A refashion, a pair of Ultimate trousers and a pair of Jamie jeans

Well, I've been shamed into writing this post by my weekly Me Made may postings. Having to write 'unblogged' too many times! So lets get down to reporting on the backlog. I don't often sew refashions but here's something I have had in my wardrobe for years and haven't worn. The price tag is still attached to it, for heaven's sake! But I liked the fabric so I wanted to make a new top with it, something that would actually get worn...

The fabric is 100% polyester but it behaved itself very well. Here's the 'before' top accessorised with its price tag:

Perfectly nice top. So I used the legendary New Look 6217 . How I love that pattern! Pattern placement is the thing with this fabric. After unpicking the side seams and chopping off the shoulders, v-neck and sleeves there was enough to get the pattern pieces cut out. But there was not enough for the sleeves so I traced a front sleeve and back sleeve pattern piece. Here's a challenge for you, let's play 'spot the sleeve seam' in this photo (I did absolutely no pattern matching for these sleeves):

Nope? I'll point it out for you:

I liked the border print along the hem so I didn't cut the curved pattern hem. I also added side seam slits:

And here's the back, showing the centred pattern placement:

I had a think about how to finish the neck as the pattern uses bias binding. That would be too bulky for this fine fabric so I drafted back and front neck facings to give good support to the neck area. I used soft dark grey iron-on interfacing and the facings have worked a treat. I used the overlocker throughout, except where I couldn't avoid it - topstitching the side seam slits.

So, all in all, I'm really pleased with my new top and happy I've done something with an unworn top that's been hanging in my wardrobe for literally years! Now onto the trousers and here's my play on words for you! I've actually sewn a pair of Ultimate trousers in stretch black suiting and another pair in stretch grey suiting:

I used fabric bought from John lewis and used the overlocker to run them up. Honestly they didn't take much time and they've been washed and worn a lot! Don't you just need some good solid basics? There's not much more to say about these, pretty unremarkable but I really like them.

Now onto the Named Jamie jeans. Again, I've made two pairs, one in stretch black denim and another from stretch black fine needlecord, both fabrics bought from John Lewis. These are also pretty unremarkable too as I've got my adjustments fairly well sorted out. I do have to confess though, that the black needlecord ones will be heading to the charity shop as I mucked up the waistband and made it too small. They've also shrunk slightly in the wash and are now (in my mind) just slightly too short in the legs. I pre-washed my fabrics before cutting out so this was more shrinking going on. Some you win, some you lose! 

Ultimate trousers in a natural habitat

Well, I've steeled myself to take the tripod outside and take photos for my blog. This is the September challenge for the 'Better Pictures Project' by Gillian from Crafting a Rainbow. This post is really more about the taking better photos outside than about the latest pair of Ultimate trousers I've just made. However, the trousers were a work in progress that I abandoned in July/early August and ignored, then picked up yesterday, tried them on and decided they were worth finishing. Worth blogging about but dark trousers don't make interesting photographs!

The fabric is cotton with a small percentage of lycra in it. I bought it from Mandors in Glasgow when we were there in April. It has a dark denim finish to it but isn't as thick as denim. In hindsight (isn't it a wonderful thing?!) this fabric would be much better as a blouse or dress rather than trousers. They're summer trousers and I hope I'll get a couple of weeks to wear them before autumn really takes hold and I have to put them away till next year.

I did a really stupid thing when making these trousers. I basted one of the side seams and the crotch seam with white tacking thread, tried them on and then overlocked the seams. Yes, I overlocked over the white tacking thread. This was the point I abandoned them!

For some reason, I tried them on again yesterday. It was make or break time! So it was out the seam ripper and unpicking the white tacking thread. There's a lesson I've learnt!

So that's the trousers. Now for the September challenge of the Better Pictures Project. Find a new location less than 5 minutes from your home to take your blog photos. Good challenge. I took these in the communal garden near the flat and upped the stress levels by doing this beside a main road and busy bus route. I then wimped out a bit by doing this on a Sunday morning so only a few people were walking along the pavement. They didn't seem to bother about me and my tripod!

The first few photos I took I used a lovely stone wall as a background. I don't think they were very interesting and I posed quite awkwardly but that could be because they were the first photos I'd taken outdoors by myself. These were also in full daylight, albeit cloudy. What do you think?

The photos I like are the ones I did underneath a sycamore tree. You can see the leaves on the ground. Autumn is coming! I think being under the tree seems to have given a better light. Hey I'm no expert photographer! I also like the 'action shots' but I think it was luck that made this a good freeze-frame photo. It could have gone either way!

I used the self-timer on my ipad and set it to 10 seconds. I tried the 3 second one but that's too little and those photos were deleted.

Here's a back view of the dark trousers and black jersey top. Recognise the snood? The light has highlighted the wrinkles on the back legs, they're not that bad in reality. I haven't used any filters or photo editing software or apps. I'll be interested when we get to that month! The photos against the wall seem a bit bleached out, while the other photos have a good level of colour in them.

So, to round up. This has been a good challenge and made me think about how I take photos in the future. One thing though, Saturday was pouring with rain here so it'll be interesting to see how the weather affects the limited time I have free to take photos during the winter months. We'll see how that goes. I really enjoyed doing this challenge and it's given me the kick up the b******* to go and do something about improving my blog photos! I'm looking forward to learning more in the next few months.

