Black cords and ponte tunic

 

I haven't posted anything in a while, but I have done a bit of sewing. First up is my first pair of semi-wearable pants. I'm not 100% happy with them, hence the semi. There's just something weird about them that I can't put my finger on.

I used the New Look 6873 pants pattern that I've already used twice. The first pair I made in a very loud fabric for a disco party, in size 10, which was far too big. The second pair was size 8 in a very ugly boring grey fabric with bad drape. My husband was cleaning out the garage and found 7 metres of black corduroy so I decided to give them another go. I was going to make this pair in size 8 but when I tried on the disco pair they fit me, despite being too big 18 months ago. So I cut a 10.

 

I knew from my previous attempts at this pattern that the legs are much wider than I like, so I very dodgily removed a whole 4 inches from the width of each leg at the bottom, tapering up to the top. There's probably a proper way to do this kind of thing, but I did my usual trick of doing it my own way. That's probably why the pants don't look quite right.

They came together very easily. I used bright paisley quilting cotton for the pocket inserts, fly, and waistband facing, as I knew that having multiple layers of corduroy in those areas would make the seams very bulky. I ended up having to take an inch off the waist seam as it was too big.

These are quite high waisted. I'm not sure if I like the high-waistedness or not. Also, I'm unsure which shoes to wear with them. I think flats would look better than heels. They are a bit too short for heels anyway.

I bought myself the Thurlow pants pattern by Sewaholic and am going to give that a shot next. I only have one other pair of pants that fit me, and they are so tight that it would be indecent to wear them to work.


 

A week ago I decided I needed a quick project. I had purchased some delicious red ponte specifically to make another Ottobre tunic.
There are only 3 pattern pieces so it's super quick to cut, and it takes no time to sew if you follow the instructions. However, I decided to finish all the seams and finish the neckline with a band rather than turning and topstitching, so it took a little longer.


 

I had never sewn with ponte before, and I love it! You can just sew it as if it's a woven fabric. No special needle or stitches needed! And the colour is to die for. It's not as bright as the first picture- the ones without the flash show the colour better.

 

The last time I made one of these I left out the pintucks on the neckline, but I'm glad I did them this time as they look so sweet (not sure how well they will show up in my crappy photos though). I love the little raglan sleeves.