Pattern tracing

In the past I have never traced any of my patterns but just recently, after reading many different blogs, I have found that lots of people trace their patterns and keep the original pattern without mutilating it in any way. As I have said many times I really do mutilate my patterns and I have made lots and lots of mistakes while trying to alter them. Now as I am a follower and not a leader I decided I would trace my patterns from now on, believe me when I say how smug I feel knowing that my original pattern is still intact after I have made a mistake on my copy, then if I have mutilated my copy I can always trace another copy until I get my alterations right.

That said, I got out my my pattern paper, cellotape, pencil and the original pattern, to begin..... the pattern paper that I use is thick, white paper..... plain on one side, dots and crosses on the other an inch apart........ it is nice sturdy paper for patterns...... nice and sturdy it might be but very opaque, so much so I couldn't see my pattern markings to trace them. I tried and tried but I was giving myself a headache trying to see the damned things, so I put it down for the night to have a think about it and this is what I came up with the next morning.....

I taped my pattern to the pattern paper then taped everything to the window and hey presto I could see my pattern perfectly underneath......I just had to trace around it with a pencil.....this isn't my idea, cardmakers use this method to trace patterns, I just adapted their idea.

Another little tip I have picked up along the way.....those little glue pens are much better to use than cellotape for altering patterns.

Finished.......at last

I like these trousers and the colour is very versatile, especially for warm days and I can wear my pumps or my strappy sandals......the only thing that is wrong with them, they are going to crease easily as they are a cotton and linen mix.
Onwards and upwards, hopefully.......I need to use my coverstitch machine, so maybe some knitted fabric tops.

This top I made last year goes lovely with these trousers....this is also Vogue 7063. I have a lot of alterations to do to my patterns, as I have mentioned before, so I have to make them out of various fabrics and make them last because it is such a laborious task to alter them. this top is made out of a polyester chiffon with ties at the back, just for a change. I made a camisole to go underneath...the nearest colour I could get to go underneath was a lining fabric, it matched perfectly.

This is the top I made a couple of weeks ago....yes I thought it would go with these trousers and I think it does. This top is Vogue 7935.

Here are the trousers worn with a white linen blouse ( Vogue 7063 )...... it looks nothing like the pattern, I just did my own thing as usual. I made this top about 3 years ago and it washes beautifully.....I love good quality fine linen....I also have a beige one I made after I made this one and they come out every summer.

This is the lining of the waistband being applied.....this is the nearest colour to my fabric that I could get at my local store, next time I do this technique I will use a colour nearer to my fabric and also a better quality.......I would probably have to order from the internet.

Back to my sewing

I have had to have a break from my sewing as my daughter's work was getting behind so I have been helping for a few days. My trousers have been put to one side but over the last couple of days I have been working on them.

I am doing my waistband in a different way this time....this is Claire Shaeffer's couture method. As you can see the belt carriers are attached to the waist ( I altered the waistband so I attached the belt carriers to the garment instead of the waistband, as suggested by Ms. Shaeffer ). It is now ready to be top stitched and then lined on the inside. This method of attaching the waistband is very time consuming but I like it a lot.
After finishing the waisband I just have the hems to do and I'm finished them, I am going to make something with my coverstitch machine next, I haven't used it yet so I am looking forward to it.

This is the inside of the pocket and the hanging loops attached to the waistline.

I finished each end of the pocket and the end of the zip with a bartack....I really don't like to do this task because I can never get it right, but this time it didn't turn out too bad.

Downloads

These are the blue Willow bears......cute aren't they lol lol.....These also come in a black and white image so they can be coloured to whatever takes your fancy

Can you remember these blue papers I spoke about them in an earlier post we have an addition to this download.

These are the co ordinating papers also available with the download.

This is Willow the pink bear and is available as a download as well as Willow the blue bear.

I have been busy helping my daughter this week as well as doing a little sewing.

Slow process

I wish I was a little bit quicker with my sewing, but I'm not so I will just have to put up with it. I also have a young dog and her and I enter competitions together.....she takes up a lot of my time with her training .....anyway back to my sewing.
Trousers half lined with silk organza.....I used the selvage instead of taking up a hem.

My pockets are almost finished, I have them to topstitch and stitch a bar tack at each end.

I topstitched my zip with topstitching thread.

This is my zip facing which I just pinked instead of overlocking, it looks alright and saved me a little bit of time.

Comfort Zone

I know I have been sewing for more years than I care to remember but I have always kept within my comfort zone. Now I am looking at different blogs and doing my research on the internet I am wanting to try new techniques...I have always lined my trousers the normal way (making a full lining the same way as the trousers and joining them together at the waist) there isn't anything wrong with that I just want to try something different. So with these summer cotton and linen trousers I am going to underline them......I am going to underline them with silk organza (which costs more than the fashion fabric) to 2" below the knee. Now most blogging people just line the front with silk organza but what happens to the back of my trousers if I get a saggy bum.....so I have decided to underline the back as well.

New project

I am going to use this silk organza for the lining. I don't know whether to just line the front to the knee or line the back as well. Claire Shaeffer advisers you to do the front to the knee but doesn't mention the back....I will have to think about that one.
I have washed and pressed this fabric the same way as I washed the main fabric....the instructions on the fabric say to dry clean it but it has washed and pressed beautifully.....so I have this to cut out and mark, I will then sew the darts separately then put the two fabrics together and treat them as one.

This is the pattern I am using, I have used it a couple of times before to make tailored trousers. This pattern has been altered to fit me and I really like the fit of these trousers so I can just get straight on and make them without having to alter a pattern which takes me ages. Anyway these trousers are going to be more of a relaxed fit with no creases. I have straightened the ends, washed and pressed the fabric and line dried it, that is the way the trousers will be washed I won't put them in the drier.

I am making a pair of beige trousers for my next project. The fabric is a cotton and linen mix which I bought last year and never got round to making up. I know these are going to crease like mad but that is part and parcel of natural fibres. As you can see I have already cut the trousers out of the fashion fabric, this is the front you can see, I marked the crotch, knee and grain lines as well as marking the darts and the position of the fly front, I also marked the seam lines and waist line with tailor tacks.