New Year: New Pants

I spent a lot of the festive season staying with relatives (i.e. away from my sewing machine) so when we finally returned I was itching to attack some projects. What are the two most satisfyingly quick sewing projects known to man? Baby/toddler leggings and undies!!! So in under a week I managed to crank out eight pairs of baby/toddler leggings using the Playful Kitty leggings pattern I used previously and the four pairs of pants/knickers/undies (pictured above). A super-productive first week of 2015 that I have no intention of trying to replicate going forwards! But it felt great to get those all much-needed items under my proverbial (and in case of the pants - literal) belt.

What better way to welcome in the new year than to remove from your undies drawer the ropey old pants that make you feel less than attractive, and whip up some new ones?! If there is one, then I can't think of it. It probably won't shock to you learn that the pattern I used for these is my own self-drafted one which is available for free download here. BTW, I just checked and the pattern has been downloaded over 22,000 times! How mental is that?!

These were also a great project for skint-January as I was able to construct them entirely from pieces of jersey and elastic I already owned. When that happens, no matter if I bought the fabric and notions myself at some earlier point, I always feel like it's somehow free! For example, both the leopard print fabrics have been used for a couple of other projects apiece previously, including these epic leopard print baby trousers. The blue leopard print fabric is very synthetic, so I used a frilly/lacy style of elastic round the waist of that pair to try and soften the look and avoid them appearing too much like swimwear or dance wear. 

The floral pair were made from leftovers from the toddler leggings I made for our niece for the Christmas before last (during times I really should have been napping). The cotton lace elastic came in the batch sent to me to make undies samples with by my blog sponsor Maggie at Textile Garden, and you can buy it here. The nautical pair are made with remnants from the short-sleeved dress version of my Dolores batwing pattern.

These are too hot-off-the-press for me to have had a chance to try them all out and determine a favourite, but on visuals alone I think the leopard print ones have stolen my heart!   

Refashion Friday Inspiration: Breton-Effect Lace Embellished T-shirt

This is a super-simple idea for creating a Breton-effect top with a twist. Making the stripes with navy lace on a white background gives a feminine touch to what is usually quite an androgenous garment. This effect can be created by simply applying lengths of lace to an existing T-shirt, or (as I have done here) applied to the front piece after deconstructing and before reconstructing an old, larger, plain T-shirt. 

My version started out life as an unwanted mens oversized white T-shirt which I recut using a self-drafted bateau-neck T-shirt pattern. I used strips of jersey harvested from the T-shirt to bind the neckline. This was the only navy lace I had to hand, but I'd love to see this effect created with thinner lace as well. And of course the colour combo needn't be the traditional navy and white!  

Refashion Friday Inspiration: Lace Back Denim Shirt/Blouse

Happy Friday, Refashioners!!! So, if it's Summer and warm where you are here's a little garment refashioning idea that might be up your street. This refashion is something I came up with last year, but is not an idea I claim to have invented! I can't remember if it came from my brain, or translated from something I'd seen online or elsewhere, but I definitely know I've seen other lace-backed blouses, shirts and dresses out there. Although this one is particularly ace because it is made from an unwanted shirt that might otherwise have found itself in a landfill (boo!!!). 

Quite simply, it's made by cutting up the original denim/chambray shirt and harvesting the back, collar and sleeves for other projects. I used a very basic shell top pattern and recut the front of the blouse incorporating the shirt's original buttons, button-stand and hem (as with many of my men's to women's shirt refashions). The back was cut from a piece of off-white lace. 

I wanted to bring more of the lace detailing into this creation, so I drafted a simple collar that would finish either side of the button stand. The top collar is cut from the same lace, and the under collar cut from more of the denim shirt that was harvested from the back panel or sleeves. 

If you wanted to make a version of this project for colder days, or for those who don't want their bra strap on show, you could always make the back panel with a lace overlay instead of as a single layer. Oh, and if it's Winter, you may want sleeves!

Free Downloadable PDF Pattern: Pants / Undies / Knickers. Plus, How to Use This Pattern

Dear friends, readers, visitors, etc., I have a present for you! It's my self-drafted, multi-sized pants/undies/knickers pattern available as a PDF file for you to download for FREE. Head over to my 'Free Patterns' page to download it. Then read below in this post for further information about how to use this pattern. Finally, head over to my previous 'How to Construct Undies with a Serger and FOE' post for instructions on how to sew together your pants/undies/knickers!

