Sequoia Shorts

 I don't wear shorts a lot but I like having a few basic pairs.  I know I need to sew some Sequoia pants (by Itch to Stitch) soon, but the ones I currently have are a bit snug. The paper pattern has been adjusted here and there, and my initial print job was terrible (accidentally printing on paper that I had printed another pattern on the other side). I thought it was time to re-print and start fresh. Shorts would be a great way to refine the pattern without the fabric commitment of pants (I mean, I'm pretty short, so it's not THAT much of a fabric commitment but you know what I mean). 

These are made of the same fabric as the Sequoia pants I made. I love those pants, but they're a smidge tight and I think there's a stain on one thigh. I wear them a lot. 

When I make the pants, I don't do the back pocket. I do the cargo pockets on pants but since the shorts don't have those, I thought I should add the back pocket. I narrowed it in a bit. I believe the pattern uses the same size pocket for all sizes and I just thought I could do with a bit narrower of a pocket.

I made the inside of the self-drafted yoga band waist with power mesh. However, the band is a little too big for it to have any actual effect. I had done this on the skirts I made last year and liked it, but those were not self drafted, and they were much more snug. The power mesh is also very slippery!  I added a narrow elastic which I sewed to the seam allowance of the top of the waistband. 

I love these shorts, though I felt they could be a little bit longer--just an inch or two. Mainly because in my truck, I have leather seats and no air conditioning. I decided to make a blue pair. I do have a pair of blue linen shorts but they're cute and shorter. I think I used the same fabric as the blue Sequoia pants that I made, but I'm not sure because as I was putting away the left over, I found even more blue cotton-ish fabric and these actually feel a bit more crisp.

I laid them out and it seemed like I had enough. I cut the fronts, not on the fold, but with the fabric folded. I had folded it only enough for the fronts so then I opened it for the backs and cut the first back. And then went to cut the second back and uh...it wasn't long enough!

My first thought was I could draft a back yoke. Then I came to my senses, and carefully laid the pattern piece down, trying to get as much length as I could. It ended up being only 1/4" too short. I had made the other pieces about 1.25" longer than the pattern, so I was still going to have a pair slightly longer than the grey ones.

It was all going really well, until I tried them on, before adding the waist. I had some doubts about what size I had made for the grey pair as I could see marks from the tracing wheel on the smaller size in some places. When I tried them on, I decided the back thighs needed to lose about 1/2" from the hip down as they were pushing the seam outwards. Because there's the pockets on the front and I didn't want to lose any pocket width, I started to take apart the side seam. Then I realized I had serged the seam allowances together! I was not about to take out the serging, so I opted to just re-stitch the seam about 1/4" smaller from near the bottom of the pocket and be done with it.

I put together the waistband (taking off about 1/2" from each end of each piece) and went to sew it on. I got about 3" serged to the shorts and I realized I hadn't added the elastic! I unpicked what I had sewn. Of course, I had none, other than narrow elastic and I prefer something wider. I also realized I hadn't done the drawstring holes! Then I realized that I had actually been sewing the waistband to the shorts upside down! I had serged the inside and the outside bands together along the top. Previously, I had also serged, or basted the bottom, to make it easier to catch all edges when adding to the body. I just wasn't paying attention!

I found this bias tape that I had made for a pair of shorts for Lucy or Megan, and just stitched it closed to make a drawstring. I'm not sure I'm all that keen on it, though I think it's actually the waistband colour I'm not fond of. I went to Wal-Mart and got some wide, non roll elastic, and got these finished last night.

Ohhhh, the snaps. The snaps that made me get a new iron LOL. I had my big bag of snaps on my ironing board. I don't have any dark blue ones, just royal blue which had the Captain America (I think) symbol on them. I knew these were not a match (and are actually more teal that I realized), but they have a My Little Pony on them, so I had to. I rarely tuck my shirts in and probably won't because the waistband doesn't match all that well, so it's just a little secret I'll have.

I'm debating adding a loop for clipping keys to, or a small snap pocket on the front. Also, I now have 2 different puffers, and I think I need a little pouch with a clip for the "rescue" inhaler. 

I LOVE these shorts too. A bit more body than the grey ones, they fit amazing. They do however, attract lint! They also remind me a little of a Girl Guides uniform, but that's fine. Classic and long lasting!

Updated with another photo! 

This is the striped T-shirt I made back in my spring sewing spree. (Itch to Stitch "Kashi"). I quite like it, though the blue did bleed in the armpits!

Sewing!!

 Here's a treat--a post with no red scarves! I have one waiting for the cast off and another one almost finished. The one is waiting for a cast off because we were going away for a few days and I wanted to take only one project with me, so I took it off on spare yarn and started a new scarf.

I did some sewing. I was wanting new cardigans, and new t-shirts. I have this bad habit of buying, or making things, with prints.  Then, I struggle because a patterned cardi over a patterned shirt is not my thing.