Merlot Ultimate trousers

Yes, I've made another pair of Ultimate trousers. and they're in a merlot...burgundy...wine...colour, whatever you like to call it is fine by me. I do like the Ultimate pattern and I think I've got to the stage where it's just little tweakings that need to be made. The inches I've added to the rise and the legs are now perfect.

The fabric is one I bought last week from Remnant Kings in Edinburgh. It's a polyester and does stretch quite a bit in all directions! There's not a scrap of natural fibre in it. But I LOVE the colour. I don't think they're for winter but they're fine for now.

I've been using my new overlocker so the inside seams are finished neatly. I still sewed the side seam containing the zip with my sewing machine. I think it's good to use the seam allowances as reinforcement for the zip. I also haven't worked out how to overlock only part of a seam, maybe it's obvious but not to me yet!

 Here's a close-up of the overlocked neat innards! I attached the facing to the trouser waist by overlocking so I'm pleased with that and with the finish it produced. I used the sewing machine to undersew the facing and the overlocked seam allowance. That turned out well and reduced a lot of the bulk usually in this area.

There's not much more to say about these trousers except I'm reasonably pleased with them and have a strong suspicion they'll grow on me the more I wear them!

Ultimate trousers and a bat-wing sleeved top

Hello there! I'm still blogging some items I finished and took on my holidays. There's even more to come. This is a 'doubler post', showing you a pair of Ultimate trousers I've made before, and also a top I've made before here and here.

And...here's another holiday photo of me, complete with C's thumb in the frame, this time outside the Pousada at Cascais on the last day of our holiday. What a beautiful place! Full of palm trees which I like very much as it makes me feel I'm in another country. We ate some very good fish here.

I'm wearing my second pair of Ultimate trousers, this time in a beige stretch cotton fabric I pre-washed before cutting out. I think there's about 2% or 3% lycra content. It was good to work with. I did the same alterations when cutting out as I had done for the black pair. This is definitely a pattern I'll be making again and again and again....

Now for the top which for me is, quite frankly, the star of the show here! Quite bright, isn't it? Very 'me'! I bought this fabric from Mandors in Glasgow when we were there for a weekend break in April. Well, we went to Glasgow for the break, not Mandors....but then again, if Mandors did holidays...! The fabric is a 100% viscose fabric and quite fine. I've got a camisole top underneath this as I think it would be a bit transparent in the sunshine. I pre-washed the fabric before cutting out.

It took ages for me to decide which pattern or what garment to make. I love this fabric so I really didn't want to mess it up. It was such a cheap fabric, £3.99 a metre and 150cm wide, but I love the pattern and colours. I wanted to keep the cutting and the number of seams to a minimum so eventually I decided on view D from the vintage Style 3982 from 1982.


I keep coming back to this pattern and I've made it before for my Vintage Pattern Sewing Pledge here and here. Must be a good one!

This is one of those times you feel you've made the right choice of pattern for the fabric. I stabilised the shoulder seams with some cotton tape as the fabric's very fine. Apart from that, it was a relatively simple sew. I turned over the neck edge twice and machine stitched it so it won't stretch out with wearing and washing. Oh, and of course, I had to start cutting it out and sewing it up 2 days before the holiday departure. And I worked the day before we left. Is this typical of sewists?

I love both of these garments and know I'll wear them a lot. Definitely worth the time spent sewing them!

Black 'Ultimate' Trousers

Black trousers....em...difficult to photograph

Have you sewn a pair of 'Ultimate' trousers yet? I've finally got round to finishing my first pair. I can now see why everyone's loving them! I bought the pattern through John Lewis with their very handy Click and Collect service.

So, how did I get on with trousers for normal height people? Basically I measured all the important bit and compared with the pattern envelope, which extremely helpfully gives you the finished inside leg measurement, hurray! not all patterns do this. I added 1" to the length of the rise and a total of 6", yes that's six inches, to the leg length. Just to be clear, I split this leg lengthening to 3" above the knee and 3" below the knee.

I chose a 97% cotton 3% lycra fabric, to me it seems like it's bordering on a denim and would be suitable for jeans. I just wanted a little bit of stretch for comfort plus the benefit of better recovery in bum and knee areas.

These are fitted trousers with a side zip and waist facings. There's nothing complicated about them apart from getting the fit right, something that's worth spending time on. I did and it paid off.

View of the insides!

The body fit is good but I feel the legs could be cut in a size smaller next time, and yes there will be a next time for these trousers. The only thing I need to alter is where I add the additional leg length because I don't feel like I've added enough length above the knee. I find it really difficult working out where the knee is on the pattern, any ideas how to do this 'cos I'm a bit stuck? When I'm walking, I can feel the upper thigh dragging a bit so I wonder if the length from body to knee is just a smidgeon short? That's my best guess so if anyone knows better, please let me know.

Reasonably good darts & waist facings top-stitched

I'm wearing these trousers today on their maiden voyage along with my Julia cardigan and it's great having an almost complete me-made outfit. Love it! So it's a good sign that whatever is wrong with my leg lengthening isn't putting me off wearing them. I like neat, simple trousers like these so I will make more of them, in fact there's the stone coloured version of this fabric at home, just crying out to be made into a pair! Anyone else got a pair of Ultimate trousers made for the summer?