Materials and equipment required. 
60 cms or 1 yard of jersey or a large T-shirt
2.5 metres or 3 yards of underwear elastic
I have used fold over elastic (aka, FOE) for the undies pictured, but advice about using flat or edged elastic is below
Thread
Overlocker / serger (optional)
Sewing machine

Preparing the pattern.
The undies pattern PDF consists of 4 pages. When printing the pattern, make sure that you have do not have 'print scaling' checked so the pages print out at the correct size. When printed, measure the test square to check the size is correct. Align the pages by matching the numbered triangles to the corresponding ones. Cut off or fold back the margins and tape or glue together.

Choosing a size. 
This pattern includes sizes 8 -16. These sizes are UK dress sizes, if you do not know which UK dress size you are, check out the conversion below:

UK    USA      EU      AUS     IT      JAP

8          6         36       10       40       9

10        8         38       12       42       11

12       10        40       14       44       13

14       12        42       16       46       15

16       14        44       18       48       17

Please note, the pattern size you should cut may vary depending on the elasticity of your fabric. This pattern has been drafted for fabric with an elastane/lycra content, however other knits/jerseys can also be used to excellent effect. If you are using a knit/jersey fabric with no or very little elastane/lycra content (this may especially be true if using old T-shirts), you may have a better result by using the pattern size larger than you normally would pick.

Cutting out. 
Once you have selected the size you require, cut out the three pattern pieces. You will have one front pattern piece, one back pattern piece and one gusset pattern piece. All three of the pattern pieces are cut on the fold (as indicated on the pattern pieces). Position the pieces of straight of grain of your jersey/knit/T-shirt fabric (the grainline is indicated on the pattern pieces).

Construction.
As mentioned at the top of this post, head over to my 'How to Construct Undies with a Serger and FOE' post for instructions on how to sew together your cut pieces. The seam allowance on the side seams and gusset seam is 1cm / 3/8".

If you do not have a serger/overlocker: 
The instructions I previously prepared used an overlocker/serger for stitching the side seams and gusset seam, but a normal sewing machine can do these steps just as well. If you will be using a normal sewing machine for all the processes of construction, then test out different stitches on a scrap of your jersey fabric to find the stitch you feel works best. Your sewing machine manual may have suggestions about what stitch type and needle would work best for jersey.

Personally, when sewing jersey, my sewing machine works best on a long but very narrow zigzag and I use a fine needle (I don’t bother buying special jersey needles). The zigzag gives a degree of stretch so the side seam doesn’t break when putting the garment on and off. The narrowness seems to prevent puckering. Some prefer to use a straight stitch and them zigzag along the edge of the seam allowance to finish the raw edge. Experiment and find what works best for you.

If you want to use flat underwear elastic not FOE (fold over elastic):
The instructions I previously made use FOE for the waist and leg holes. For that method the raw cut edge of the fabric gets trapped inside the FOE, which is then stitched on top of to secure it shut. But if you wish to use what-I-call-flat-elastic (basically any other type of underwear elastic that may well have a decorative edge like picot), that is totally do-able with this pattern.

There are two ways of using flat underwear elastic:
1) An easy, one-step way off applying flat elastic is laying it on top of the right side of the fabric slightly covering the raw edge, and then stitching on top of it (a three-step zig zag is usually used). You can see this method of applying flat underwear elastic in the picture below where I have used it around the waist at the top of the picture. This method will make the gusset width a tiny bit wider and the leg holes a tiny bit smaller (by the amount you allow the elastic to lay further than the raw edge). If you do not want the gusset to be wider, trim away a few millimetres (or imperial equivalent!) from all three pattern pieces around the edges of the leg hole.

