Using my TNT Trouser Pattern Again Or You Know How I Love a Jumpsuit

September and October were a blur of long hours and work travel, Taco giving up his nap and fun projects like judging the Pattern Review Sewing Bee that kept me off the blog. So, it seems like a good moment to catch up on summer projects and reflect on what I've been up to, especially what I've been doing with my TNT trousers.

What good is a TNT pattern if you don't really work it? Since I first sewed what became my TNT trousers just about a year ago, I've used the pattern seven times to make a variety of trousers or make pattern changes to other trouser patterns.

One version that you haven't seen is this jumpsuit. You know that I love a good jumpsuit.

To make this rayon challis jumpsuit, I eliminated the waist darts of my trouser pattern, like I had done in my easy summer pants version.

For the top, I used Vogue 9116.  I had sewn up the other view earlier in the summer and was pretty happy with it.  So I decided to give the strapless version a try.  Since I was sewing this jumpsuit up in a woven fabric and the pattern is designed for a knit, I was careful to make sure that the smallest part of the top was still large enough to fit over my hips. Happily, this also made the top and the bottom match up just about perfectly at the waist, saving me from having to do any sort of frankenpattern fixing.

The only other sewing details worth mentioning is that I did a little bit of print matching between the top and bottom pieces.  Aside from that, this was a tremendously easy to sew all-in-one outfit. I wore it styled like this for brunches, MPB day and relaxed occasions, and dressed it up with heels and bold jewelry for evening. This was definitely my most worn outfit for social occasions this summer because of how versatile it is.

The only other version of my TNT trousers that you haven't seen yet is one I sewed up this summer in off-white pinstriped linen and failed to photograph. It was part of my epic fabric cutting spree.

On that version I moved the zipper to the side seam, extended the front and back rise in order to eliminate the need for a separate waistband, and instead faced the waist with grosgrain ribbon. I also eliminated the hip pockets. They are packed away for the winter now.

BurdaStyle 9/2010 #115

I'd add some final thoughts on my TNT here, but I'm very far from finished working with this pattern. So what I will say for now is that having a really great fitting trouser pattern has made sewing pants a sure thing rather than a fitting crucible. Dare I say that a well fitting crotch is a thing of beauty? There. I said it. Anyway, I've barely scratched the surface with all the things I can do with my TNT trousers, so do expect to see more of it in the future.

In closing, here are the five versions you have already seen....  Three sewn basically according to the pattern, one as a summer pull on pant and one jumpsuit, where I used my TNT to alter the crotch of the jumpsuit pattern. So, seven uses so far for my TNT.

Links for details are: Black TNT Trousers
                                  Gold Wool Trousers
                                  Crazy Jumpsuit
                                  Moms Wear White Trousers
                                  Pull on Summer Pants


PS - Yaaaaaaay Jumpsuits!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Someone Else's Pants: A Little Lace, A Little Shirring

As I think back about all the sewing and all the fun of this summer I have a confession to make: I wore someone else's pants all summer long.

You see, years ago, my very excellent friend Magenta had this pair of awesome summer pants - they fit her perfectly, were light and airy and had some fun details. As they started to wear out, we had plans to recreate them for her. This was so long ago that there weren't any tutorials or info about doing a rub-off floating around the blogosphere, and I was a much less experienced sewist. Between not finding suitable fabric and not knowing how to create a pattern, our plans fizzled.

Fast forward to early in the summer when I realized that I needed more pool and patio clothing. Life at that moment involved long weekends full of fun at our town's wonderful community pool, shopping at the farmers marked and grilling in the backyard. Sewing something fun to wear around town, at the pool and in the yard was a must. A rummage thru my stash yielded some black gauze. I also found some black crocheted lace and elastic thread. Perfect, I thought to myself.

I was about half way through this project when I realized that I was finally sewing those pants; the ones we had talked about so long ago. But for me. Oops! Sorry Magenta.

And they were one of the easiest things I've sewn recently. They are my TNT trouser pattern sewn up as a pull on pant in an airy gauze. They look as different as could be from my other trousers from this pattern, which makes me love them even more. As a reminder, my TNT pattern is BurdaStyle 9/2010 #115 - Slacks with Notched Waistband - which is a talls sized pattern.

To make them a pull on style, I simply left the darts open, eliminated the pockets and straightened out from the hip to the waist a bit, so they would fit over my hips. I also added a few inches to the rise so that they would sit at the waist without a waistband.

