glue stick along the edge of the front leg piece, and matched it up against the chalk line on my back leg piece. Here is an example:
The glue adheres the two fabrics together quickly. Once I had the entire pant leg glued together, I took it over to my coverstich machine and sewed the front leg to the back leg. I only used this technique on the side seams of the pants. The pants came together fairly easy! Unfortunately, my coverstich machine game me the most problems with this project ; ( Below is a close up of the side seam:
Selecting a top of this project was key. Initially I wanted a jacket, but when I took out the fabric in preparation for this project I felt that a jacket would be working against the natural flow of this fabric - too light weight. Because I wanted to show off both sides of the fabric, I wanted a top with princess seams that would allow for easy color blocking. I found Burda 7433 and love the hood which would show off both sides of the fabric at once. The construction of the front also allowed me to use one side of the fabric for the front panel and the other side of the fabric for the sides and arms.
I wasn't sure how I wanted to color block, but there were two things I did to help me decide. Since I'm a very visual person, sometimes I draw a little sketch of the project I'm working on with various modifications to style. This helps me visually see the differences in my ideas and often helps me to hone in on my favorite final version. In this case, I made two quick sketches of the top - one showing the sleeves and sides with the dark side of the fabric and one showing the dark fabric in the middle section with lighter on the sides. I was able to quickly determine that I liked the dark fabric on the sleeves and sides the best. I was also able to "audition" this idea once I had cut the pattern pieces out. I just laid the pieces out in the two different versions, which confirmed my initial decision. I also played with making the arm and bottom bands different colors than the arms - but decided against it.
Like the pant, I wanted to play with the lapped seams technique on the top. I used this technique to create the princess seams on the front of the top. Close up of lapped seams:
Overall this top was fun to put together. I can see making it again. Rather than ribbing, I just used my knit fabric to create the arm cuffs and bottom band. I had to take about an inch off the length of the arms. One note - I would consider sizing down. Normally I'm a 12, but I made a 10 based on the finish bust measurements included in the pattern. Even with that adjustment I think it is still very roomy through the bust etc. I also should have considered the amount of stretch in my fabric when deciding the size to cut-I may have been able to size down smaller. Here are finished garment pictures:
This is a fabric I picked up from Marsha McClintock, owner of Saf-T-Pocket patterns. She was the keynote speaker at Artistry in Fashion, which is a an event put on each year by Canada College's fashion design program. This knit is another mystery fabric, a soft brown heather knit on one side and a brown poly knit on the other. Although it's two fabrics together, it's still a very light-weight drapy fabric. This fabric immediately said lounge wear to me. If I were to start my life over, I think I would become an active/loungewear designer - I love the fabrics and comfort of these clothes. If only I could wear yoga pants to work...
I decided I would make the pants from my TNT Silhouette Pattern Yoga pant. (This is probably the one pattern in my collection that I've made the most, from lounge pants, to pants I can wear to work, and even capris) One change I wanted to make was to add a bit more flare to the bottom of the leg to mimic one of my favorite pairs of yoga pants. To do this, I measured the width of my yoga pants at the bottom, decided I wanted to add an inch in total to the width. I started with the front piece of the pant and began extending the width of my pattern from the knee to the hem adding a 1/2 inch in width to both sides of the pattern piece. I found that the back pattern piece was wider than the front piece - so rather than add a full inch to the width of the back piece I only added a 1/2 inch total, following the same process as above.
fun trend I see in active wear is lapped seams exposing a raw edge. I wanted to incorporate that look because I thought the little bit of raw edge that would peak out might show the other side of the fabric for a fun effect. To create the lapped seams I used a fabric glue stick. I know, fabric glue - how cool! First, I drew in my 3/8 seam allowance along the side pant edge using chalk. This was my guideline to know where to overlap the front side to the back side. Then I applied the glue stick along the edge of the front leg piece, and matched it up against the chalk line on my back leg piece. Here is an example:
I wasn't sure how I wanted to color block, but there were two things I did to help me decide. Since I'm a very visual person, sometimes I draw a little sketch of the project I'm working on with various modifications to style. This helps me visually see the differences in my ideas and often helps me to hone in on my favorite final version. In this case, I made two quick sketches of the top - one showing the sleeves and sides with the dark side of the fabric and one showing the dark fabric in the middle section with lighter on the sides. I was able to quickly determine that I liked the dark fabric on the sleeves and sides the best. I was also able to "audition" this idea once I had cut the pattern pieces out. I just laid the pieces out in the two different versions, which confirmed my initial decision. I also played with making the arm and bottom bands different colors than the arms - but decided against it.
Like the pant, I wanted to play with the lapped seams technique on the top. I used this technique to create the princess seams on the front of the top. Close up of lapped seams:
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