The Sailor Pant - DONE!

This is my entry (or at least a part of it since there will be a coordinating top) in the My Pattern Contest held by PR (http://sewing.patternreview.com/cgi-bin/ContestGallery.pl?ContestID=68)



Materials:
Fabric:

• twill (EOS) and broadcloth (Joann) for pocketing
• Interfacing – Fusi-knit and Fine Weft Bias tape and buttons (Joann)
• Thread – all purpose thread + embroidery thread for topstitching and buttonholes

Some details:

• Topstitching was done with doubled embroidery thread
• Buttonholes – with embroidery thread, corded
• Lower edge of waistband – bound with bias tape Back double-welt pockets - I used my own technique that is a compilation of different techniques I have tried. I’ll be posting a tutorial some time soon.

These are some detailed photos of the finished product:

Conclusion: It was a lot of work to draft, fix muslins, and then make… But I am so happy how this pant turned out!

Draping / Drafting CHLOÉ Tee

The wearable muslin is finished! And it is wearable indeed!
For my wearable muslin I used 3 Mossimo for Target tissue-weight t-shirts (size XXL), on sale.

Making the unwearable muslin:
At this point I made an “overall shape” mock-up by cutting and pinning (time after time) one of DH’s oversized white t-shirts. Eventually I arrived at the muslin pieces as shown in the slideshow. Next, I added a wedge to the upper front for the cowl-neck effect. Lastly, I freehanded the stitch lines to mimic as close as possible the original design. Then I transferred the muslin to paper and trued the topstitching lines so the back and front matched.
From there, I cut out the separate pattern pieces.

This slideshow illustrates the process:

Construction:
Seams are first serged, then pressed tone side, then topstitched with a coverstitch machine (the parallel lines remain on the wrong side).
The lines that are only topstitched I first interfaced with 3/8” bias fine-knit fusible.
The neckline is faced and understitched.
Hem is folded under and topstitched.

These are photos of the WS and RS of the stitching

To do for the contest entry: I do have some tweaking to do, reposition some lines and rethink construction, but really, the style is so loose that I do not foresee any major changes. With other words, the fit was the easier part with this top. Now, I am impatiently waiting for my samples and then fabric to arrive!

CHLOÉ Exposed Seams T-Shirt

Style description (courtesy of Net-a-porter.com http://www.net-a-porter.com/am/product/31968): White cotton T-shirt with exposed contrast stitch detailing. Chloé T-shirt has short batwing sleeves and sits off the shoulder with a slightly cowl neckline. The mixture of the relaxed shape of the T-shirt with the graphic modernity of the exposed seams makes for a cool off-duty look.

This TS has been the t-shirt of my dreams for a few months now. The price tag ($495, reduced to $247.50), however, has been the why this top remained a dream, as opposed to reality.

Therefore, I decided to draft the shirt myself and enter it as a coordinating piece to the sailor pants in the My Pattern Contest.

Hotpatterns.com http://www.hotpatternsstore.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=HP&Product_Code=riv_HP1015&Category_Code=riv has a pattern for a t-shirt that has similar exposed seams as the Chloe one, however, the Hot Patterns tee is semi-fitted and has a slash neckline, while the Chloé one is slouchy by design and has a cowlneck.

Drafting the Pattern:

I've started by studying the photos closely and doing some very basic calculations: The website states that the length of the t-shirt is 27”. I compared the proportions of the photo (hem and bust circumference to length) and concluded twhat hat the bust and hem circ. should roughly be. Also, by doing some Photoshop experiments on the photos of the original shirt I think I “guessed” which pieces were cut as separate and which seams were just topstitched.

Now I'm making an “overall shape” mock-up by cutting and pinning (time after time, after time...) one of DH’s oversized white t-shirts. Will be posting pics of the muslin once I have something presentable :)