Butterrick B5504 A wearable muslin

 They don't look to bad.  Actually they fit better than anything I've sewn for myself, however there are a few problems.  They feel 1 size to big.  Looking at the finished measurements I almost think I could go down another size. They feel a little fluffy right around the tummy and while I'm glad that they hide my tummy, I don't think I need quite that much fabric in front.

One common complaint about Connie Crawford patterns is they're very boxy, and this one is no different.  I don't know of anybody, no matter what size, who's waist is as wide as their hips.  I know on drawstring or elastic waists, it needs to be wide to be able to pull the pants up over the hips but still I don't need 8 inches of ease in the waist.   I tried to take out some of that excessive room by doing some hip shaping, but didn't consider how that was going to affect the drawstring casing.  I have some puckering in the casing on the side seams where it didn't want to fold over nicely, but once I have the drawstring tied, it's not so noticeable because the drawstring puckers everything.

Still a little to much room in the waist.  At least 6 inches.

Alterations that worked:  Shortened the crotch depth 3/4 of an inch.  I liked that the pattern already took into account a tilted waist, so the center back was cut higher than the center front and I didn't have to fuss to much with trying to adjust where the waistband fell, but I do think I could take maybe another 1/4" off both front and back.  I shortened them to carpi length.  The original pattern, straight out of the envelop, was almost long enough to be regular pants.


Alterations that didn't work:  Hip shaping, although it helped take out some of the fullness in the waist; it left puckers in the waistband.  If I try going down 1 size I'll leave the hip shaping out because the smaller size will have a smaller waist.

Other alterations I'd like to make:  I really like to make this into a zipper fly with button closure, like jeans.  I might have a better chance doing that with a smaller size.

Bottom line:  I wouldn't be embarrassed to wear them in public, but I think there's still work to do.

The Elroy Route

I am very good at making the simple way more complicated than it needs to be.  I excel at over thinking to the point that I will add 3 or 4 extra steps that weren't needed.  I am a pro at taking the long way around and finishing a task that could've been done in a shorter time period.

In our house we call it, The Elroy Route.  Elroy is my uncle, and has been known for taking very strange routes to get from point A to point B, often getting lost in the process and is to stubborn to ask for help.  I just took The Elroy Route in sewing.

I'm am working on this pair of pants.  It has a drawstring waistband that's incorporated into the pattern piece as extra fabric above the actual waistline and you just fold it over and sew it shut.  Those who sew will know what I'm talking about.

When I made my test pair it was very clear that I needed to drop the waistline because it was to high.  I'm not making old man pants.  Taking what I learned last year about dropping the waistline, I put a piece of elastic around my waist, adjusted the pants where I wanted them to sit, traced around the bottom of the elastic and proceed to cut a new waistline on the pattern.  I was smart enough to factor in the extra fabric for the casing, however because I had just changed the shape of the waistline now I have a strange shaped casing.

I puzzled over what to do next for a while, and finally pulled out the directions to see if I was missing something.  Boy was I, and if I had bothered to read the directions first I would've saved myself a lot of time and trouble.

See that line that says crotch depth adjustment line?  That's there for a reason.  It wasn't the waistline I need to adjust, it was the crotch depth.  All I had to do was slash the pattern along that line and drop the top part down about 2 inches.  This would've kept the waist casing intact and kept the pattern notches in the same place for the matching pieces like the pockets and pocket facing.

So now to fix this I need to go back and retrace the original pattern with the original waistline and drop the crotch depth.  See 3-4 extra steps that weren't needed.  It's a good thing we learn from our mistakes, because this is one I don't want to make again.

B5504 Pants adjustments

Last night I got to thinking about this pair of pants and realized there were other issues that needed to be fixed along with the waistband issues.  I remembered I had these issues last year but couldn't remember what I did to fix them.  So for future reference, here's what needs to be fixed and how.

Here's what I need to do to remove some of the drag wrinkles. I need to do this first because it will affect where the waistband sits.  I had some problems with this last year because every time I adjusted the balance lines, it dropped the crotch.  So I might have to pick between the lesser of the two.  I'd rather have the crotch line where I want it with the drag lines, that no drag lines and a crotch that feels to low.

In this picture you can see what the drag wrinkles look like from the back.  Also as mentioned before I need to do a knock knee adjustment.  Here's what I'll be doing to fix wrinkles around the back of the knee.

I still haven't figured out what to do with the waist yet.  I'm thinking a wider waistband with some hip shaping, and see if I can use the front seams to hide a dart.  I want to remove some of the fullness around the waist before I figure out if it should be a drawstring or a zipper fly.

Connie Crawford B5504 Pattern Review

I've been looking at ready to wear styles similar to this.  I like the style but I was a little reluctant to
use a Connie Crawford pattern.  I tried a Connie Crawford before and didn't like anything about it.  The proportions were terrible.  Too big in the waist and hips, and sharply tapered down to the ankle.  It looked like she was trying to design skinny jeans for someone with very wide hips.  Not a good look.

