Baggy Trousers

Sing a long with me....

No? Not a Madness fan then?

This post isn't really about songs by Madness, although I do like to relive the 80's and listen to the best of every now and again. It's more about the start to 2021; how we are coping with Lockdown and the most recent of my makes - yes you guessed it - baggy trousers.

2021 didn't start off quite as I envisioned it. I knew before Christmas that it would be strange at work as the goverment here announced, the day before we broke up for the holidays, that schools would be carrying out lateral flow tests in January. This caused a lot of stress for the senior leaders. However by the time new year had passed it was clear that things were going to change rapidly.

 

My school had a training day on the first day of term and it was virtual. This was a blessing, but before the end of that day we knew that the schools would be closed for at least half a term. Thus started the madness of planning and scheduling lessons for children to complete at home. As an art teacher, this is a bit tricky as many students don't have art materials at home. Some of my students were midway through a ceramics project (which I am now dyring and firing on the days when I'm in school). I have had to rething my curriculum, prepare resources, answer questions online, run live lessons and teach face to face on the days when I'm in school. I have struggled to switch off from work and have found hours in front of a computer draining and more than a bit soul destroying - those of you who work like this all the time - I don't know how you do it.

 

However, I have tried to get out for a brisk walk early on the days I work from home and try to watch the sunrise over the bay. It sets me up well and helps keep my spirits up. I am turning off my computer at a set time and I haven't put work emails on my phone. I need to switch off!!!!

To keep my mental wellbeing good I need to get outside and excercise and have also started doing some short (30 mins) fitness classes. It's really helping. Having the dog to walk is a positive too. During my weekends I try to do a bit of sewing, but I've decided to keep this slow and steady. In the last month I have completed 3 items. and that's only because of the christmas holidays.

First up is a long sleeved asymmetric t shirt, which I first made several years ago and promised myself another one. The fabric was from Minerva (in exchange for a review, which you can read here) and is navy and white striped. this was a super quick make and I sewed it up on Boxing Day afternoon. It's already been worn quite a few times.

 

 

I've also made the TAL Apron dress, but have only just finished it and have no photos as yet, so more on that in a future post. 

 

My slow sewing make has been these Burda 6856 trousers. These are also a Minerva Makers project and you can find all the details here.

I planned to make these well over a year ago, I'd bought the pattern and some lovely heavy wool fabric with the intention of making the high waisted version. However after an unsuccessful toile I opted for the wide leg version, which you can read about here. I knew I wanted to try this version, but also knew it would need some serious alterations.

Before beginning I reduced the width of the fron darts by 2 inches - taking out a whopping 4 inches of ease, that I don't really need around my upper thigh. This was a good call and I think the fullness of the resulting trousers is about right.

I basted the waistband together. It fitted perfectly, but didn't have any lining and I would have struggled to wear anything tucked in. So I decided to let the seams out just a mm or two and just at the upper edge - these trousers hit my ribcage, which is quite broad compared with my waist. However, I over did it and they are now a touch too loose. I think in future I will look for a fabric with a hint of stretch to create a snug but comfortable waistband.

 

The legs are quite long, but I kept them at the original length and just rolled the up - I have a habit of shortening trousers by too much. I actually like these far more than I thought I would, they care comfy and cool and take me back to that 80's vibe, they are also slightly punky, especially when teamed with my vivienne westwood t-shirt and red docs.

A Touch of Colour

WARNING: PHOTO HEAVY POST - this may take time to load!!!

Some of my long time readers will know that I delve into the world of all things creative - it's just who I am. As well as my love for making clothes I am a passionate artist. I love colour and I love to create. I can get lost in art work creation, far more than I do in any other media. However, it takes up a massive amount of space. I don't have my own studio and the dining table and back yard are more often my pop-up studio spaces. This means that I tend to have short bursts of art making as the family like to be able to eat their dinner and the washing needs to dry somewhere too (I use the airer for my prints and paintings).

In those quiet days between Christmas and new year, while the weather was poor and everyone had eaten far too much to worry about what was on the table, I made art. I was prolific. I worked on over 20 pieces!!!!

Don't misunderstand, I did not create this many pieces from scratch. I began by experimenting im my sketchbook with some abstract forms. I haven't done this type of work for some time and it shows - I used to work in a purely abstract way some years ago and I'm drawn to shape, colour, line and texture. I used a few small tubes of acrylic, posca pens and oil pastel. I had forgotten how much I love working with oil pastel. It must be one of my favourite drawing media.

The next day I raided my portfolio of unfinished work. Some of this stuff had been in their for 4 or more years and was begging for a new lease of life. Some of this work I cut up.

I wasn't really happy with the collages so stopped and instead pulled out the paint, pastels and paint pens again. I limited the paints to just a few colours and instead tried to focus on my use of the pastel.

When I work like this, I don't feel precious about the work. These are pieces that I feel are not working or lack some form direction. As I start to work, 

I look for the shapes that the original suggests to me. As I work on them some are successful, some aren't. Some I love, some I don't. Although I often find other people love the ones that I don't like.

Many of the original pieces were monotypes. some were abstract in nature as I had experiemented with using a Gelli plate - I still haven't quite got into using this thechnique. Others were more traditional oil based monotypes created on perspex. I love the long working times of this technique, but that means drying times are long too. Many of these had a more landscpae feel about them, as they had been created during my Seaspace project. The original surface really did determine the materials I used on top. The oil pastels work well on the oil based monotypes, and the paint pens are better on the Gelli printed work.

I let the shapes and colours of the original dictate the form and shapes of the layers that I added. Often sitting for a few minutes before adding anything. Letting one piece dry while I added to another. Some had only a few marks added, others had several layers. Many ended up feeling like abstracted landscapes.

I have shared just a few of them here (When work settles a little I'll actually try to get some of this stuff posted as an online gallery). I wonder which is your favourite?