Purple Jeans & Burda Top

Here are the jeans finally, with the new matching top. The colors are off in these pics — both are more purple than the red/burgundy shown here. These jeans are straight out of the dryer so I do expect them to stretch out after I wear them, but they do fit like jeans (tight) and yes, the bengaline pants are much more flattering. Hmmm.

Here's a really unflattering back view. ;-) Shadows and twisting for the pic are creating some wrinkles that don't really exist with a more normal stance. But hey … they're done, right?

And with that, I'm off! I'm going to write up a review for the top later but now I've got to go change into those flattering bengaline pants since we're finally going out to that restaurant dinner tonight and DH will be home soon.

A little progress

I was hoping to have this done by now but life got in the way. I'll have it finished today though, after I finish typing this and eating my lunch. All that's left now is to sew in the sleeves, stitch up the sideseams, and the hems.

I added 1/4" to each front seam by sewing smaller seam allowances, for a total of an additional inch across the front. That was an educated guess as I haven't tried it on yet. I'm guessing worst case is needing to take it in at the waist but with the polyester buttermilk, a little loose is preferable anyway. I also cut it extra long and will cut off the excess after I try it on and decide where I want the bottom hem to be.

This probably isn't the best fabric to use with all the seaming details since the print is so busy, but it's what I picked. To highlight the seams, I reverse coverstitched with 3 embroidery threads, stitching the seam allowances to one side of the seams.

Binding the neckline with a strip of the buttermilk fabric through the binder on the coverstitch machine was (expletive deleted) challenging. After 3-4 tries I finally got it to cooperate. The neckline is looking a bit floppy in the photo above but that's more the fault of the hollow-chested dressform than anything. On me and with the sideseams sewn, it will lay flat.

I do like this pattern a lot, especially since it fits well with very minimal fussing. I'll definitely be making it again and will probably cut a vee neck in the next version, but a deep scoop is a nice change once in a while.

Starting tomorrow at 12:30 p.m., DH and DS#2 will be away for the weekend at a wrestling tournament in Sarasota. DH has volunteered to be a chaperone. I volunteered to stay home and sew. ;-) Next up is a WOF jacket with 462 pieces. Maybe by the time they return on Sunday, I'll have it traced and a muslin cut. Emphasis on "maybe."

Testing, 1…2…3

Rant: Why does Burda have to remove WOF back issue info from their website so soon, and really, ever?? This is the internet, after all, dominion of more information than you'll need in one lifetime. Sheesh. I had to resort to taking a pic of the pic in the magazine. So anyway, this is what's up next in the sewing room. Issue 1/2006, Pattern #131.

As long as I was infringing copyright and taking pics of the magazine, I snapped this one of the line drawing too. I think it's a cute tee. I've thought so since January. I may actually be wearing one this January. There's always a euphoric rush on PatternReview when the newest issue of WOF starts arriving in mailboxes. Well, it's December 2006 and I'm sewing from the January 2006 issue. Apparently, I don't share that sense of rush. ;-)

This morning I traced the pattern, cut it out of a sacrificial knit, and now I'm assessing (assessing, not obsessing!). I think it's pretty good and there are only a few tweaks before cutting the good fabric. Not bad, considering the only "alterations" were to trace between sizes as needed. I started with the 44 at the shoulders & armholes, tapered to 46 at bust level and tapered out all the way to the 50 at hip level. No real FBA whatsoever. Amazing. Especially so when you consider that the model is not overly endowed in the boobage area.

This knit has the stretch and recovery of a swimwear Lycra, but it's not as thick. In other words, it's quite stretchy and form fitting. I'm planning to use a buttermilk print and this mimics the buttermilk's qualities closer than any other knit I was willing to demote to muslin status. I cut this with 1/2" seam allowances and I think I'll sew them at 1/4" at the bust areas and maybe below too. The buttermilk has firm recovery but not as much as this knit. I can always take it back in, right? The puckers you see at the seams under the bust are from fast sewing w/o trimming, not fit. I hope. ;-)

The sleevecap has too much ease for this fabric. It poofs at the shoulder. So, I'll reduce that a little when I slash/spread the bicep for a bit more ease there. I cut the 46 sleeves to fit the 46 armholes I traced. They aren't too tight, but my sausage casings upper arms look better when sleeves aren't so form-fitting as these would be without alteration.

We were supposed to go out to dinner tonight but DS#2 dropped a homework bomb last night and so he's going to need some editing help after he finishes writing up a paper. We'd be too full and tired to work well if we go out, so home it is tonight. Again. While he's writing, I'm hoping to be cutting and sewing the real top.

Another Time Waster

You paid attention during 97% of high school!

85-100% You must be an autodidact, because American high schools don't get scores that high! Good show, old chap!

Do you still deserve your high school diploma?

All this means is that my brain seems to retain a lot of useless information. I don't think I actually learned a lot of this stuff from the school system. And what's with that "old chap" stuff?

What is this "Bengaline", eh?

Addressing some of the comments in my last post — I hope Belinda will jump in and correct me if I'm wrong or just add whatever I've left out, but as far as I can tell …

It's a Nylon (or Poly), Rayon (Viscose), Lycra (Elastane) blend. But a woven, not a knit. And the stretch runs lengthwise on the fabric, parallel to the selvege. It's got a sheen on one side and is more matte on the other. I used the matte side as the right side for my pants.

Yes, Touran, it does feel a bit rubbery but not in a bad way. Kind of like "control" pants but without being constricting or "girdle-y" in any way. The fabric does "swish" as you walk, so that is different (noice, diffrent, unewesual for my Aussie friends) but in a good way. Belinda says there are different qualities of this fabric, and what I have is the "good stuff." Yay for the good stuff!

Susan, no, it's not Ottoman or anything like it. CJ's Ottoman is a knit and this stretch bengaline is most definitely a woven.

It's used in some RTW pants and skirts here in the U.S., but if you Google "stretch bengaline" you'll get mostly maternity garments (ugh. that hurt). It's far more common in Aussie and Kiwi RTW (non-maternity). I've never, ever seen it in any online or brick/mortar fabric store. I don't think it's the same thing as the "RPL" (rayon/poly/Lyra) that EmmaOneSock sells from time to time because (1) I've got some of that and while it's nice too, it's not this. And (2) the stretch in RPL runs widthwise as we'd expect.

I wish I could buy it here (or online) because I'd have pants in every color!