Two Issues

It's barely 7:00 and I've just gotten back from driving my youngest son to work so he could book off Boxing Day for our turkey dinner. The ability only opened up today and operates on a first come, first serve basis so we wanted to get there early. He came out with a coffee - for him. I can actually drink McDonald's coffee (it isn't rolled in flour) and I know lots of people who love it. I'm not one of them. I'm a Starbucks girl. That said, I am...

... amazed at the number of people who buy coffee on the way to work. It seems like everyone you see is carrying a cup of something. What happened to brewing your own? It tastes way better and it's certainly less expensive. When "we" talk about the things that have changed from "the good old days", we're often talking electronics. I see so many changes in how people interact. There's less living in our homes which is, in my opinion, a loss.




I'm working on the Vogue 1186 pants. This is one of the patterns from my Self Imposed Sewing Club. If I get them finished in time, I'll wear them with the grey ribbed top to the party on Friday night. It's a group of girls (women now) from my grad class getting together for an appetizer night. I'm also singing with the worship team on Sunday morning and can wear them there too. I love a new outfit - YES YES

The legs are really WIDE. I decided to muslin the style first to check fit and to decide if I liked the leg width on me. There are two jars of spool ends on my thread shelf. I use them for basting, hand stitching, and sewing muslins. It's amazing how much thread is still on the spool when you think it's almost done. I sewed the whole muslin from one beige end. It's equally amazing how the jar never empties. There are always new spool ends to join the ranks.

See that red line? See how it forms a V? It's supposed to be horizontal, marking the hip level. There are two issues. One is not enough ease. The pants are skin tight and bunched up at the side waist. The other is there's not enough crotch depth at the back. In the front...




... the line doesn't point upward nearly as much. It's only because of the ease. The crotch depth could be lowered slightly but not significantly. I have what's called a High Front Low Back - in other words a really angled crotch line. If you link through to the previous post, you can read more about it. It's been an ah ha for a lot of women.




The side seam cannot hang straight and even because of the lack of ease and the incorrect angle of the crotch depth. When pants are sitting right at the waist and the hip and fitting correctly through the crotch, the side seam hangs straight.

When I cut out this muslin, I chose the size based on the finished measurements. Apparently that didn't work. I also took my usual 1" off the hip depth and based on the results I didn't need to do that this time. It seems as if the pattern was designed to sit just below the waist and it was designed with the tipped waist line that I have. Nice to know. Don't you love the angles on the yoke?

For the real thing, I went up a size and drafted 1" side seams for adjustment room. I didn't take out the 1" from the hip depth however, I did compare the resulting crotch depths before cutting and raised the crotch depth on my pattern. I'll explain more about that tomorrow.

I'm hoping to get some time to sew today, at least tonight if Wendy comes as usual. This morning, I'm baking butter tarts and decorating the house. Just some ornaments. Not the tree. Tarts, decorations, and eggnog are our December 1st traditions. You can see some of my favourite ornaments in last year's posting, Christmas Memories.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - this pants pattern is a quick sew and may actually be done on time BUT... if not... I have a skirt that will look equally wonderful so there's no rush. I love not rushing.