I've had elastic thread in my stash for years. So, it seemed like a good time to experiment with a shirred waist. It's far from perfect and somehow I neglected to take photos of it, but I feel like I know what I'm doing with shirring now, and may use it again in the future as a design detail.  It's fun and summery.

The last detail is the two rows of crocheted lace I added to the calf and hem.  It was a feature of the original pants and I think is the thing that makes this a fun summer make.

Anyway, I couldn't let summer end without mentioning these pants, which I wore non-stop.

Next spring, Magenta, we will have to have a pants making party and make one in every color for us both. These are not the last pair of these pants that I will own, and I already have some enhancements in mind like a simple pocket, slightly different placement of the lace and a waistband with a drawstring, among other things. Anyway, until next summer...  

Ease into Motherhood: Yes, I Wear White

I had already been drafting this post when Seamstress Erin put out an open invitation to share experiences of sewing and motherhood in a series called "Ease into Motherhood." Becoming a parent is one of the most normal, yet profound, things that most of us will do at some point in our lives. But how do you ease into something that is like being hit by a 30 foot wall of water? A tsunami of normal.

These days, when a woman has a child, everything she does gets the word "mom" added to it. Think "mom jeans," "mom (hair) do," "mom style" and the like. A woman with a child no longer meets friends for a drink; instead it's "momtinis." She can't have social plans sans child without it being "Mom's Day/Night Out." She can't disagree or do things her own way without it being "mommy wars" or being labeled as that type of mom (seriously, just google types of moms to see the degree of labeling.) Other people - coaches, teachers, anyone who interacts with her in her role as a parent - will even call her "Mom" rather than bothering to learn her name.

I used to be called Clio.

Is it any wonder that many new mothers suffer from a loss of identity?

What's in a name? We're sold this bill of goods that says we should be MOM before anything else. In our pasts, we may have had hobbies and activities, pursued goals and aspirations, and led rich and interesting lives. But once we are mom, we are supposed to be happy and grateful for our selves to be subsumed by motherhood, everything else about us a distant second. I'm a mom first - the mantra of mothers who work - silently adds lest you think I don't truly and deeply love my child because I need things in my life outside of motherhood.  It's not healthy to see ourselves as one dimensional.

Mom is also a name that has a strong attachment to gender norms. So is Dad. And it starts early. From the moment I was pregnant, people in our lives assumed that it was me who wanted to have a child and Phin was along for the ride. Phin even had other men commiserate with him that now he would have to help out at home. Phin and I already had a marriage in which I commuted and went on business trips while he worked from home, which meant he had more time to cook meals, shop and run errands. We eat really well, btw.

The Tsunami. Pregnancy was one of the happiest and healthiest periods of my life. I loved being pregnant. And Taco was an easy newborn. Knowing it would be a tsunami, I gave myself a lot of room to recover and adjust to caring for him, while Phin, who gave himself a generous paternity leave (perks of being your own boss), cared for me. Our home was full of love. It was the second three months that were a struggle. I was ready to get back to doing the things I loved doing, and I was tired of being at home all the time. That's when sleep became a challenge and Taco became more demanding - he was desperate to sit and later stand, but hated the bouncy chair, the swing, or anything other than my lap or arms. I felt like I was drowning; constantly busy yet accomplishing nothing.

It was such a relief when Taco was big enough for the jumparoo, which he was happy to go in at least for a few minutes at a time.

To this day, Taco's motor skills are well above average and his sleep needs are at the low end of normal for his age group. (Read: he's incredibly active and doesn't sleep much.) It was exhausting. Still is. To boot, as we ventured out more as winter was ending and Taco was older, the assumptions and associations of being a mom felt awkward and uncomfortable to me and simply didn't jive with my self image.

I'll never sew again. Sewing, in my mind, was THE THING that could help me feel like me again - a changed me, to be sure - but me at heart. Around this time, another mom in the otherwise wonderful support group I joined at a local lactation center was unsympathetic when I expressed my frustrations. She told me that she used to sew, too, before her first child was born four years prior. Her meaning was clear - sewing is not something that moms have time for and I should get used to it. Get used to giving up my things... my me. I remember emailing a few sewing friends to say "OMG I have a mom-nemesis who says I will never have time for sewing again!"

Taco's WTF face

I later learned that my nemesis was suffering deeply from postpartum depression. My heart softened toward her; I wondered how many other pieces of herself she had given up. But the encounter also convinced me that I needed to prioritize the things that make me feel like me. Sewing. Baking. Knitting. Even work. When I announced on this blog that I was pregnant, I had said "We've built such a wonderful life together and feel like we have so much to give to a child." For that to remain true, I needed to be true to myself and not give up those things that most define me. 

