I finally feel like I’m back in the land of the living! I started laundry today (first time in 3 weeks), so I expect each and every one of you to give me an enthusiastic pat on the back. Just kidding! Chris has been picking up a lot of slack lately, so I’m glad to be taking back some of my household responsibilities.
I’m also back to sewing. Well, blogging about sewing. I haven’t touched my sewing machine since before Jan 21st. I’m aching to get back in the saddle. Too much pretty fabric just sitting, doing nothing.
This year with Alt Summit, I wanted to sew even more of my outfits (last year it was usually one thing, whether it was a piece of jewelry or a top or skirt). And this year I wanted to make pants. Like real pants. So I sketched up plans for outfits for each day (see above for Friday day and evening looks). My friday day look turned out nearly as planned (the oxblood leggings didn’t happen, obvi, but that’s okay). The Friday night look turned out completely different, but in a good way. More on that one later.
The limitations for Alt Summit:
- I didn’t have time to go out and buy fabric or notions, so I was going on what I had.
- I wanted each of my outfits to be *mostly* interchangeable in case I changed my mind about an outfit last minute. This meant a simple color palette.
- I wanted clothes to be comfortable.
- I didn’t want to spend too much time testing out a new pattern or fussing with zippers and enclosures.
That said I went pretty simple with my ensembles, but little special touches here and there. My wardrobe paled in comparison with Merrick’s and Leanne’s amazing duds. Seriously. Equal parts jealous and in love with their creations. Those ladies inspire me to push my sewing further.
For Friday’s look, I wanted a sweet and romantic pussy bow top with bishop sleeves. It turned out almost exactly how I envisioned it. Almost. I sewed everything up and was going for a final press when I forgot that my iron was set to the cotton setting! Unfortunately I melted half of a sleeve onto my iron. I’m thankful it was the bottom half so I could salvage the sleeves without much hassle.
I used Jessica’s Simple Blouse pattern (another variation here). It’s a very simple sew, perfect for variations. I used a rayon jersey print I got at Mood for the bodice and a polyester chiffon for the arms and necktie detail. Often times synthetic chiffons are a little scratchy to the touch, but this stuff is magically soft!
Attaching the neck to the top was easy, easy. I made the necktie first (sew wrong sides together, turn and press) then sandwiched it between the neckline and biased tape when I bound the neck. It was a lot easier to put together than I thought.
Because of the drape and cling of the jersey, I opted for a banded hem to give the bottom some structure. I was afraid this would date the shirt too much, but because of the light weight of the fabric, it still allows to be tucked in and styled differently unlike most shirts with hem bands.
Now for the pants. I found this awesome tie dye print at Michael Levine Loft in LA. I was stoked to figure out a project for one of my favorite LA fabric finds! This stretch denim has about 40% stretch, so I figured if I loosened up the seam allowances on my self drafted leggings, I’d have a perfect fit.
I made the mistake of cutting the first pant leg on the wrong grain so there was no stretch horizontally. Thankfully I had enough fabric that I could re-cut the pattern pieces on the right grain, no problem. The pattern worked out perfectly, except in the knees. The knees were too loose in comparison to the tightness in the calves. I thought it wouldn’t bother me, but minutes before walking out the door to Alt Summit, I decided to fix it. I’m SO glad I did.
Too lazy/intimidated to try and figure out how to put in a fly zipper, I opted for a yoga band. This actually works to my benefit as I’m CRAAAZY baby hungry right now. At some point down the road (no announcement, yet) I want to have another baby, so it’s nice to have pieces that will stretch with me. I’m at that awkward point where I don’t know how long it’s going to take to get pregnant. I don’t want to jump the gun on maternity clothes, but I also don’t want to invest serious time into making something I love if I can only wear it once or twice.
Beyond my future plans, having a yoga band pant was awesome at Alt Summit. I was incredibly comfortable while sitting at sessions and running around decorating our party.
There’s a lot going on here with the two patterns, but I think they work really nicely together. Kinda how stripes and dots just work. The neutral color palette makes it easy for me to mix and match each piece with just about anything.
Sewing these pants together made me think that I should try even more woven pant variations. Maybe have another go at Harem Pants?
Outfit Details:
Next year, I think I’m going to clear my plate a little more before Alt so I can spend a ton more time designing and sewing clothes. ‘Cause that was my favorite part of prepping for the conference!
Check out the links above for similar tie dye pants (all under $50).
