In this post, I'm going to revisit Coletterie's Wardrobe Architect Week 5 (Your Color Story) and Week 6 (Organizing Your Palette).
Last time I did Week 5, I had an easy time picking colours that I liked. I guess my real problem was limiting the amount of colours! These were my original colours:
I picked so many colours! I still really like them all. But, I decided to remember my core style (preppy) and pick colours that were more suited to that. So, these are the new colours that I picked:
I think that these are the colours I like most and feel best wearing, so I'm going to focus on them.
And, it's already organized for the Week 6 exercise, organizing your palette.
Neutrals
Dove grey, cream, camel, taupe, and black
Nearly Neutrals
Olive and navy
Statement Colours
Mint, turquoise, blush, purple, scarlet, and gold
Much simpler than before. Last time I did this exercise, I had so many colours in the different categories. It will be much easier for me to shop for fabrics and build a wardrobe with this palette.
Last time I did Week 5, I had an easy time picking colours that I liked. I guess my real problem was limiting the amount of colours! These were my original colours:
I picked so many colours! I still really like them all. But, I decided to remember my core style (preppy) and pick colours that were more suited to that. So, these are the new colours that I picked:
And, it's already organized for the Week 6 exercise, organizing your palette.
Neutrals
Dove grey, cream, camel, taupe, and black
Nearly Neutrals
Olive and navy
Statement Colours
Mint, turquoise, blush, purple, scarlet, and gold
Much simpler than before. Last time I did this exercise, I had so many colours in the different categories. It will be much easier for me to shop for fabrics and build a wardrobe with this palette.
I decided to take apart some old RTW pants I had to make a pattern for some new skinny crop pants.
As I mentioned in previous posts, I really needed some new bottoms - something dressy, but comfortable to wear around the office.
I cut apart an old pair of pants and traced them on some brown packing paper. They are a nice simple design with hip pockets.
I had the opposite problem from my Burdastyle shorts (which gave me a bit of a wedgie) - my crotch was too deep and left a little too much ease in the crotch area. I tried to make the crotch more shallow, by doing the opposite of scooping out the crotch, but there was not enough fabric to do this properly.
I added some belt loops a single welt pocket on the back. The back is a little wrinkly, but they look better than my blue cotton stretch sateen pants.
Below, is a close up of the welt pocket. I think it turned out pretty good.
I added a button and hook on the waistband. I used my buttonholer once again - that is such a great tool.
To stabilize the waistband of this stretch woven fabric, I sewed a 1" strip of polyester 'silk' selvedge to the inside waistband piece. I sewed the strip at 3/8" and then ironed it under. This left 1/4" of the inside waistband piece to get sewed down when I stitched in the ditch on the bottom waistband front. I'm really happy with how this turned out and my waistband feels stable.
I used more of the polyester 'silk' lining fabric (left over from my Cordova jacket) for my pocket linings. The pockets look nice and clean. I copied some RTW pants and did a french seam on the bottom of the pocket bags.
Overall, I'm pretty happy with the pants and the way they fit. The RTW pants were of a different type of fabric and didn't fit me perfectly, so I still had to fiddle with the fit a lot. It was also a challenge to make sure I was drafting pieces, like the hip pockets, properly. So, I learned a lot in the process, but I think I'm going to by a commercial pattern and alter that next time.
With these pants and my Easy Tee, I'm ready for work!
As I mentioned in previous posts, I really needed some new bottoms - something dressy, but comfortable to wear around the office.
I cut apart an old pair of pants and traced them on some brown packing paper. They are a nice simple design with hip pockets.
I had the opposite problem from my Burdastyle shorts (which gave me a bit of a wedgie) - my crotch was too deep and left a little too much ease in the crotch area. I tried to make the crotch more shallow, by doing the opposite of scooping out the crotch, but there was not enough fabric to do this properly.
I added some belt loops a single welt pocket on the back. The back is a little wrinkly, but they look better than my blue cotton stretch sateen pants.
Below, is a close up of the welt pocket. I think it turned out pretty good.
I added a button and hook on the waistband. I used my buttonholer once again - that is such a great tool.
To stabilize the waistband of this stretch woven fabric, I sewed a 1" strip of polyester 'silk' selvedge to the inside waistband piece. I sewed the strip at 3/8" and then ironed it under. This left 1/4" of the inside waistband piece to get sewed down when I stitched in the ditch on the bottom waistband front. I'm really happy with how this turned out and my waistband feels stable.
 |
| Selvedge peeking out under waistband |
I used more of the polyester 'silk' lining fabric (left over from my Cordova jacket) for my pocket linings. The pockets look nice and clean. I copied some RTW pants and did a french seam on the bottom of the pocket bags.