Getting back to sewing helped me feel like my days were not just a blur of nursing, napping and trying to amuse and help my tiny child grow up. Baking, too. In the beginning it was slow going. I remember telling my moms group it took me three days to bake anything: one day to take out the ingredients, one to bake, one to clean up. Sometimes it took 4 days. Sometimes it took weeks to sew something - one seam at a time, one task at a time. But I was sewing. And life got easier when Taco started taking fewer but longer naps.

Jacket sewn one seam at a time

I cannot overstate how important finding a new mom's group run by a social worker was to my experience of new motherhood. It was not a group to talk about parenting tips or our babies; it was a place to talk about ourselves and how we were doing, without judgement. Being told that it was ok to feel how I actually felt and be who I am as opposed to some notion of how mothers are supposed to feel and supposed to be was powerfully validating. I don't have to conform to gender normative ideas about motherhood to be a great mom to Taco. Most of all, the group taught me that my child deserves a mother who is a whole, multi-faceted person and that I don't need to justify or explain or feel guilt for my life outside of motherhood or the times that I need to step away to care for my own needs.

And so I decided to just be me and chart my own course through motherhood. Being a mom has changed me, but it is not the sum total of me. And while I don't have all the answers, being me means:

I like my career.  I didn't feel conflicted when I went back to work when Taco was 6 1/2 months, and I don't feel constantly torn between work and home. Part of this, to be sure, is that I have an incredibly family friendly employer that allows for a great work-life balance; I work a 4-day week - 3 in office, 1 at home. Plus, the commute that used to be a drudge is now time for me to knit. It's the perfect transition between work and home. When I get home I'm ready to give Taco my full attention until bedtime.

Trying on my knitting

When Taco naps, I sew.  I do not pick up a toy, clean a thing, shop online, go on FB or do anything else mundane or that is a time trap during naptime. On the days that I am home, that is my time for me and I keep it like an appointment. Having that reliable, but limited, block of time has made me such a better planner and a more productive sewist. My sewing has also changed. I'm a much less selfish sewist. I sew more for Phin and Taco than I ever thought I would and for the first time I've sewn things for work. I focus more now on developing and then using TNT patterns, which helps me be more productive and have more wins.  Also, sewing connects me with friends and gives me something to talk about besides Taco.

Taco Plays with My Orange Serger Thread

I'm messy and I don't care. Truly. Taco and I bake together. I have just taught him how to crack an egg (he still needs coaching) and it is our favorite thing ever. I also let him play with flour, cupcake liners and non-sharp baking utensils. I am convinced that involving him in the kitchen now is going to pay big dividends someday - already he is generally happy when I ask him if we should bake together and will go to the pantry and start pulling out ingredients whether they are needed or not. If this becomes a shared hobby, so much the better. But in the meantime, I get to bake.

Playing in the Pantry

I wear white. These are my new white trousers sewn with my TNT trouser pattern. Ta-da!! I love them and wear them all the time, which is why they are so wrinkled in these pics. I was sewing these trousers at the same time I was admiring a white sweater knit by another sewist/knitter. There was a comment about her clearly not being a mom. Apparently, moms don't wear white. Something about messes.

With a new seersucker Ogden Cami

I refuse to dress like a mom, whatever that means. I wear silk, I wear white, I wear leather. I wear what I want. If it gets ruined, c'est la vie. I enjoyed wearing it and can sew another. Why limit myself.

I prefer being called a parent. This post aside, I generally don't refer to myself as a mom or working mom or talk about motherhood. I prefer parent. It is a more equal word than mom and not loaded with gendered ideas or norms. And to be clear, I could not do any of the above without having an equal partner in Phineas.

When I went back to work, he rearranged and scaled back his work to be at home with Taco on the days I'm not. Doing all the childcare ourselves, while both having careers, has been a huge commitment. Parents. The two of us working together as equals. And the best advice I can give about getting thru early childhood with a partner is to forget about keeping score of who is working harder, doing more or getting less sleep, and instead focus on sharing what little free time there is as equally as possible. That is really what fights about who is doing what and whose life is harder are about - the stress caused by lack of free time to pursue an interest, exercise, see friends or just be quiet. Making sure we both get what we need in terms of caring for our selves enables us to be whole people for Taco. 

Me at 40; Taco at 10 months. In Venice.

I am Clio. 

