Finally the summer holiday is upon me. Which has just done wonders to my energy. Apart from doing some summer cleaning, wardrobe purging, defrosting and piping cleaning I have also sewn my first clothes item in quite a while (apart from another pair of sequin hotpants for a roller derby teammate, more on that some other time).
Way back I talked about African fabrics, and it sure took a while before I put that thought into action. I bought this genuine wax print from Ebay.co.uk and was very impressed with how rich the print is, and it’s just as prominent on both sides. I don’t know how they do that, but I guess the colour must run very deep.
The fabric was stiff before washing, but afterwards it feels like all the residue is gone. I wouldn’t use this fabric for flowing styles, but for pants, straights skirts and fitted dresses I think wax batik fabric would work fine.
The pattern is from Burda magazine issue 2010/10. The waist lacks waistband, instead the design calls for facing. But I used grosgrain ribbon and will post a tutorial on that soon. The only thing that didn’t work out perfectly was the side pockets, I never seem to get them to lie flat. Perhaps the issue wasn’t helped by the fact that I forgot to use interfacing, but even when I do I still get the same issue with gaping. And advice would be deeply appreciated.
5 Comments
poppykettle
July 1, 2012 at 11:05 pmLove the shorts and the fabric! I made a pair of shorts and pants with this style of pocket at the front – The pattern I used had a 'facing' style piece sewn to the pocket front angle and the pocket back, which had the effect of doubling up on fabric , and the pockets on both of those garments sit really nicely. I think it just needs a bit of extra stabilisation?
Johanna
July 2, 2012 at 7:01 amThank you for the suggestion, don't think I've come across that sort of solution in a pattern, but it sounds like an great way to improve the stability even more than interfacing would
Antoinette
July 3, 2012 at 12:51 pmReally loving the print and colors on that fabric! I've only sewn a few garments with these pockets and haven't noticed that they gape at all, but honestly, that may be more due to my tendency to not notice those details. From a construction standpoint, I remember on all those garments pressing the pockets flat after assembling pockets, bags, etc. and then basting down at the waistline and side seams. I'd guess you're doing that, though, in which case, I will go back and inspect previous shorts / rompers to see if they are, in fact, gaping.
Aline
July 3, 2012 at 2:56 pmvery cute! have a great summer holiday!
Margo
July 15, 2012 at 2:01 amSometimes my pockets gape and sometimes they don't. Haven't figured it out yet, but I can't stand when garments don't have pockets, so I keep putting them in anyway!
I'm eager to hear about the grosgrain ribbon at the waist. I like a firm waist.