Crafting A Rainbow

As my Instagram feed gets taken over by masks, I’m feeling the need for some normalcy in my sewing bubble. So instead of telling you about the masks I sewed today, let me show you the Calder Pants I sewed last week!

(Disclosure: Cashmerette sent me my choice of fabric from Blackbird and the pattern in return for taking these pictures for them to use. I was not a tester (that was done months ago) and I am not required to talk about this pattern or promote it, beyond sending them pictures! I’m writing this post because they turned out well and I like them.)

Legs for days, right? That’s pretty impressive given that I’m 5’2″ and I shortened these 6″. In other words, my legs aren’t long but they look it! I sewed a straight size 20 and the only alteration I made was to shorten the elastic in the back to fit my curvy waist. Next time I might shorten the rise 1”, because the tops of my thighs touch above the fabric.

That’s right, ELASTIC! I think I first blogged about my love for elastic waist pants in 2013, so I’m staying on brand with this one.

The back waistband has 2″ elastic, which I chose to topstitch in three lines of triple zigzag so that it is all nicely held in place. I love triple zigzag for sewing over elastic, because if a stitch doesn’t catch, it isn’t as noticeable as with a regular zig zag.

I could probably take out some fullness in the back or size down next time, but then again, flowy trousers aren’t meant to be snug! The back view fits quite a lot like my Pietra Pants from last year. This viscose twill from Blackbird works perfectly with the pattern.

You knew the “Look how far these stretch” pose was coming, right? Voila!

There are in-seam pockets, which frankly had the most complicated possible instructions… which did work just fine, but took up most of the instruction booklet. Just follow each step and you’ll get there in the end. Or sew them your own way, because that is fine too.

Let’s talk about my top, too! This is a Helen’s Closet Ashton top, which I tested last summer. I cut in the shoulders, which I always think suits me better. This is the longer length, because the crop version is VERY cropped. I fell in love with the fabric when I participated in the Style Maker Fabrics fall tour 6 months ago, when I used the black colourway to make a dress. When sh*t hit the fan worldwide a few weeks ago, I spent a bunch of money stocking up on beautiful woven florals at Style Maker, and you’ll be seeing those all spring!

(Phew! I just named dropped FIVE companies in one post: Cashmerette, Helen’s Closet, Closet Case, Blackbird and Style Maker. That might be a turn off for some of you, but I hope at least it shows a) I’m transparent and b) love sewing with free fabric!)

My principal emails out a tip a day from an article on how to deal with stressful times, and today’s tip was “wear bright colours”. I think I’ve got that covered with this outfit and pretty much everything else in my closet! I’m happy with how the outfit came together, and I look forward to warmer days when I can wear it.

Speaking of sewing, testing and reviewing… Did you see that Helen’s Closet just changed their testing process into a paid Quality Assurance program? I’m so thrilled that they referenced my blog post about pattern testing from the fall. Closet Case Patterns has started giving a second free pattern to testers, and I’m currently testing for Muna And Broad who paid for my fabric and sent a copy shop print of the pattern. I am thrilled to see more compensation for pattern testing, and hope we continue to move in that direction. (Ironic that it is happening while sewists worldwide are being asked to sew medical equipment for free, but that’s a topic for another day!) Here’s to incremental improvements in our sewing world!