Somewhere, (I think on Lifting Pins and Needles' YouTube), I saw that Itch to Stitch had a new t-shirt pattern with a separate front piece that had a built in FBA already, as well as darts.  Despite having an already tested and true t-shirt pattern (which might be a little small on me right now), I went ahead and bought it. I had some cream fabric with little gold triangles on it that I thought would be nice. I was going to make it into a cardigan but slapped myself and said no more patterned cardigans!

I measured, did my usual adjustments, including taking 2.5" off in 3 places (0.5" in upper bodice, 1" at the lengthen/shorten line, and 1" at a lower line). I was making the longer length as well. This pattern is drafted for 5'6" which is 5" taller than me, and so thought making it half that difference shorter would work. Well, I guess I'm long in the torso? It came out a little shorter than I thought it would, and also, some pulling around the arms.

I had enough left, so I made another version, putting back the 1/2" in the upper bodice and narrowing the shoulders. I think I actually sized down through the armholes. 

Better, but I was feeling a little meh about this shirt now. I put both of these in the box to take to my mother's. She had lost weight so I figured at least one would fit her. Well, she's put back on a bit. She did take one of the shirts but I couldn't tell which one and I haven't bothered to try on the remainding shirt. I just am not loving my body lately and this shirt showed too much.

I had a fun piece of printed knit in grey and black, that I haven't known what to do with, so I tried another version. I think this fabric is not as stretchy. It felt so tight! I was so unhappy, I didn't even take a picture.

I was still somewhat determined, so I went for a 4th version. This striped fabric is heavier than the cream fabric, but still stretchy, so I was hopeful. I didn't have a lot of it left, and opted for sleeve bands going the opposite way as the sleeves were going to have to be a bit shorter than I wanted, and a hem was going to take up too much.

Success!

I also fixed up a cardigan I made in fall 2018. It's https://swoonpatterns.com/shop/scarf-neck-cardigan/   It's a very light knit and stretched out so bad. The sleeves were way too long, the shoulders sagged onto my arms, I felt dwarfed in the fabric. AND, it had gotten those dreaded tiny holes!! I figured some of them I could hide by rehemming (the hem had been terrible), and some I could hide by taking in the princess seams. It had been sitting in my "I don't want to deal with it" basket for a long time, and the last time I had looked at it, I saw there were also stains! So, really, if this didn't work, no loss.

You can see the tiny holes on the inside of the new hem. Those ones were mainly because of ripping out the old blind stitch hem.

I don't know what happened when I first made this, but even though I was sure I was being careful with the front edges, when it got washed, it went all twisty. I couldn't really get rid of that.

I was going to shorten the sleeves and was about to do that first (because it's the easiest thing LOL), when I suddenly decided maybe I should fix the shoulders first. I wish I had taken pictures because I can't remember exactly what I did. Did I unpick the sleeves? I don't think so. I may have just zipped all around the armhole with the serger. The shoulder seams are still a bit too wide, but it's a HUGE improvement. And, it made the sleeves almost the right length! They are a bit too long now, but acceptable. Cozy.

Then I did the side seams. I do think I unpicked them almost to the armholes, because I wanted to take more off the front part than the back portion. Just these two adjustments made the cardi a million times better. Then I unpicked the princess seams to the bust, and re-pinned, taking out width from the side sections--to hide the pinholes, and to narrow it down. 

So much better! I did have to do the seams a couple times to get them somewhat smooth and blended, since I had obliterated the original curvature of the princess seams. 

And then I re-hemmed. It was a pain! I didn't even bother to do a blind stitch, just did a straight stitch.  

I scrubbed the stains and they mostly came out--or I got new ones? And there's still a couple pin holes, but it's a nice light cardigan and I'll probably still wear it out of the house. I don't seem to have any pictures of it finished! 

I decided I needed brand new cardigans as well. I thought grey would be good because I have a lot of black cardigans but no grey (except a ratty old zip up hoody). I found the free Harper Cardigan by Sinclair Patterns.   How did I not already have this one?! I love Sinclair Patterns. Their petite sizing is great! I do still need to shorten though as I'm right at the bottom of the petite height!  I had this grey interlock left over from a pair of Sunrise Loungers (by Sinclair Patterns). OMG, I just read that post, and see I had made another pair previously!! I had totally forgotten about that first pair! The newer pair are still not great, but comfy around the house and once in awhile, I do wear them in public LOL. 

I think the only adjustment I made was to shift the pockets so one side in joined with the front band, and the bottom goes into the bottom band. I saw that somewhere on the internet, not my idea. I LOVE this cardigan. The bust wrinkle, I think is because it was sticking to the shirt I had on. This is a heavier knit, but not crazy heavy. Warm and cozy, but still with design lines that allows it to look good for work. I have been wearing it SO much!! 

I also made another one. Even though I said I had too many patterned cardigans, I couldn't help myself. I have this heavy knit that is backed by a not stretchy fabric. I used it for a dress for Megan many years ago. I can't find the post!

Apparently, I haven't even taken photos of the cardigan, so I won't continue. I'll come back and edit when I get pictures.