I am a sewer of frosting, baker of brownies, knitter of socks, world traveler, resister, sometimes scuba diver, very slow runner, maker of friends, drinker of wine, eater of pizza, proud aunt, admirer of strong women, reader of books, best friend of Phineas, fabric lover, sister to four amazing women, career woman, daughter, and Taco's Ma-ma.

Me being me, Taco being Taco, both happy. 

I Love a Good Jumpsuit

I'm happy that jumpsuits still seem to be going strong as a trend. I've been thinking about sewing a fun and colorful jumpsuit for summer for the last few months, and now that the dog days have arrived in the NY area it moved to the top of the priority list.

This is Very Easy Vogue V9116 sewn up in knit that I bought at Metro Textiles during Pattern Review Weekend last month. The pattern definitely delivers on being very easy to sew.

I love how fun this jumpsuit is, even though I think there are some distinct improvements that could be made both to the pattern and to this awful camera angle.

First, I should tell you that when I compared the crotch curve of this pattern to my TNT trousers, they were very differently shaped. I'm not making a judgement about one or the other, but simply saying that my TNT pattern is "me shaped" and I was skeptical that this pattern would fit as well, given the degree of difference in the two crotches.

So, I melded the two patterns together, using the upper portion of my TNT pattern and the leg of the jumpsuit. Luckily, by simply not marking and sewing the darts of my TNT trousers, the two had very similar waist and hip shapes and measurements. I added additional seam allowance at the waist (where the waistband would attach) to accommodate the higher waistline of the jumpsuit.

What I didn't change was any part of the top of the jumpsuit. This is straight out of the envelope.

The changes that I would make for next time are relatively few and definitely easy to achieve. In looking at the photos and line drawings, I thought there was going to be enough blous-i-ness that I would be able to get the look I wanted from the pattern (slightly less blousy than drafted) without adding length to the top, which is a normal alteration for my 5'9", long-torsoed frame. I was wrong. The jumpsuit fits a bit high on the waist on me. Next time I will probably add an additional 1-2 inches to the top.  Additionally, what I didn't notice in the photos is that the trousers are definitely NOT too long in the crotch. I should have added an additional inch of length above the crotch at the waist. Overall the jumpsuit just fits thru the torso length.

You can see that the top is low cut on both my front and back. I think this is also why you can just see a slight peek of the black strapless bra I am wearing, despite a strategic safety pin. I plan to sew a snap to keep things better in place on this version, but in the future I think extra length would help bring things up and let the crossed front sit a bit better. It seems well drafted.

My only quibble with the pattern is how the waist is constructed.  Here are the instructions: 

On this version of the pattern there is a lot of bulk at the waist. The two sides of the front bodice are self-lined and overlapped. The bodice is then sewn to the pants at the waist with two rows of stitching to make a casing for elastic. I elected to trim the overlap layers back as much as possible. Even so, the way the casing is sewn adds to the bulk. You end up with a 3/4" casing with 3/8" elastic threaded through it  floating inside the jumpsuit waist area. 

I serged the 1/4" seam allowance.

I compared this to a RTW jumpsuit that I own.

On the RTW version, the waist is serged with 1/4" elastic stitched on the waist seam line. It works just as well and I don't feel like the waist is bulky at all. Again, this is an easily fixable quibble.

Overall, I am happy with this jumpsuit and will definitely get some wear out of it this summer and beyond. I've been wearing it a lot. Fun, too-loud patterns are perfect for summer, and this print incorporates all my favorite colors - orange, hot pink and turquoise. Honestly, this outfit seems incomplete without a Mojito in my hand.

Anyway, I hope you are having a great summer. And stay tuned for when I actually blog about the 3 trousers,  1 jumpsuit, 1 shorts, 3 rompers, 1 rash guard and jacket that I've also sewn. Oy. Photography is not our forte! 

Mini Wardrobe Pieces 1 and 2 (Trousers and Jacket)

I promised more details about my wardrobe pieces. So, here you go.

The project really started from these trousers and jacket.  Both of which had been on my to sew list for about a year.

For the trousers, I used BurdaStyle 9/2010 #115, which is a tall pattern. You've already seen my gold wool trousers from this pattern, which was the second version I sewed. So, I won't bore you with a rehash of the fitting changes.

I added a lining to these trousers made from a poly-silk that has been in my stash for a long time.

I had made a top out of it years ago from New Look #6915 which is long since OOP. The top is still in my wardrobe - it has held up beautifully. So, I feel as though it's now a bonus piece in this mini-wardrobe.

Bonus top!

