Pleated Cuffed Pants

In the pictures the pant is worn with my favorite Raybans, a racerback tank made by me, an Alice and Olivia Vest and Max De Carlo pumps (a great deal from Marshall's).

Inspiration:
Generally, I do not like pants with pleated fronts and never thought I would make one! When the first pleated front pants started sneaking up on me from the web and the magazines, I ignored them with slight detest. That is, untill I saw this Helmut Lang's number on the left.

Later, when I was determining the details, I looked at many RTW pieces.

Pattern:
Burda WOF 2008-02-121, s. 36
This pattern was part of my “Rediscovering Burda WOF 2008” project and I am glad I found it.

Pattern Alterations for fit:
Surprisingly, none whatsoever…
If I was going for a more fitted look, then I would have taken 1.5” from the CB.

Design Driven Pattern Modifications:
Tapered the pant leg to where the hem circ. was 14.75”.
Decreased the inseam to 25.5” and added 4” for cuffs.
Decreased the waistband width to 1.75”.
Added an actual front fly.
Extended the front pocket to the CF.

Fabric:
Lightweight black wool from Textile-o-philes (a local fabric store).

Construction details:
The front pleats are sewn in 2”. This eliminates bulk right below the waistline.

Key elements are topstitched by hand.
Pockets:

Cuffs: loosely pressed for an undone chic:


Conclusion:
About the pattern: A very well drafted one!
As for everything else, I like the pants and the style. Will make it from a charcoal silk shortly, much like DVF made her Allen pant from silk charmeuse.

Argyle Blouse: Burda WOF 2004-02-120

Inspiration:
This McQ by Alexander McQueen Top:
What I like about McQueen’s design is the casual sophistication and effortlessness that the top exudes.

Pattern:
Burda WOF 2004-02-120, s.38. The pattern is actually for a dress/tunic, I took only the top (blouse) part of the pattern and worked with it.

Pattern Alterations for fit:
Shortened the bodice above the armhole with 0.5”.
On raglan sleeves drafted by Burda WOF I usually have to adjust the shoulder curve to soften it. This, however, was not necessary here.

Pattern Modifications:
The sleeve was overhauled. First, I made it a 1-piece sleeve by putting the front and back parts of the sleeve together and, thus, creating a shoulder dart. Second, I tapered the sleeve towards the hem and adjusted the underarm length to what was needed for the design. Third, I added the pleats, the slit, the placket, and the cuff.
Shirt hem: I added a 0.5” waistband (bias-cut) in which I inserted elastic.
Front slit: lengthened to 7”.
Neckline and slit are bias bound.
3 buttons and button loops were added to the bottom edge of the slit.

Fabric:
Italian argyle print cotton shirting from EOS.
This fabric is one of those you have to see in person to truly appreciate. I love the color combination and the argyle/plaid pattern.

Construction details:
Although it was not in the initial plan, the blouse ended up being underlined with Ambience. The underlining was cut on bias. I think it improves the hang, and I like how it feels against the skin.
Again, D. Coffin’s “Shirtmaking” was invaluable.
Here are some close-up photos of the shirt:

Conclusion:
A pattern with a lovely cut, and isn’t it nice that you can find a current-looking pattern in a 5-yr old magazine!

LhBD - Little Heather Black Dress And an Award!

Well, to start off, Lisa from http://sewrandom.blogspot.com/ has awarded me with the Brillian weblog award! Thank you, Lisa! It does mean a lot to me when fellow sewers notice what I do because it is more than a hobby at this point and somewhere between a passion and obsession:) Secondly, I finally finished the jumper and here is the review:

Pattern: Burda WOF : 09-2007-121

So, it took me awhile to get this jumper done. After finishing the muslin I was not sure if I liked it. With it, for me, everything was about the right choice of fabric. First, I decided to make it from a striped jersey but was not sold on it. Then, I found great heather black wool knit and I just knew that was it!

Fabric: Wool knit and satin lining from Textile-o-philes (a local independent fabric store: http://www.textileophile.com/Home_Page.html) Btw, if you are ever in the Denver/Colorado Springs area - this store is a MUST VISIT! It has an assortment of fabrics comparable to Emma One Sock and better (think silk jersey, angora, camel hair, cashmere, wool knits, designer print silks, designer cottons, etc.)!

Construction details:

- The skirt of the dress is interlined and lined at the same time with medium-weight stretch lining that has a nice tonal satin stripe.
- The hem is finished with lace.
- The lower edge of the bodice band is reinforced with a strip of the lining cut on a bias.
- The fronts are cut not on a fold but as two separate pieces and the front neckline is stabilized and understitched.

So, that is about it. I wrote about my fit and design alteration when I posted my muslin entry, so I won’t repeat myself here. If anyone is interested, pls refer to that older post or to my review on PR.

Having started with immense hesitation, I actually live how the dress turned out! I was afraid it would look dowdy on me but, to my pleasant surprise, it actually looks modern.

Would recommend it to anyone with two caveats:

1. muslin is a must because fixing the fit of the bodice during construction may be a nightmare (due to the way the dress is constructed and sewn), and

2. I had to rethink the placement of the back pleats to flatter my deriere.

Burda WOF 09-2007-121 Jumper: Review Based on my Muslin

I still don’t know if I am going to make this jumper, it would depend largely on whether I find the right fabrics (read towards the end).

Regardless, I made and fitted my muslin:

and this is the magazine photo:

Here are my findings (FYI, I am size 34 at the hips, 36 at the waist and 38 at the bust and 5”4” and I cut the pattern appropriately):

Fitwise:
- spot on at the bust
- too big in the waist: I took in close to 3.5” from the circumference at the top of the band and about 3” at the bottom of the band. This I find to be typical of Burda WOF – too much wearing ease at the waist.
- very slightly larger in the hips: took in about an 1” from the circumference
- the bodice piece was spot on lengthwise
- the skirt piece was 1.5” too long (as expected)

Design:
I read all the reviews on PR (and there are many reviews for this jumper) and noone seems to have been displeases with the pleat in the back skirt, therefore, my observation may be the “just me” kind. Anyway, when I pleated the back skirt as the pattern indicated, I ended up with too poofs right at my derriere, and they were not the right kind of poofs either. I tried several different alternative ways of pleating, including completely removing the pleat (which might work if your rear part is fairly flat) and the best I managed to end up with was two pleats: the first is 1.5” deep and positioned 1” from the CB. The 2nd is placed 2” away from the first and is 1.25” deep. Both are pleated towards the CB.

Construction:
The instructions suggest cutting the front bodice on fold, with the fold being the straight grain. Well, I just don’t see how this is going to make that edge stable and it is a neckline edge. I think you would need to cut 4 front pieces, sew at the neckline and understitch. Also, If I do the jumper, I’ll cut the front and back bodice lining pieces 1/8” smaller all the way around, so that armsye and neckline seam won’t be visible (hope this makes sense).

Fabric:
Well, this one I think is tricky if you are doing a fall-appropriate garment. Weight of the fabric: I think, if 1 is tissue-weight and 10 mid-weight, one should aim for fabric with weight coefficient of 7-8. Otherwise, IMO, there would be a lot of bulk at the seams that connect the bodice to the band and the band to the skirt. Secondly, since at least I wear tights in fall, the skirt part of the dress MUST be either lined with some stretch lining that does not cling or worn with a slip under, one made also from some stretch lining that does not cling. Of course, if you are making a summer jumper (to be worn with a cami), this would be a nonissue.