Last Minute Sewing

Only a few short days left of our summer vacation. Monday it's back to work. Which means I won't be able to do much sewing because the beginning of the year is so busy. So I've been sewing like mad trying to get some things done.

I finished piecing the baby quilt and need to find a border fabric. Not sure yet what color I'll go with- I'll take the quilt with me and auction a few colors to see what looks best.



About 10 years ago I bought these great drawstring pants at Urban Outfitters. They were very basic- no pockets or anything fancy, and made out of black cotton. But the fit looked great on me and I actually bought 2 pairs- the black which was full length but short enough to wear with flip flops and a gray pair that was cropped. I loved those pants and through the years the color faded so I re-dyed them several times. Eventually I passed them on to Goodwill and I've totally regretted not keeping them. At the very least I could have used them to create a pattern to make a new pair. Sigh! Lesson learned.

So now I've been trying to make a pair that fits and looks as good.

I made the view A of these pants in a medium. They were way too high in the waist- like up over my belly button, so I took several inches off. But they're also too big around. I love the wide leg- it looks good. I made them out of 100% cotton and they are so soft- they'll be great for around the house. So now I'm trying to decide if I should make a size small- and if I do I'll have to decide if I'll need to shorted them in the waist again. Or I could make View B with the yoke but leave off the bottom panels so they'll be cropped. Still thinking...

I also thought about making the pants in the below pattern.

This is my go-to pattern for a drawstring A-skirt (the middle length). I love this pattern- it's simple and fast and really flatters my shape (I tend to be bigger in the hip and butt areas). I've made many of these skirts- it cotton, rayon and wool; and they've all looked great.

Here's one I made this week for fall. I'm excited about it because I used my new overcast presser foot for the seams and they look great. I also used a new blind hem presser foot and the hem turned out perfect. Plus, I finally was determined to learn the auto button hole on my machine (Bernina 440) so I was able to have better looking button holes for the drawstring.



I also made the wrap skirt from this book.
Here it is- it also turned out well and I'm looking forward to wearing it this fall.