Overall, I'm pretty happy with the pants and the way they fit. The RTW pants were of a different type of fabric and didn't fit me perfectly, so I still had to fiddle with the fit a lot. It was also a challenge to make sure I was drafting pieces, like the hip pockets, properly. So, I learned a lot in the process, but I think I'm going to by a commercial pattern and alter that next time.
With these pants and my Easy Tee, I'm ready for work!
I decided to go back and fix the crotch on my Burdastyle 03/2013 #126 Shorts. At little change made a huge difference!
I scooped out the front and back curve about 1/4" at the in-seam. Almost all of my weird crotch wrinkles disappeared!
The back looks much better, too. This little alteration also made the shorts even more comfortable. It no longer feels like I'm getting a slight wedgie - lol! So, if you have pants or shorts that are giving you a wedgie, the trick it to scoop out the crotch curve a little deeper.
And since I didn't take a good picture of it last time, here is what the side pockets look like in the pattern. I really like them. It adds a little interest to what are otherwise plain grey shorts.
I scooped out the front and back curve about 1/4" at the in-seam. Almost all of my weird crotch wrinkles disappeared!
The back looks much better, too. This little alteration also made the shorts even more comfortable. It no longer feels like I'm getting a slight wedgie - lol! So, if you have pants or shorts that are giving you a wedgie, the trick it to scoop out the crotch curve a little deeper.
And since I didn't take a good picture of it last time, here is what the side pockets look like in the pattern. I really like them. It adds a little interest to what are otherwise plain grey shorts.
The summer heat is here, so I have made another pair of shorts for the office. The pattern is Burdastyle 03/2013 #126. I used the same pattern last year to make a wearable muslin and now I finally made another pair with nice fabric.
Materials:
The shorts are wrinkly from my wearing them. I wore them to the office and now they have a lot of wrinkles from sitting.
Pattern
Burdastyle 03/2013 #126
I really like the side pockets. The side seams are like princess seams and make my legs look a little longer.
Alterations
I made a size 40 like with my first pair (a size smaller than what I am on the chart). I did a slight swayback adjustment (I moved the pattern waist up about 1/4" in the front and down 1/4" in the back).
I changed was the hem length to about 8", in order to be able to comfortably wear them in the office(didn't want them to be too short).
I narrowed the bottom of the shorts so that the openings are about 18" (about 1.5" off of each side seam). I had a pair of shorts that I liked that were like this. However, I think those shorts might have a little spandex in them, since the poplin seems a little tight. Not horrible though. I didn't want them to be too wide at the bottom, since I had lengthened them. What do you think?
I might go back and make the crotch curve a little deeper. I don't have a wedgie in them, but it's close. haha [Update: Check out my post on fixing the crotch curve.]
That's it! Now I feel like making a top to go with it. But, I should get further along in revisiting the Wardrobe Architect first.
Materials:
- 50% Cotton / 50% Polyester Poplin: $8
- Pocket lining (old bedsheet): $0
- Interfacing (already had): $0
- Zipper: $2
- Button: $0
The shorts are wrinkly from my wearing them. I wore them to the office and now they have a lot of wrinkles from sitting.
Pattern
Burdastyle 03/2013 #126
I really like the side pockets. The side seams are like princess seams and make my legs look a little longer.
Alterations
I made a size 40 like with my first pair (a size smaller than what I am on the chart). I did a slight swayback adjustment (I moved the pattern waist up about 1/4" in the front and down 1/4" in the back).
I changed was the hem length to about 8", in order to be able to comfortably wear them in the office(didn't want them to be too short).
I narrowed the bottom of the shorts so that the openings are about 18" (about 1.5" off of each side seam). I had a pair of shorts that I liked that were like this. However, I think those shorts might have a little spandex in them, since the poplin seems a little tight. Not horrible though. I didn't want them to be too wide at the bottom, since I had lengthened them. What do you think?
I might go back and make the crotch curve a little deeper. I don't have a wedgie in them, but it's close. haha [Update: Check out my post on fixing the crotch curve.]
That's it! Now I feel like making a top to go with it. But, I should get further along in revisiting the Wardrobe Architect first.
