Friday, February 27, 2009

Swap Comtinues ... Garments 8 & 9

Well, I've been away from cyberspace for a week now, but I'm ready to get back to my sewing and my blogging. Thank you to everyone for your condolences. It was very much appreciated.We are all glad that the past week is behind us.

I have two new garments to show you and I really had fun with these pieces! The pants are an out-of-print New Look pattern (6251 ) that I absolutely love. I've made them three times before in size 12 without any alterations, in the cropped version and each time the fit was as near to perfect as I've ever gotten in a pant.



For this pair, I used the full length version. The fabric is a lovely soft charcoal heather wool flannel.The pockets and back welt are in black leather which I got from a leather skirt that I bought for $10.00 from a store we have in Eastern Canada called Value Village. I lined the pockets and added a wool band to the top as well as a really neat burnished silver shank button .



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I've decided that I don't wear my dress pants all that much and I wanted to make a more casual wool pant. I think this style does the trick.They are long enough for a higher heel as well as a flat.



This top started out as mock-up #2 of Butterick 3030 View B



which I've been wanting to try for a long time.The first mock-up will be a night shirt because it was really big. I had cut the size medium. For this one I cut half way between medium and small. The fit is good.

The fabric is from my stash and is a tye-dyed poly cotton lycra blend and the colours are a rich wine with charcoal and black.The finish is almost suede-like and is a substantial weight.

I really like the result so I decided to use it for my Swap. (By the way, I made the top 3 " shorter).I couldn't just leave it plain and I've been wanting to use these large black grommets on something so I tried a sample and saw that they weren't too thick . But where to place them? Well the neckline was the obvious place



and I repeated them on the sleeve cuffs. I miscalculated how low to put them on the neckline and if I had to do it again ,I'd place them a half inch lower but they look OK I guess.

I should also say that I added the grommets before sewing in the facings or else they would have been a little scratchy.





This top is a very good match to my three bottoms. It's casual with the jeans, but I think it will be dressy enough to wear with the black skirt, especially with a belt.


13 comments:

Vicki said...

Very groovy. I especially like the top. The gromets look great.

Chris said...

Diana, glad to see you back. Both garments are beautifully done, I really like the pants, the leather makes them really interesting!

Linda T said...

Love it; great with the belt!

Carolyn (Diary of a Sewing Fanatic) said...

Oh Diana - I LOVE your new pieces! The grommet detail is soooo kewl...and I love the leather pockets on the trousers. This is clothing the way I would make it and it inspires me sooooo! Wow! I can't wait to see all of your pieces together. And I'm glad that you made it through the week.

Anonymous said...

this set is so cool! I really like the casual pants, as they are casual and dressy at the same time. And the fabric for the shirt is wonderful!!

Meg said...

Wow, so snazzy! I just saw a St. John knit jacket that used grommets around the neck and sleeves. Cute!

Aminat said...

Are you kidding me? garments 8 and 9 already? Girl you are so fast. I love both your creations, your casual pants and the leather you put makes them so classy.

Ann Made Studio said...

Diana, glad to see you back :)
You look great in your outfits! You chose perfect fabric for all pieces! I like the grommet neckline and the leather pockets, very very
nice :)and I just love cargo style pants.

Elizabeth said...

It's those special details like the grommets and leather pockets that really makes the style pop. I am going to try the grommets sometime.

Ann Made Studio said...

I left you an award on my blog :)

Carol said...

Ooh, I love that top!

Claire S. said...

Nice to see you back, Diana. Wow, you're really making progress on your swap - great pieces, I like them both alot !

I left an award for you on my blog but didn't want to comment to you til you were back. Take a look when you have a minute.

BCN - UNIQUE designer patterns said...

Diana .- everything is perfect and wonderful details. pay particular attention to the back pockets of trousers, because I am preparing a tutorial on this subject. Yours are perfect, really.

greetings, Paco