Jalie 3022 and another Renfrew+

What a whirlwind the last week and a half has been for me!  Mr. T had a band xmas concert, it was lovely. K tested positive for influenza A yesterday, not lovely. I had a follow up mammo that came back clear, lovely. It is my finals week for school and I have a very sick kid, not lovely.  Our furnace started making noise, our water pump thing has been loud, and we had an outlet blow in the bathroom. Is there a full moon or something???  The last 24 hours have been the worst though. Poor K had a fever of 103.5 and no amount of meds was bringing it down :(  My mothering heart was so sad and nervous! Thankfully this morning she woke and the fever had broken. Whew.

However, I did get a bunch of sewing done in the week preceding this one, lol.  Let me show you!

Jalie 3022 has been on my mind ever since I saw the pattern, and then saw Jess of The Sometimes Sewist make a fabulous pair.  I ordered the pattern and then it sat, and sat, and sat, like most patterns in my stash. Last week I had a spur of the moment decision to just sew them up already.

My measurements put me in a Size X (11) hip and T (7) waist but Jalie is always snug so I bumped up to a Size Z (13) waist V (9).  These pants have a ton of topstitching and my coverstitch was being temperamental.  The back pants panel is split into two and creates a super nice curve that hugs the rear end.  Despite the topstitching these go together relatively fast.  There is also elastic in the waistband which I prefer more than just a cotton/lycra band.


 I love these pants!  They are comfy to wear. Nothing is shown when I bend over. The seaming on the back makes a butt look amazing!!

Now the bad: After I had them almost all sewn I found a freaking flaw in the fabric, thanks JoAnn's.  It lands just at the knee and looks like I scuffed them.  Also, it takes a bit to get used to fabric being so close to my crotch. My jeans don't come that close and I feel a tad self-conscious as if camel toe may happen - It doesn't - but I'm conscious of it. And there is a bit of poofy excess fabric at the front top near my hip bones. I have large thighs and then a dip before my hip bone. I will have to take some fabric out here next time.

Fabric: The pattern calls for 2.25 yards but I was able to get by with 2.  Sew Classic Knits Solid Interlock in Black, from JoAnn's in Oct. 2013, at $4.99/yard = $9.98.  This fabric is a nice interlock, beefier and not see through but only 1 way stretch.  It happens to be a 60% cotton and 40% polyester blend so I hope it wrinkles less than the other pair I made.

What? Another pair? Yes, a pair for Miss K.  Sizewise she would be an O (11). But I made her a  P (12) with the height of 146 (N) even though she is only 134.  They turned out super cute and her little butt looks cute in them too.  I used an old pair of yoga pants that are huge on me for hers and a scrap of Lillestoff Sweet Days for the lower band.  K hates the band and wants it all one color. Otherwise she loves them.  They are a tad long on her.  Sorry no pics of her in them, she is couch-bound until she is better. Excuse the wrinkles, they were worn before pics.  The fabric is a super stretchy spandex blend and thinner but not see thorough.

Tons of topstitching

Moving on to the Renfrew. Ever since I made my first one just a bit ago I've been scheming to get more fabric for another (and maybe another, lol).  They sure are addicting!

Changes made: added 1/4" to each side of the sleeves because they were a tad tight. Added 1/4" broad back adjustment - I noticed a bit of pulling on my last one because I have super prominent shoulder blades.  Now I can't tell if these changes helped or not because this fabric is very loose and drapey.  It fits different than the cotton/lycra.

I made View C with long sleeves again because I love that cowl.  I wanted to make the bottom band black like the cuffs but didn't have enough matching black of this kind.  Shrug.

Fabric is an amazing lightweight 4way, rayon modal knit that I picked up from Purpleseamstress.  I had to have it when I saw it and she had it on sale $5/yard. This was 2 yards so $10. I just got it December 3rd and couldn't wait to sew it up. I'm sure you will see more Renfrews in the future.
When asked if it was too busy my husband commented "Looks nice, people will think you like elephants" LMAO. oooook.

Onward - I tried a new free pattern called the Darcy Boxer Shorts. And I love some comfy boxers in the summer for PJ use.  Miss K also has been asking for a pair of her own.

 Results are less than stellar for me.  Way too poofy. Seems really big on me.  Slight tightness in the rear but super big everywhere else.

 I thought I'd share my fail with you ;-)

This fabric has seen it's fair share of use!
I used it for a pattern testing muslin (never shown). K got a cute tunic out of it here. And now these boxers.  The fabric is a light, breezy cotton that I picked up dirt cheap.  It is called A day in the garden "Ava Vezite." Purchased in March 2014. I think it was like $1.20 a yard so no hard feelings on this fail.

I also made Miss K a pair using the smallest size XXS.  They fit her ok and are less poofy - though slightly still.  Her fabric (below) was leftovers from my cute tank top  back in April 2013. It was from Hancocks, a Turquoise cotton lawn at $3.95/yard.

And Finally, I just could let go of that failed frozen top. So I chopped off the offending bottom fabric and sewed on a knit bottom. This bottom is actually from my discarded first Ottobre color block tee. I got rid of the pilling top and K's shirt needed a bottom so I had this brilliant idea!  It took only minutes to cut the bottom off and reattach the new bottom - it was already hemmed so it was super awesome. The verdict? K loves it now. And it looks like my fav color-blocked tee. The frozen fabric will be used for something else. This is Ottobre 01/2011 #33

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If you are still with me, Thanks!!  I hope you have a lovely Christmas with your friends and families.  I hope to get K's Xmas dress finished here this week but who knows.

~ Happy Sewing! ~ Kristin ~