Going Green

 

I have had a few projects in mind that required drill fabric. When Minerva offered me the chance to review this cotton drill, I made those projects a reality. First up was a utility kilt for my husband.

Last year he bought a bright blue one last year, thinking it was a little darker than it was. Of course, when it arrived I studied the construction and announced that I could make him one, and make it better - TBH it was very crudely made! 

I asked him what he liked about it and what he didn’t. He announced that although he liked the pockets, the loosely attached one was annoying. So I went for a welt pocket on the back and D rings added to the belt loops so an additional pocket/ bag could be added if required. He also asked for a slightly longer length. 

The purchased one had all the pleats stitched down in order to prevent them from falling out and this is wise in this type of fabric. I used the basic measurement of the original one to guide my making of the green drill one. This fabric is a little lighter than the original and needed some interfacing in the waistband.

I started with the centre back of the skirt. Each half was measured and the fabric was cut to length following the grain. I halved the fabric on the cross grain and used about 3m of length. This was less than I thought (look out for my next make!). The pieces were joined to make a long 6m by 70cm strip.

The hem was created first, using a double fold to encase raw edges. This was then pinned into pleats, pressed down and stitched in the front and reverse of the fabric. The original had some grading in towards the waist, but as my hubby has narrower hips than the waist I kept the skirt straight. The top 15cm of each pleat was stitched down to create a yoke effect. 

I then added a single welt pocket on the back. Making this nice and deep as he has a habit of losing things from them falling out of pockets! The apron pieces at the front were temporarily pinned to approximately the correct width while the waistband was made.

The waistband included buckle straps at each end, Belt loops anchored in the seam and a couple of button holes to thread the inner strap through to allow it to be fastened on the outside. Once the length was checked the inner waistband was added and it was top stitched in place. The belt loops were secured and an additional strap was added to the top of the skirt to enable the hip to be adjusted.

The belt loops were added at the correct place and I used 5mm eyelets in the holes. 

The fabric is perfect for a lighter-weight utility kilt for the warmer months. It was a joy to sew with as it pressed really well and kept its shape - perfect for pleats. It also didn’t stretch out too much when sewing and was beautifully stable.

I just need to add the removable pocket bag, but I’m still waiting for the hardware to arrive. My hubby is loving rocking this and it will also go well with the waistcoat I made him last year as part of his punk suit.

The second make from the bottle green cotton drill is a pair of cargo trousers. I have been loving the cargo pants trend, but I was struggling to find a pattern that suited my needs so I drafted my own.

I had just less than 2m of the fabric left after making the utility kilt. Perfect for a pair of trousers!

Most of the patterns I had seen for cargo trousers were fitted waistbands and wide legs. While I love that aesthetic I wanted something more casual. My aim was to create a relaxed fit with a slight balloon shape and be ankle grazing. I wanted pockets and an elastic waist with a drawcord. 

When the cotton drill first arrived I thought it might be a little too stiff, but once it was washed it softened up really well, while still keeping a crisp pressed edge, which made these a dream to sew.

I had never drafted and sewn up a pattern without checking it and doing at least 3 toiles. However, I was confident that my drafting was good I decided to take a risk and go for it!

I used Metric Pattern Cutting for Womenswear by Winifred Aldrich. I drafted the easy-fitting trousers and used my measurements, rather than relying on the standard sizes. These are trousers designed to be made into baggy pants or dungarees.

Once I had the draft I traced the block, lowering the waist by 4cm and shortening the length to be at the high ankle. I added a slight balloon length to the side seams and tapered the ankle by a couple of centimetres. I then measured the waist seam before cutting a waistband. Here I nearly made an error. As I’m not a standard size - my hips are much bigger than my waist - I realised that the waist was not quite big enough for my hips. Not an issue if you are adding a zip but a big issue if the trousers are pulled on. I widened the waist seam by 1cm both front and back with equated to a 4cm increase, which was enough to get these over my butt.

I walked the seams and trued all the measurements, constructed slanted hip pockets and drafted a back patch pocket and an inverted pleat pocket and flap.

I interfaced the pocket flap and buttonholes with some lightweight interfacing. The fabric didn’t need anything in the waist due to it being elasticated. The wide elastic was stitched in place to stop it twisting in the casing and a cord threaded through the buttonholes.

