more fittings

True to my word I have taken the really wrong pants out of circulation and have been dissecting the pants I put in the could be better pile.

First up a quick fix. These jeans were OK, a bit big but not enough to either jetison or bother with a major renovation. But really it was their colour that didn't work for me so I tossed them in the washer with a couple of packets of black dye and voila, much improved. I try not to have an all black wardrobe, but can't argue that with my colouring, I really think darker colours work better for me.

Next I tackled the jeans I made myself in February. While I was pretty happy with these, I wasn't 100% - particularly with the waistband. Since I decided to pull it off, I took the sides and the back seam in a little while I was at it. I would have fiddled with the leg inseams too, but with a whole lot of top stitching as well as regular stitching to fight through, and a fit I was pretty happy with I called it a day. I redrew the waistband, particularly the back section, and re attached it. A better fit and more comfortable. I bought a piece of cheap denim when I was out on the weekend so my next step will be to go back and redraw all the modifications on the pattern (including the leg inseam modifications I thought I should make but didn't) and then make another pair to check that I have it right.

Although the 'after' pictures on the right look much lighter, these are indeed the same pair of wide leg black bengaline pants. I removed the wide, shaped waistband, took in the side seams, took in the leg inseams (more from the back than front) and re sewed the crotch. I took in the waist band and then sewed it back on. I think these are much better (though still not perfect!)

I took off the waistband, took in the side seams, took in the leg inseams and took quite a bit out the backseam all the way through the crotch, took in the waistband and then reattached it. pretty much teh same as above - lots of improvement, not perfect but certainly closer to the right fit.

I was tempted to set to on a skirt I wore the other day, but I managed to stop myself in the nick of time. I thoroughly recommend this focus on a single garment thing. I really feel like the subtleties of fit are much easier to see if you aren't distracted. I've also gotten a lot from a few books about fitting and alterations, such as Fast Fit, which demonstrates a range of common alterations for body shapes and problems. Very worth while.

a lesson in fit

new clothes, originally uploaded by Soozs.

OK so this weekend I went to craft camp and I made a complete shit load of stuff. Woo hoo! (You can read more about the weekend here, and head over to flickr for better looks at the garments in the mosaic).

But aside from the obvious benefit of new gear there were some less expected wins. Firstly I made more than one style of pants in a sitting and that gave me a really good opportunity to think about the more subtle aspects of cut. I also made the same pants in three different fabrics and two different lengths, and that was an interesting exercise too.

And so much sewing time at a stretch made it easier to devote time to some riskier projects, knowing they might not work out, and a because I am in the dead of winter but will be in the heights of summer in just a few weeks I covered a really wide array of fabrics and garment types.

So just a few things really stood out for me like how much more flattering a firmer fabric in a more fitted style is - look at the short sleeve shirt in the second to bottom row on the right or the black tunic vest in the middle row on the left and compare them to the olive over top to the left of the shirt or the stripe top over jeans in the top row.

I also think my fear of pants and skirts in too light colours may be unfounded (second and third rows on left), but my general aversion to small scale prints may be best listened to (though I think the T-shirt to the right of the grey pants is OK - perhaps because it is more fitted?).

A jeans style of cut suits me more than a more conventional pants leg (look back at previous pants here) and lots of layers and pieces in variations of a greyish scale work well for me, though a splash of red does wonders (you can't see it here but I had a red scarf on in most of the shots).

I love the tunic - this was a no pattern experiment and I think it really worked. It is made out of a woven rather than knit cotton spandex two way stretch so it is firm and sits very well but is super comfy too. I started with a quite unstructured box and added in bust, shoulder and back darts and then did the front shaping with rows of fine pin tucks where a conventional front dart would be. I will definitely be making another of these - I want to wear one every day!

All over I feel quite invigorated on the wardrobe front as a result, and I think future sewing will be very influenced by what I've learned. As always I used an array of Ottobre patterns to great effect and continue to be very happy with them.

clothes in limbo

My sister and I have for many years had an informal clothes swap thing going. As our weight goes up and down we've passed stuff back and forth, and I never get rid of anything without passing it by her first.

It's always struck me as a great shame there isn't a way to do this on a bigger scale - I'm sure there are lots of people who have clothes too good to give away that simply don't fit any more - well not now anyway - and why shouldn't someone else be wearing them while they are still fashionable? Of course I send my stuff tot he op shop when neither myself nor my sister wants them, but the plus size thing is so specialised, wouldn't it be good to be able to send them to some special place? I'd quite like to shop there for other people's cast offs too.

So I have been having a fairly major wardrobe sort in the last few days. Very soon I may well be packing all my worldly goods away for a while, and my experience of doing this last time is that when you get home you never even unpack most of it. I am determined this time not to pack away things I don't really want any more.

The first step in this process has been to pull out all the things that have been in storage since 2005 when we went to Thailand. It is nothing short of total disgrace that all this stuff has just been sitting for 4 years. Some of it was stuff I couldn't even fit into back then (pre baby bearing), and a lot of it was the clothing I wore back when I was a hard core corporate worker and fairly dedicated night time party-er.

A couple of things have struck me going through it all - and believe me there is a lot. Firstly is just that - what a complete shit load of stuff I've kept for too long. No less than 7 pairs of jeans, 7 tailored suits (all lined, 6 of them imported Italian wool, 3 of them with pants as well as skirts), a cashmere overcoat, countless blouses, tops, skirts, shorts and dresses.

Some of the clothes I had and wore for a long time, some are relatively new, most of them are in fine condition and eminently wearable. Most of them are made from very nice fabrics - wools, silks, linens, a few lovely spun rayon blouses and almost everything is lined, has nice buttons, pockets and zips.

And almost everything has been made by me. Not the jeans though.

And this kind of surprises me. When I look at it all stacked up in neat piles (waiting for my sister to come and sift through) I realise that an awful lot of work has gone into this collection. A lot of choosing, a lot of money on expensive fabric, a lot of time and attention to detail (all pre child days. Sigh). I feel quite proud if the truth be known.

But the other thing is, despite the way I feel about the things I've made, this is a collection of clothes that belongs to a different life. True, quite a lot of it doesn't fit me anymore, but I know if I set my mind to it I could re-fashion most of it. The fit isn't the primary problem. This is clothing that belongs to a suit and party life, not a school drop off and gardenging life.

And I am thinking what a shame it would be for all this stuff to be lost, when it could really make a big difference to someone. After my sister has had her turn what else could I do with it all?