Happy New Year

Happy 2015!

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas (assuming you celebrate it!) and New Year.  We spent Christmas entertaining my family, and last night went to a small party at a friends house to see in the New Year.  I'm feeling very lazy today, and in fact didn't get out of bed until 10.30 this morning. 

I've read a lot of blog posts over the last week with reviews of 2014 and goals for 2015.  I thought about doing my own, but decided against it.  

I do have a few thoughts about my "creating" in 2014, which I'll share with you briefly.

The thing I enjoyed most was teaching free motion embroidery.  I did one one-to-one workshop at my home and then a taught a class of 6 at Fabric HQ.  It was such fun!  All my students picked up the technique straight away and they created some gorgeous pieces.  I'm teaching 2 more classes at Fabric HQ over the next couple of months, and I'm really looking forward to them.

 
 
 
 
 
The thing I've enjoyed least this year has been my procrastination. I've often felt like I wanted to sew, but didn't know what I wanted to make.   I think this has been partly to do with my stash - although I have a fairly small stash compared to many people, I seem to have lots of fabric that I don't really like, or don't know what to do with.  I think I need to get out of the habit of buying fabric without a proper idea of what I'm going to do with it.
 
My indecision is also partly because my style appears to have changed.  You may remember I followed Colette Patterns Wardrobe Architect series last year, and although I identified the types of things I would like to wear, I haven't really been sewing them.  And since I cut my hair short a couple of months ago, the fact that I'm not sewing (or buying) things I really want to wear has seemed even more apparent.  I seem to be much more drawn to darker, plainer items than I was previously, and separates rather than dresses. 
 
I've been trying to find some new patterns that appeal to my new style, and have come across OkiStyle, in particular the Salt jacket
 
 
 
 
 
I'm really keen to try this one, it has an almost Vivienne Westwood style to it that I love, and I have a couple of pieces of fabric in my stash that I think would work well for it.
 
I desperately need to work on getting a well fitting trouser pattern sorted out so I can fill some gaps in my wardrobe.   I've identified that my problem is with excess fabric in the back thigh, but I'm unsure how to solve it. 
 
First I have to finish the coat I started about 6 weeks ago.  I'm procrastinating again... it's time for the bound button holes and I'm putting them off. 
 
Wow, this post has turned out completely differently to how I thought it would when I started writing it!
 
Do you have any tips on fitting trousers, or can recommend a good slim legged trouser pattern I could try?  Or any tips on overcoming procrastination?  

10 comments

  1. I hope you do make that oki style jacket. I want to see one of her patterns made up. She has really interesting designs! Happy new year to you!

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    1. Happy New Year to you too Liza Jane. I'm definitely going to give the jacket a go. She has a couple of lovely looking coats as well.

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  2. Happy new year sam. Looks like your in a bit of a style dilemma, which is swamping your sewing mojo...really hope you get over it. The jacket pattern you found looks interesting...just do it...it's only fabric :-)

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    1. Happy New Year Manju. Yes, I feel in a bit of a style dilemma/rut at the moment. I think I need a good sort through my stash and patterns and maybe have a destash.

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  3. Procrastination is my middle name and I have plenty of things I want to sew but keep putting it off because I'm sure I'll make a mess of it. It sounds as though you are being intimidated by the thought of those buttonholes. Just think of them as Big Bullies and you are going to stand up to them and show them what you are made of. So, having written that sage advice perhaps I should scrap my New Years resolution, which included not buying any more fabric or patterns to add to the stash I already have, and substitute "I will not procrastinate". Chiefly because that means I could buy some of those glorious Okistyle patterns( thank you for introducing me to her) and the fabric with which to make it and it would make me finish a skirt that is giving me problems.
    As for the trousers I have been inspired by By Gum, By Golly's blog regarding the SIX toiles she made trying to get a good trouser fit and intend to crack on with the feeble one I'm doing (it's almost there). She attributed the pooling at her thighs to flat buttocks but it turned out to be the opposite. Her blog made have a good think about what might really be the cause of that same problem of pooling in my case, yes, my buttocks are flat but, on careful analysis, I realised there were other problems as well and also to realise that I will never get a decent fit with RTW trousers, as even the best amongst have the same problems, so I may as well give making them my best shot.

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    1. I'll have to have a look at By Gum By Golly's trouser fitting. I definitely don't have flat buttocks, I need the space for them, but then there's a big loose bit of fabric below them! I have got one pair of RTW trousers that fit pretty well, I'm considering sacrificing them to make a pattern.

      I don't know why I'm procrastinating about the bound button holes, I've done them before!

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    2. Does the pooling go away when you hitch up the trousers from the back waist? If so, you might take a tuck across the back, grading to nothing at the side seams and then, to compensate for the loss of fabric in the back, increase the crotch length on the back only at the crotch point. I am not sure if this explanation in words is clear, in this case a picture ( or rather diagram) is worth a 1,000 words. Trousers are so much more difficult to fit than skirts because you are more or less done with skirt fitting, unless it is a skin-tight pencil, once you have fitted from the waist to the hip but with trousers you have all the rest of your body downwards to consider.

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    3. I don't know - I'll have to try and find my last muslin and see if pulling up the back waist makes a difference. Thank you.

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  4. Happy New Year, Sam. The best piece of advice regarding fitting was from a designer who worked for Liberty. He suggested making a pattern copy from a pair of trousers that you have that fit you really well. I had a similar problem to your thigh problem (back when I was much slimmer) and he solved this be pinning the excess towards the trouser leg seams, where it was then cut away. It was a long time ago when he helped me with this however I think he pinned more toward the inner seam. Not a very clear explanation but hope it makes some sense. Good luck.

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    1. That makes perfect sense Jen, thank you.

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