I was actually pleasantly surprised with these. I expected there to be several issues that would need to be sorted, but they are pretty much as I intended. I haven't drafted anything in ages. I think I might try it again soon. Meanwhile, I have a cool pair of cargo trousers that has taken me through cooler summer days and into the autumn.

 

 

 

Trousers Toile Take Two

So after the horror that was my first attempt at fitted trousers, I decided to draft my own. I used metric pattern cutting for women's wear by Aldrich.

I compared my measurements with the size charts. My hips are two sizes bigger than my waist. So I just used my own measurements rather than going from the chart. I used the instructions for the close fitting trousers and jeans (please excuse the foreshortenting on the photos, my legs are not this short).

The first attempt was better, but I'd sewn wrong sides together and ended up with some seams inside out. There were still some issues.

The fit at the front was better, but the sides at the hip were too big and the waist at the back was also too big. Not to mention the large amount of excess fabric in the back. Initially I pinched out a wedge under the butt, but decided to look at the crotch curve first.

I scooped out more room, both on the front and the back, using some trousers that fit me well as a template. The fit seems to be more comfortable.

You can see that there is still some fabric under the butt and the back waistband is too low.
You can also see that my calf is quite extended this is causing some of the issues in the back.
The waist is still a bit big, which means the front is slipping down a little, which doesn't help the front crotch line.

I pinned out the excess under the butt and folded this out of the pattern.

I also pinned out the vertical excess in the back thigh and transferred this to my pattern, keeping the calf at the original width.

I slimmed the side seams just a little and think I need to draft a curved waistband to accommodate the large difference between my hip and waist and my swayback.

You can see some of my adjustments here.  My draft is getting closer to the silhouette that I'm after, but I'm still not there yet. I think I need a pants fitting book to help with the fine tuning. Looking at getting 'Pants for real people', what do you think about this book?


Ready to make the next toile, think I might make a wide leg draft too - when I've got this one sorted.

Inkscape Pattern Grading...

...or how I spent my weekend.

 

 Over the past few months I've been reading quite a bit about grading patterns and for the home sewing enthusiast it seems that doing this by hand using the cut and spread/ overlap method is the way forward. However, I have a simple pattern that I'd like to share soon, but my home drawn versions are a bit untidy. I needed something a little more professional looking.

I downloaded the opensource Inkscape programme, as I just can't afford Illustrator right now! I spent ages on Saturday getting to grips with drawing, adjusting objects, lines and curves and finding a grid that was accurate - generally getting to grips with the very basics of the programme. I still have a lot to learn, but it's looking promising.

To save time I used a basic size 10 bodice PDF from Ralph Pink as I didn't want to spend ages drafting in the programme. It's really easy to embed a PDF and use it to trace around.

I overlaid a grid and made sure all the default measurements were in mm and the grid lines were also at 1mm apart (you could set this to any suitable measurements cm/ inches)

The drafting process is based on the tutorial from Threads which you can find here.

I added a layer and drew the horizontal and vertical lines that would form the 'cut' lines for grading.

Then on a new layer a created shapes, by tracing the blocks formed by the cut lines and the edge of the sloper. I filled these with slightly translucent yellow and green colour.

I zoomed in to make sure that what I was doing was accurate and started to move the pieces the required amount for the grade rule. I based my rule on standard measurement given in Metric Pattern Cutting for Women's Wear by Aldrich.

It took a while to get to this point, but once I'd done this it was quick and easy to adjust the gap or overlap for each size increase. I started with a size 10 and graded up two sizes and down two sizes. I wouldn't recommend doing any more than that.

Once the pattern was spread I (again on another layer) traced the new outline and darts, using the bezier curves to blend neckline and armscye curves.

Once all the sizes were complete I alined them so that they were nested and hid the grid. I still have more experimenting and learning to do here, including converting to PDF for exporting the usable file, but feel that I have discovered a way to digitise and grade my patterns on a small scale. I quite like doing techy stuff, as long as I don't have to spend all my time doing it!

If you'd like to know more about what I've been doing, or can offer me any advice for further development please get in touch.