Tuesday, October 4, 2011

A Taste of Wine - Burda 8_2011 Pant 137

I seem to be spending my weekends gallivanting off to quilt shows and sewing expos. This results in lots of new ideas and purchases, but very little sewing activity. I did manage to add some color and a new pant silhouette to my fall wardrobe. The color, a wine bordering on magenta, the silhouette - slouchy tapered leg. The pattern is Burda pant 8_2011 137.

Burda pant  Aug 2011 #137

The pants have  a double pleat, one within another. A sewn inverted pleat covered by a larger pleat. I think I interpreted  the directions correctly. They look fine and the waistband fits so I am happy.
 I was concerned about looking like an ice cream cone in narrow leg pants so I did a comparison of the pattern leg width to some other pants in my closet. The pattern leg circumference is 15.5 inches. The narrowest leg pants in my closet were 14"  jeans so I felt comfortable making the pattern.   I did not include the side seam pockets. Most of my hip curve is between my waist and 4 inches below. Side seam pockets always gape on that short, extreme curve.

The fabric is a lightweight wool lycra gabardine from Vogue Fabrics. It is described as washable and came through that test beautifully. It has the soft drape needed for these pants. I did not line them. I looked on the  netaporter  web site  for purple pants and  styling ideas.


Diane von Furstenberg
 
Acne







YSL





I prefer pants like this hemmed long, covering the ankle, and worn with chunky high heel shoes.   But looking at the picture,  I think I need to shorten mine about an inch to keep the leg from pooling on the top of my foot. I haven't rotated my summer clothes out yet,  so in this picture I am working the color blocking trend and wearing the pants with a gold sleeveless RTW knit top and chunky sandals.    But the weather is cooling so I am in the process of  choosing a pattern, and fabric from the stash selection below, to make a coordinating blouse.



Just wanted to mention the wonderful 2 days I had at the Chantilly, VA Sewing  Expo. I took a lot of classes, mostly on fitting or sewing techniques. Even if a class is on a topic I am familiar with, it is good to have the refresher and see the demo’s again. This year Cynthia Guffey’s “Fitting your Hanger” ( shoulders and back) presentation really drove home the point that a lot of fitting issues in the bodice are because of poor shoulder and back fit. Before you start messing with bust and armholes, compare the shoulder slope of the pattern to your shoulder slope and make sure they match. Lorraine Henry’s "Crotchety Crotches" class discussed measuring and fitting armhole and leg crotches. I never thought of underarms as a crotch, but they are. She did an interesting comparison of her crotch shape  to that of  several pattern lines,  and a pattern copied from a RTW pair of Liz Claiborne pants. It was easy to see which pattern fit her best ( Liz). I want to do the same comparison exercise myself.  I bought several new pairs of specialty scissors, some independent patterns, fabric and lace. I love sewing expos and always come away invigorated and raring to go/sew.

23 comments:

  1. What a delightful new design on you. Love the color combination as well.

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  2. The pants look wonderful! Love the colour. Love the style. Lucky you to be able to take in the sewing expos and classes!

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  3. What cool pants! So fashion forward and stylish. Love them.

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  4. Love those pants! They look great on you!

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  5. Those pants look great! Especially with the gold top. Nice lot of draping going on :)

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  6. Love the colour. Love the style. Love the styling!

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  7. I've been considering those pants, but I was concerned about the deep pleats. ( I didn't know they were double pleats - I haven't yet read the instructions). They look very good on you! And I love the color!

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  8. Great colour combo and the cut is perfect. You are a style beacon for mature women.

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  9. Ahhh you mentioned you were making tapered pants, and you did! These look very well proportioned on you, and I think they go brilliantly with the gold top you've paired them with - you look very fashionable!

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  10. Wow! They look great on you! I agree that hemming them long, and worn with a chunky heel makes them and the wearer look best.

    Just to go off topic for a minute. My blog Making the Seam was infected with malware and I had to delete it. I did set up another blog though, and here is a link to it, if you are interested.
    http://sewherewegoagain.blogspot.com/
    I have yet to post a new sewing project though. Dealing with computer woes really cut into my sewing time!

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  11. Audrey these pants are tremendous. You chose the perfect shoes to go with. Thanks so much for your expert comments on my last blogpost. They are very much appreciated.

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  12. I really admire how you tackle the more fashion forward numbers in Burda. How do you pull it off? I don't know, but some how you seem to own the look even better than the models do.

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  13. I love the color and cut -- very fashion forward but approachable!

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  14. The pants look great. Much better the the Burda pair modeled in the magazine. Yes you are working the color block trend. Nice.., BTW- Beautiful fabric. Have a great weekend.

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  15. Oh just love those pants, and the whole outfit. Very, very chic.

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  16. I love the colour combination of your outfit! And it's so chic! I passed over that picture in Burda many times, but seeing yours just confirms that I need to learn to look at designs outside the (photo) box. You look fantastic!

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  17. Fab pants and I love your color blocking!

    At some point I should really take a scientific approach to learning fit...

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  18. I love the color and style on you. I also love purples and am always looking for great purple fabric.

    I checked the Vogue Fabrics website but didn't see anything similar. Do you know the fabric #?

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  19. Fabulous as always, Audrey! Love the color combo!

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  20. The pants look amazing on you. I remember seeing that style and thinking, "tough to wear" -- but you wear it very well! Thank you for sharing some of your experiences at the sewing expo. I never thought about armhole-fitting in the same way as crotch-fitting either, but it makes sense.

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  21. You look marvelous in the pants and gold top. I really want to go the Expo in Chantilly. Every year it conflicts with a business conference I have to attend. I would love to learn more about the "Crotchety Crotch".

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  22. Oh I love those trousers - and they look fabulous with the gold top.

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  23. Love the pants and I totally agree with you about the Expos - great for getting you out a rut!

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