Saturday, May 8, 2010

More Navy Blue

Well, I had intended to post again before now,but I just didn't get around to it.
The other two pieces I made last week are not a matching set. I could wear them together but I probably won't .

The first one is a shirt that I made because I loved this pattern and couldn't resist it.



I think it reminds me of the 80's, and I loved the 80's,even the shoulder padded things we wore then.


The fabric is a cotton plaid that kept coaxing me to buy it when I was still working at Fabricville.I guess I don't wear plaid much. The last item I made was this one and now lives with Tamara in Ottawa!

So it was a bit of a shock when I tried this one on! I said

"Woah! I don't think I like plaids on me!"



But it is cute,isn't it?

There were a few things that didn't suit me about this style:

First,the dropped shoulders. In the 80's, we thought nothing of wearing those enormous shoulder pads, but now, it's different. We're not use to those anymore. I have narrow,slopped shoulders so I have to have shoulder pads but they won't be as big as before.




Then the loose fit of this over-blouse wasn't my thing at all.So I added a casing on the inside of the waist area. (Wish I had thought to snap a pic of it before I made the change ). I inserted an elastic and sewed a tie on each side.



And the sleeves were too big and wide so I formed a pleat at the bottom and sewed a button to keep it in place.



Having said all that, I kind of like it but it will probably only see the light of day at home or in the neighbourhood.



The other piece I made was a pair of pants from my TNT pattern.I used the same navy/white cotton pincord I used last summer for this
outfit.I wore those pieces a lot so this will take them even farther ( as to Paris for example in September!)


I recently decided that from now on,I'm not making or buying pants with a waistband that falls below my "muffin top"
. I started with these pants. I didn't change the front or back of the pattern pieces, just the waistband. This is what I did.


( I just discovered Fotoflexer and this was my first attempt at it)

I added one inch to the top of both front and back waistband pieces because I determined that much would do the trick and not distort the look of the pant.





This is what they look like on me. It's just a little thing but not seeing a bulge above my waist really makes me feel good about myself.Don't you think this is a good idea!!!I don't know why I didn't think of it before.



Here I am in the pant paired with last summer's Ann Klein jacket.



And they look well with last weeks cardi set so these pants will get a lot of wear.

What did you sew this week? Next for me is a navy (yes navy) dress for a banquet I'll be attending in Montreal in a couple of weeks.

Have a great week and Happy Sewing from Diana!

6 comments:

The Sewing and Knitting Loft said...

I really like the red and blue plain top. The collar and sleeve hem treatment....great! The pants look great on you. :)

Barb

Debra Martin said...

Hi Diana,
I hope you had a nice Mother's Day. I like the style changes you made to your plaid blouse. It looks very nice on you. Congratulations on your pants. They fit you well. You have had a productive sewng week. Me - not so much. I have been in the design phase. I think I will be ready to switch into a higher gear by next weekend.

Carol said...

I've been doing something similar. I don't know who managed to convince us that these low rise pants are flattering. Yours look great!

Anonymous said...

The top and the pants look great. What a super idea with the waistband.

gwensews said...

I hope you wear that shirt out where you can show it off, because it is really super cute! Why don't I have that pattern, and is it discontinued?

Your pants look great! I don't like pants below my waist at this time in my life, but when I was a teenager, I wore low-slung bell-bottom pants. I would now if I were younger, and of couse, thinner!

Shannon said...

I really like the plaid top. Bummer that you don`t like it more. I think if the elastic was encased in a dark blue plaid line you would like the look of it better. The dark blue line would define your waist much better and it would be more slimming. I know you didn`t ask, but I thought I`d throw it out there anyhow. :)