2) The other, arguably neater and more professional way of using flat underwear elastic is more time consuming because the application of the elastic is done in two processes rather than one. First the right side of the elastic is stitched to the right side of the fabric along the edge (for this process I prefer a fairly narrow zigzag stitch). Keep the decorative edge of the elastic pointing away from the raw fabric edge. The underwear elastic is then folded under to the wrong side of the fabric leaving a narrow amount of elastic showing (usually flat underwear have a decorative edge for this purpose). It is kind of up to you how much elastic you want showing at this point. You then stitch it all in place, once again a three-step zigzag is a great stitch for this. In the picture above I have used this second method of applying flat underwear elastic around the leg holes at the bottom of this picture. I have used contrast red stitching so you can see what I'm talking about. This method of applying elastic will make the gusset narrower and leg holes wider by the amount you turn the fabric over minus the width of elastic you allow to remain visible. If you do not want the gusset to be narrower than the original pattern, add a few millimetres (or imperial equivalent!) from all three pattern pieces around the edges of the leg hole.

No matter what type of elastic you choose and what method you decide to apply it with, I thoroughly recommend having a good play about on some scrap jersey fabric until you are happy with the effect you are getting.

If you like this pattern.....
I really hope you do enjoy using this pattern. This PDF pattern is the result of a few years evolution of personal pant-making. Pants/undies/knickers making can be pretty addictive because it takes a relatively short time (once you get the knack of using underwear elastic) and a relatively small amount of fabric to make a finished, wearable garment. If you do use it, please pop back to this blog and leave a comment (or a link if you have blogged about it) and let me know how you got on.

Obviously I didn't create this pattern and instructions with the intention of making money, otherwise I would be charging for it! However, if you do download it and enjoy using it, feel free to by me a coffee by way of thanks! You can donate me a coffee by clicking here...

And lastly, a big thanks to Claire for helping me make sharing this pattern possible.

Refashion Friday Inspiration: Lace Heart Cut-out T-shirt

Today I present to you a pretty revamp of an old unwanted mens grey marl T-shirt. Using a smallish piece of lace, I created soft puffy sleeves and a heart cut-out back detail. The original grey T-shirt was one of those super-soft ones that feels slinky against the skin, which I think chimes well with this girly refashion. 

Using a self-drafted T-shirt block, I added a scoop neck line which I bound in a strip of the jersey I made from the removed sleeves. The puffy sleeves have a cuff made from more strips of sleeve. The shoulders and upper arms are visible through the sheer lace, but still kind of obscured. This T-shirt wasn't made for me, but as a woman with largish upper arms, I like sleeves that slightly obscure but not completely hide this area of the body. 

The heart cut-out is created using reverse appliqué. The lace heart-shaped panel was pinned to the wrong side of the back garment piece. I then stitched two rows of straight stitch close together around the heart shape and carefully cut away the grey jersey from the inside of the stitching, mindful not to snip the lace as I went.   

Happy refashioning/remaking, my crafty friends.

Refashion Friday Inspiration: Lace Overlay Sweatshirt Top

This garment is a basic dude's-to-women's sweatshirt remake but with a simple, prettifying twist! The lace overlay idea can be applied to over garment refashion/upcycle/remake projects and can camouflage as well as adorn. Read on and I'll explain...

As with most of my sweatshirt remake projects, I started with a large unwanted, second hand men's sweatshirt. I cut the sleeves off and put them to the side for later. I then cut up the side seams and carefully removed the neck ribbing. The new front and back body pieces were cut from the sweatshirt, the new shorter sleeves were cut from the old and it was all put back together again using the original neck ribbing with the addition of a lace overlay on the front.  

I chose to apply a lace overlay to this particular remake because the sweatshirt had an annoying stain on the front (see above) that refused to budge when washed. It wasn't a dark mark, more of a tea stain, but guaranteed to be noticeable on the finished garment if left bare. The lace overlay distracts the eye sufficiently for the stain to no longer be an issue. 

This technique could also work well when remaking knitwear that has been attacked by moths. The moth holes could be stitched together and the lace overlay would distract from the blemishes. I have also used lace overlays to semi-disguise an obvious join I was forced to make when avoiding an obvious logo on another second hand sweatshirt remake.   

To continue with the girly theme of this refashion, I added a few pearly buttons along the shoulder seam. A further cute/luxe addition could be to stitch tiny fake pearls at regular intervals to the lace design. Using a pale lace over a dark sweatshirt/knitwear/T-shirt or vice versa would also give a really dramatic effect.