Check out MY wide ones.. Claires that is

Now if there are not wide enough for anything, I don't know what is.

They are an experiment, as you can guess. I almost have the fit perfect for the Claire shorts so I wanted to see if I could use them as a base pattern for longer trousers. I used the pattern bit I'd adjusted for the flowery shorts though I think I'll need to undo the addition of fabric to the back and add even more depth to the crotch as they still dig in a bit.

I just lengthened the legs without tapering or widening in any way. They turned out quite special, huh?

I styled them here with a flowery top from BHS which I'd packed away for the winter and was SO happy to find again this spring. There are definite benefits to rotating my wardrobe according to seasons!

Go this shoot, Mia decided to come and play too:

 Not for long though:

So.. what do you think? Too wide? Just wide enough?

Yoohoo! Did you miss me?

Hello there!

I'm back! And my sewjo is back! Whoop! Holler!

How are you lovelies? Did you miss me? I missed you. I kind of lost my will to sew there for a bit so didn't feel inspired to blog at all. I did do quite a bit of knitting over the winter but sadly all my jumpers went all kinds of wrong- I just can't seem to get the gauge right.

Anyway.. I'm sewing again! I've quite a few makes to show you but I'll start with yet another pair of the shorts.

The pattern is still Claire from In-House patterns though I did make slight modifications I lengthened the legs a bit and also did a full bum adjustment following the (very useful) tutorial from Coletterie. Looking at the back, I think I should have just added crotch depth instead of going the whole hog as they're quite roomy at the back now.

The fabric is a lovely quilting cotton I bought a while ago from Ray Stitch. I used the tiny bit of lining I had left over for the pockets and bound all seams with black bias tape.

You may have noticed that the pictures are all taken indoors. That's because I am a wimp and was too embarrassed to take selfies in the garden. Here's my best effort:

The shorts have already had an outing today- they even went down the slide!

And I finish with a wonderfully blue slushie for the bank holiday:

See you soon!

Office-appropriate

Finished! I made some office-appropriate shorts and a blazer. The shorts are Claire from In-House Patterns and the blazer is the fabled Victoria from By Hand London (worn here with a T-shirt I made a while ago by copying an old one).

For the main fabric of both, I've used the mystery synthetic I found at Ridley Road market and I used a lovely viscose I bought in a fabric shop in Brighton for the lining, pockets, blazer cuffs and waistband facings. (Is it weird that the lining cost more than the main fabric?)

I'm sorry to say that I found the Victoria pattern instructions really difficult to follow- they just didn't specify things like where the cuffs were going exactly (how should they line up) and what the tailor tack was for (the dart, of course the dart- as I discovered once their sew-along got to that point). 

I also foolishly graded the pattern to accommodate my ridiculous bust (isn't nursing great?) but take into account my (relatively) normal hips. That does not work with this pattern. It would if there were buttons to be done up. As there's not, I just ended up with my pockets slightly too far back. Still, it's a nice casual-ish blaster. Some details here:

I have no idea how they meant for you to finish the lining inside the jacket but I decided to cover the seams with a black satin bias tape which I hand-stitched. It looks really neat.

That said, I will definitely have another go at this pattern once I figure out which fabric I'd like it in. 

The Claire pattern went together really well and was an absolute joy to use. I cut between sizes (I am so naughty!) but it works really well and the shorts are super comfortable. I had never  made a fly zipper opening before so it was a learning curve. I think it turned out really well, specially for a first time. Not that I could tell you what I actually did. 

I used some more satin binding for the crotch seam as I had that seam break in the wash on my Iris shorts (boo). I also had to join the facing material as I didn't have enough of the fabric to cut it out straight. Lucky the pattern is so busy- I don't think you can tell without looking for it. 

I definitely see many more of these shorts in my future though first I have to finish the Juniper trousers I started a while ago. Just have not been feeling it as I'm not really getting on with the pockets (long story. 

For now, it is faaaar too hot to sew... Oskar slept through last night which still has me confused as it's not really been his habit since he was born. Long may the sleeping continue.