Be careful what you ask for LOL!

This is why they're not TNT ! Isn't it awful, though - I don't mind wearing them to work but didn't want to post on the blog where you guys would see them and think 'OMG she goes out in public like that !' LOL :-)

So, here is the back in all its horribleness - I don't know how to fix it yet, but some of the comments on PatternReview have been that I could get rid of the diagonals by shifting the leg, but the horizontals are likely caused by my posture (locked knees) rather than the pattern - have to play with the pattern a bit - I need the space to sit and move but I may be able to lessen the horizontals a little (maybe a tiny Flat Butt Adjustment?).

I'll document the process and we'll see if it works.

L to R - original, first adjustments, two final versions (btw - they are all the same pants - just different lighting conditions)

04-2009-119 - 2nd version

This is what I did for the past 2 weekends. I liked my original version for dressy pants but don't like wide legs as a regular thing. Rather than start with a new pattern, I decided to try to narrow the legs on this pattern - in hindsight it may have been easier to start with a pattern closer to the shape I wanted.

Anyway, I narrowed the legs by 1.25 inches on both the inseam and outseam. The amount of wrinkles was staggering ! Tweaking included scooping the crotch .5 inch, shortening the back crotch extension by .75 inch, flattening the hip seam to get rid of the jodphur look, and loosening the knee by a total of 1" to see if it would help any of the wrinkles drop. They're comfy, but I'm hoping for some help to get rid of under-butt wrinkles so you're only getting the front shot :-)

You see it's not about me but all about my little girl ! LOL She was NOT giving up the spotlight !


I used Sandra Betzina's fly tutorial. Need to remember to make the underlap a bit wider though. ...and the bit of color ?


Cotton for the inner waistband and the underlap.

I'm happy with the wearability but they're not a TNT yet.

Market Bag

I haven't yet made any progress on my current sewing project, and in case I don't get very far with it today, I finally snapped a pic of my market bag. I found the instructions for this on Liana's blog a long time ago and started it then. The bag was done very quickly up to starting the strap and stopped. Probably got distracted - 'almost finished' items seem to be my nemesis :-)

Anyway, after finishing the last pair of socks, I decided to get moving on clean up and finished this bag as well as using up a 1 lb worsted weight yarn (that was just sitting around and taking up space )for a baby afghan - well, in the interest of full disclosure, the afghan is 'almost done' LOL The yarn ran out and it's a bit smaller than I would like, so I'm going to edge the off-white blanket with a dusty rose color (it will clear out another stash ball of yarn while I'm at it). About 1-2" of sc should do it, I think.

So, here's the bag. I used a crochet cotten and only one ball. I followed the original pattern to the top of the bag and, like Liana, did a 10 st garter stitch strap, although I just did the strap til the cotton ran out and then tacked it to the other side of the bag. One thing I've recently learned is that slipping the first stitch of each row makes a neater edge - tried it on the strap an am pretty happy with it.



...and another pic of my favorite model of late. Given a stick to chew, Alex hides with it til it's gone; Skippy wanders around with it like it's a cigar til he finds just the right spot on the carpet to settle.

Let's pretend

that it's last weekend and I'm posting about the 'baby stuff' on time - LOL Yes, I finally finished the baby gift sewing and on time too. The baby's not due for a couple of weeks yet. I didn't really have a plan in mind of what I wanted to make other than a couple of crib sheets. Apparently, mommy doesn't prefer the pastel babyish items that are readily available. I went to Fabricville, picked up a couple of non-pastel flannel prints and figured I'd make whatever I could get out of what was left over once they were pre-washed (lost lots of length there !) and once the crib sheets were cut out. In total, I made... 3 crib sheets 5 receiving blankets 8 double sided burp cloths Here's the whole pile (less the 3 receiving blankets that were actually finished in time for the shower)

2 receiving blankets - purchased ones are pretty skimpy. I made these as large a square as I could - about 40" x 40". I also used decorative stitches for the first time. Boy, I never filled so many bobbins ! The burp cloths are approx 11" x 18", each of them backed with white and decorative topstitching. And finally, the crib sheets. Those elastics gave me fits but I eventually got 'em on with the regular SM and a zigzag stitch. I didn't have it in me to turn the elastics under and stitch again but I have sheets with the elastic applied like this and they've held up really well. Hopefully these will too.

...still working on my own weekend project - today I fitted, basted, took pics, pin fit some more, basted some more, took more pics and finally decided enough is enough. I started seaming, pressing, serging, etc and made progress but didn't finish. Yet.

I sewed today !

All day. But I'm slow so that means I've only got a project cut and mostly basted. I might have something to post tomorrow. There were 'on the fly' adjustments to the pattern so my next post may be for a wadder/muslin rather than a wearable item. Time will tell.