(no subject)
OK, so it really has nothing to do with the Olympics, but I thought I'd really "whip" something up. Sort of a sewing sprint instead of a spree. It was inspired by a combination of the weather forecast, and christhegeek's latest post in sew_hip. I zipped my blue pants out of my sewing machines in about 3 hours using demonically slippery nylon fabric (because I needed PJ pants to match Tiger's PJ pants, that was the deal she made me make with her). I figured if I started with the wicked fabric, I'd know what the worst problems could be making these pants. (For those of you with sergers: ROLL YOUR HEMS ON THE SERGER! Those of you with sewing machines: this is good practice for both your narrow-hem foot and your sailor's vocabulary.)
You will forgive the hammy pictures: I was using the timer on the camera, and had little control over what my kids were doing, and in fact, could not keep my son from popping into the frame most of the time with silly faces. Aw, he's cute... especially after Tiger told him I was going to post these pictures on the internet. Needless to say: most of the pictures were not salvageable.
Compare the two pants in detail:
These two large shots show the hem details from the wrong side: the nylon rolled hem and using the selvage for the bottom hem (to be disguised at a later date with something fringe-y because now that I've had some sleep, it looks HORRIBLE), and the pink cotton serged edges, using a pressed hem with mitred corners.
It took about 3 hours of cussing to get the blue nylon pants finished, and most of that was rolling the hems. It took 65 minutes from picking the colour to modelling for the camera to make the cotton pants. Most of the time I would have spent cutting the fabric was saved by tearing it across the grain (because it tears straight), and pressing the hems so I didn't have to pin them. (It is NOT necessary to pin some fabrics.) Sergers really speed things up, too. I would otherwise recommend overcasting the edges before folding and pressing and topstitching.
The waistband on the cotton pants was so easy to do. I tore a couple of 3" wide strips across the grain (fabric was 45" wide - good enough for my daughter's tiny waist), folded lengthwise and stitched to make a tube (turn, press seam along the bottom of the band for added top-stitching stability through all seam allowances). I positioned it across the top of front and back, and used the honeycomb stitch on my sewing machine. It blends really well in black thread with the print on the right side, and I've shown it here on the wrong side for contrast.
The nylon pants' waistband was evilly slippery, and required massive pinning to keep it in line... and I ended up serging the waistband (tube, pressed with seam in the MIDDLE because I just couldn't get it to sit straight along the bottom edge while I was pressing, dammit, not at 1:30am!), and serged to the RAW edge of the pants front and back. So it doesn't look as pretty... but I always pull my shirt down over my pants anyway because I still carry my pregnancy fat on my belly. (Working on it still - my son's 8 years old. It's happening, and I know it will stay happened because I'm not dieting, I'm just eating less overall.)
You will notice on the very left of that last photo the rolled hem is not rolled in that spot. I became quite adept at reinserting the more and more frayed edge of the fabric into the rolled hem foot's channel. That happened A LOT. Where it's actually folded under and stitched down, below that frayed edge, it looks GREAT. So I count these hems as a good lesson, and will continue to battle the demon nylon satin every chance I get... because it feels so good when I wear it!
Gratuitous leg-shot. That's how high the separation goes on my pants when I climb the stairs. (And that's a bluebell on my thigh, because I know someone will ask). This is the only internet-presentable ham-shot I have, so ignore the face and bad hair - today was a very humid day, and I'd just come back from a long morning at the farmers' market (I have a table and sell my sewing stuff there). These pants were light as a dream, and very, very wafty in the breeze. I won't be wearing them in public again, however. Still... I sold a good amount of stuff. I should show more skin more often... ;-)
This will have been cross-posted to my journal,
sew_hip
, and
craftgrrl
.
You will forgive the hammy pictures: I was using the timer on the camera, and had little control over what my kids were doing, and in fact, could not keep my son from popping into the frame most of the time with silly faces. Aw, he's cute... especially after Tiger told him I was going to post these pictures on the internet. Needless to say: most of the pictures were not salvageable.
Compare the two pants in detail:
These two large shots show the hem details from the wrong side: the nylon rolled hem and using the selvage for the bottom hem (to be disguised at a later date with something fringe-y because now that I've had some sleep, it looks HORRIBLE), and the pink cotton serged edges, using a pressed hem with mitred corners.
It took about 3 hours of cussing to get the blue nylon pants finished, and most of that was rolling the hems. It took 65 minutes from picking the colour to modelling for the camera to make the cotton pants. Most of the time I would have spent cutting the fabric was saved by tearing it across the grain (because it tears straight), and pressing the hems so I didn't have to pin them. (It is NOT necessary to pin some fabrics.) Sergers really speed things up, too. I would otherwise recommend overcasting the edges before folding and pressing and topstitching.
The waistband on the cotton pants was so easy to do. I tore a couple of 3" wide strips across the grain (fabric was 45" wide - good enough for my daughter's tiny waist), folded lengthwise and stitched to make a tube (turn, press seam along the bottom of the band for added top-stitching stability through all seam allowances). I positioned it across the top of front and back, and used the honeycomb stitch on my sewing machine. It blends really well in black thread with the print on the right side, and I've shown it here on the wrong side for contrast.
The nylon pants' waistband was evilly slippery, and required massive pinning to keep it in line... and I ended up serging the waistband (tube, pressed with seam in the MIDDLE because I just couldn't get it to sit straight along the bottom edge while I was pressing, dammit, not at 1:30am!), and serged to the RAW edge of the pants front and back. So it doesn't look as pretty... but I always pull my shirt down over my pants anyway because I still carry my pregnancy fat on my belly. (Working on it still - my son's 8 years old. It's happening, and I know it will stay happened because I'm not dieting, I'm just eating less overall.)
You will notice on the very left of that last photo the rolled hem is not rolled in that spot. I became quite adept at reinserting the more and more frayed edge of the fabric into the rolled hem foot's channel. That happened A LOT. Where it's actually folded under and stitched down, below that frayed edge, it looks GREAT. So I count these hems as a good lesson, and will continue to battle the demon nylon satin every chance I get... because it feels so good when I wear it!
Gratuitous leg-shot. That's how high the separation goes on my pants when I climb the stairs. (And that's a bluebell on my thigh, because I know someone will ask). This is the only internet-presentable ham-shot I have, so ignore the face and bad hair - today was a very humid day, and I'd just come back from a long morning at the farmers' market (I have a table and sell my sewing stuff there). These pants were light as a dream, and very, very wafty in the breeze. I won't be wearing them in public again, however. Still... I sold a good amount of stuff. I should show more skin more often... ;-)
This will have been cross-posted to my journal,
sew_hip
, and
craftgrrl
.