For the jacket, I used OOP Butterick B5567. This is view B.

The finished jacket calls for a button on the collar band, but I decided to leave it off. I would never actually button it, and sewing a buttonhole on this faux leather, which is pretty stretchy, would not be particularly advisable.

This is a straight size 8 with zero changes to the fit. I'm really rather pleased with it.  It's perfect for those days when I want a light layer over, say, a sleeveless top or want to wear a jacket for work, but not a suit.

Anyway, this outfit has been in heavy rotation in my wardrobe since I finished the trousers. It's a basic with a bit of personality, which suits me just fine.  

I'm not sure I've been bitten my the mini-wardrobe bug or SWAP fever, but I'm really enjoying having outfits rather than just separates in my wardrobe these days. So, perhaps there will be more. 

Luck of the Irish: Gold Wool Trousers and Aran Sweater Hack

Today you get two projects in one post: a new pair of trousers and a sweater refashion. You likely saw them both in my "to sew" pile that I amassed during my holiday fabric cutting and organizing blitz.

There they are on the left

Well, here they are, all finished and together! 

This feels rather appropriate for St. Patrick's Day. So, let's start with the sweater, which has been sitting in a closet for about 20 years. It's a 100% wool, hand knit Aran (aka Irish knit) sweater. So, you can see why I didn't want to get rid of it. Yet, I wasn't going to wear it in all of it's oversized it-came-from-1989 glory. Ginormous. So, like I said, there it sat. Moth bait.

Before

When I started working on my gold trousers, I realized I didn't have much of anything to wear with them. I'm not sure how I stumbled on the idea of refashioning the sweater, but somehow the two became a pair in my head.

After

There isn't much to tell about the alterations.  I shortened the length and the sleeves so that both are pretty cropped.  I reattached the ribbed bottom band. I also took many inches out from the side seams, up through the armscye and sleeve. Other than that I left well and good alone. I used my serger to finish all the seams in order to prevent any raveling.     

And there you have it: a more modern spin on a classic sweater. 

Next, the trousers! This is BurdaStyle 09/2010 - #115 Tall Trousers from one of my all-time favorite issues of Burda. Remember this dress? It's also from this September 2010 issue. 

BS09/2010-115 Tall Trousers

There is nothing particularly special about this pattern - they are a basic trouser with slash pockets at the hip and a back welt pocket. The legs are neither wide nor skinny, and there isn't any other particularly distinguishing feature aside from a bit of top stitching, which I ended up omitting in both of my versions of these trousers. The basic-ness was actually a selling point for me, as was the tall sizing, which fits better allover. It's nice to not have to always add length.

As I normally find with Burda, the trousers are very well drafted and the fit really works well on my figure.  These gold trousers, made from a heavy wool twill purchased at MetroTextiles, are actually my second go at this pattern and surely will not be my last. Between the two versions of these trousers, the changes I made include: 

• Full seat adjustment (about 1/2 inch) using "the usual method" in this picture
• Shortening the front crotch (3/8") like this 
• Taking in the waist in 3 places: 
• Side seams
• CB seam 
• Making the darts larger and longer on both the front and back 

In addition, I lined these trousers and omitting the belt carriers. Also, the notch on the CB waist, which is a design feature that I like, was unfortunately eliminated as I sewed when I took in the CB waist. Oops. There are a few little tweaks that I want to make before these will be a true TNT pattern, but nothing truly substantial at this point.

The challenge that I encountered with these trouser were entirely due to the heavy, bulky, loosely woven twill fabric.  It was ravelly and shifty.  There are a few places like the fly and the pockets that don't lay perfectly flat because of the bulk. So, this was actually a very good lesson about working with bulky fabrics for trousers; in the future I would have made the fly shield, inner waistband and such from a lighter, thinner fabric to reduce bulk at the fly and waist.

As for sewing, I never even looked at Burda's instructions. I've sewn enough pants to know how to sew them and use my preferred methods.  One new to me method was using Kenneth King's origami welt pocket tutorial from his Craftsy class on pockets. I use his double welt pocket tutorial every time I make a double welt, and his method for a single welt also did not disappoint. I have a neat and tidy pocket, although next time I'd make the welt shorter. This one is a bit exaggerated.

Anyway, I have a few other pieces of lighter weight fabric picked out for spring/summer trousers from this pattern.

And there you have it! I have a whole new outfit, half refashioned and half from scratch.

Phin and I took lots of pictures yesterday, so I have a big backlog of posts that I will be putting up over the next few weeks! Hooray for blogging!