Knowing this about the last pattern I thought I better make a muslin to see if it was worth it.  Actually they don't look to bad.  I can add a little length and make them into pants or I can shorten them for capris.

It looks like I need to do a knock knee adjustment and figure what to do with the waist.  As you can see I need to remove some of the extra fabric in the front waist and you can't really see it in the back, but there's some that needs to come off there too.  I haven't figured out how to do this and still keep the drawstring casing in tact, or if I should put some darts in put in a zipper fly.  I really want to try and avoid darts if I can.  So I'm kind of stuck at this point.

Sewing Work Pants

I work on a sod farm in the summer and so my work clothes are clothes that I don't mind getting grease, dirt, grass stains, etc. on  Last year I made a pair that got lots of wear and would still have them to wear this summer if they hadn't gotten caught in a piece of equipment and a giant hole ripped in them.  So I decided it was time to make another pair for this summer.  This is the same pattern as last year's but with a few tweeks. The ones I made last year worked really well, but there were somethings I wasn't totally happy with.

The above pics are last year's pants from a patten I drafted myself.  The crotch felt a little low, the legs were uneven (which wasn't noticeable when they were worn long, but when I rolled them up to capri length you could tell they slanted up on the inseam) and the tabs that held the rolled cuffs in place were to long and were constantly getting caught on the shift lever when I rode in the tractor, and I placed the pockets to low (they look to be around knee level).  

Those were the issues I wanted to correct in this pair.  To fix the crotch I took about a 1/2"  off the front waist.  I fixed the crooked inseam by slightly widening the leg and shifting the lower half of the leg toward the inseam by a 1/2".  Instead of buttons, I went with D-ring for the tabs and raised them to slightly above the knee so when I roll the cuffs into capris, the cuff will fall just below the knee and the tabs are just long enough to be pulled though the D-rings about an inch, and because I raised the tabs, I also raised the cargo pockets and used the pockets to secure the side seam tabs.   I'm happy with this pair, although I think they're kind of baggy in the butt (I think I've lost some weight in the hips and backside because I didn't change anything in those areas) and I think I'll go back to buttons for the tabs.  The D-rings are a little hard to fumble around with.

 

 

Next I'm working on this pattern. 

Organizing the sewing room

Sewing room mess

My sewing room is a mess.  To be honest it's a very small area with lots of sewing supplies shoved in there and very little to no storage space, so stuff gets piled wherever I can find room.  I've been wanting to organize it for a long time, but every effort I made just seemed to make things worse.

For some time, I've been perusing Pinterest; longing for a bigger sewing room, but that won't happen for a few more years, so I needed to look into craft room organization.  I ran across this great pin about storing fabrics on mini bolts. 

I started by cutting down some cardboard boxes, but decided it would be kind of pain to have to hunt down cardboard every time I bought more fabric. There are items out there made just for this purpose but they can be kind of pricy. After some research I found these acid free boards in packs of 100 for under $20 on Amazon. I bought the magazine size for cuts larger than 1 yard and the 6.75" x 10.5" for cuts under a yard. The smaller ones (I haven't received yet) I'll cut in half for minibolts and they'll be perfect for fat quarters.

Tagged and serged.  This fabric is ready to use

I also needed a way to identify the fabric content, since I buy fabric and might not use it for months or even years; it's imposable to remember if it was cotton, a cotton/poly blend or something else entirely and the percentages of blends. I solved this problem with those DIY business cards you can buy at any office supply store. Each bolt has an attached card that has the fiber content, yardage, and fabric width written on it. And since I can't remember if I pre-washed a fabric I have a system for that too. Before pre-washing, I serge the raw edges to keep them from raveling in the washing machine. So now when I look at my fabric stash, if I see the raw edges are serged, I know it's been washed and ready to use.

I'm still stuck in a tiny space, but once I get my fabrics organized it shouldn't feel so small. Next I need to work on finding a place to store full bolts. Hubby's working on some sort of system to hang them from the ceiling.

Fabric cabinet organized with lots of room to add more, and I still have fabric in bins that need to be organized

The Leprechaun Tree

I was going through some old photos looking for something and I ran across this photo of what we call The Leprechaun Tree.

The Leprechaun Tree on my parents farm

My parents have this tree in the woods behind their house. 

They went for a walk in the woods with my kids when they were little and my dad convinced them that a leprechaun lived in the hole at the base of the tree.  There was even a little fire pit, table made of stone, a bed,  and some treasures inside the hole of the tree. 

Every time the kids went to Grandma's they would ask to go out to the leprechaun tree and see what treasures he had for them.  Sometimes it was little trinkets, sometimes it was chocolate coins.  This went on for a few years until they were old enough to realize it was Grandma & Grandpa who were leaving the leprechaun's gifts for them to find. 

My kids are teenagers now, and don't go out to the leprechaun tree any more, but he's still there.