Megan Nielsen Flint Lydia Trousers

These are my second pair of Megan Nielsen Flint trousers and whilst the first pair are wearable I am much happier with the fit of this second pair.

The outfit of the day

Here I am wearing my Untouched World Lofty Merino cardigan, Andrea Moore Sweet Line Knit top and United Nude Fold-Lo shoes in neon lime. These trousers fit right into my travel wardrobe.

Outfit two
Still wearing the Andrea Moore Sweet Line Knit top and United Nude shoes, this time they are the Issey Miyake Rock Sandal in lime, with the Issey Miyake Individualist V2056 jacket I made earlier this year. The jacket and trouser fabric were bought together and I always thought they would make a good outfit but now I am not so sure.  Funny how you change your mind when you see a photograph.

The comparison

This version of my Flint trousers includes a number of pattern alterations which improved them to TNT state. Next time I make them will be quick and easy.

We took the same shots with me wearing version 1 so that you could compare the two versions. Not an exact science comparison because I had been wearing version 2 all day whilst version 1 was freshly laundered and I find even though it is a non-stretch woven the fabric relaxes with wear.

Version 2 worn all day but still fits well at the waist

Version 1 gapping at the waistband and fabric wrinkles at the crotch

Version 2 not noticeably different from version 1

Version 1

Version 2 still some diagonal lines but I am happy with the fit

Version 1 looks fine when I really expected them to look much saggier in the bottom 

It is possible that whilst not perfect, Version 1 will end up getting more wear just because I prefer the fabric design. So much for using the less precious fabric for the first time make, at least they are an acceptable wearable muslin.  Ironically it is this first version that has come to England with me, fitting right into the travel wardrobe colour scheme.

 Here they are worn with the Untouched World Lofty merino cardi, and
Left: with the Untouched World merino knit singlet and Eos Metro white shoes;
Right: with the Andrea Moore Sweet Line knit top and United Nude X-sandals in silver and mint.

The fabric

As with my first pair of Megan Nielsen Flint trousers I used a Liberty Rossmore cord, this time in the pattern Lydia.

The pattern

The pattern is described as wide leg cropped pants or shorts with unique side crossover closure.  Pattern sits on the natural waist and features hidden closure at the left pocket, release tucks at the front, darts at the back, slash pockets, two waistband options and two lengths.

Version 1 is a pair of cropped pants with button closures.  Version 2 is a pair of cropped pants with tie closure. Version 3 is a pair of shorts with button closures. Version 4 is a pair of shorts with tie closures.

The pattern alterations

This version of the Flint trousers is once again based on View 1 size medium.

Version 1 did have a post make alteration because the crotch was so low.  I undid the inseam and removed 5/8" from the back inseam then sewed them back together. This did make a difference to wearability but wouldn't get any points as a text book pattern alteration.

The only fit alteration made to version 2 was to remove 1.25 inches from the back crotch length. I just made a dart in the pattern piece tapering to nothing at the side seam. Then the crotch seam was trued up with a 3/8" seam allowance.

The other alterations made were to change the seam allowances to 3/8" and eliminate the waistband by adding 1.5" to the top of the pattern pieces. The darts were extended to continue the shaping. In my post for version 1 I talked about only adding 1/2" to the top of the trousers for a faced waist. However once the excess was removed from the back crotch length it became apparent that more height was needed to get the waist to sit in the right place hence the addition of 1.5".

Waistband height was added to the top of the pocket pieces too.

Making the waistband facing took some thought because of the left hand pocket being the trouser opening. The trouser pieces were overlapped at the seam allowances, including adding the pocket to the left back and right front pieces. The darts were also pinned out. The waistband facing could then be traced off to a depth of 2 7/8". The front left hand pocket width (minus seam allowances) has to be removed from the waistband facing as it is effectively part of the facing. I did forget to account for having a seam with the facing on the curved edge of the back left hand pocket piece and you can see this in the sewing photos with the edge of the pocket folded over.

Both the waistband facing and the top of the left hand pocket bags (where they form part of the waistband facing) are interfaced with a medium weight woven interfacing.

The sewing

The sewing was pretty straightforward with the seams sewn on the overlocker. I had to make changes to the sewing order because of the faced waist and how I added the facing to the pocket bag on the left side.

First thing was to add bias binding to the waist facing. Next darts were sewn.

Then the pocket bags were sewn to their respective trouser leg piece, crotch seams sewn, then the inner leg seam and right side seam including around the pocket bag.

Next the facing was sewn (with the overlocker) to the left side pocket bags front and back, continuing around the pocket bag to neaten the edges to the pocket opening notch. The side seam was then overlocked including around the bottom of the pocket to the notch.

Lastly the facing was sewn to the trousers.

The waist facing is not stitched all the way around to the trousers at the long bias bound edge. I didn't want a visible stitch line so I stitched in the ditch at the front crotch seam, right side seam and the darts (front and back). This is more than adequate to hold the facing in place

I chose a small square gold coloured button with a shank that had to be hand sewn on. A couple of test buttonholes were made to get the size right for the square button.

And the neatly finished waistband in all its glory!

The final step was a hand sewn trouser hem.

The garden

A gratuitous garden shot from the bored photographer.  His model hasn't got the hang of the art of the quick change yet.  Neither for photographs nor real life!

Oki Style Madrid Isle of Wight Blouse

I have discovered a small problem with blogging and the rest of life. I can either sew or I can blog. I doubt this is a mind blowing discovery for anyone and I am sure many have experienced this before me. Normally I try and balance the two activities. With the frenzied sewing associated with a trip and the need for a whole new wardrobe blogging fell by the wayside.

That in itself is another interesting aspect of the human psyche. I have a perfectly adequate wardrobe that would have easily served me over my five weeks away yet I MUST have new clothes. It didn't help that our trip ended up being earlier than planned so the sewing list in the time available became ambitious especially from a naturally slow sewer.

This blouse was the first item sewn for my 6 in 6 Pattern Review Travel Wardrobe back at the beginning of February. Not that I finished six garments within the deadline. Photos were eventually taken of the garment being worn in mid April.

The finished garment

The photos don't show this top off to advantage or maybe it does fit that badly. It doesn't feel ill fitting when worn and I normally fuss with garments that pool in the small of my back like this one appears to do.

It does crease badly when washed and  isn't suitable for travel as you can't guarantee an iron will be available. But it looks alright on the hanger!

The fabric

For some reason I have always wanted some of the Liberty of London print called Isle of Wight (this is colourway A) and luckily for me The Fabric Store had some in the colour that fitted into my travel wardrobe so I snapped it up during their Summer sale.

I have never even been to the Isle of Wight although my aunt goes there every year in December with friends (and then coincidentally has a cold for Christmas).

The sewing pattern

I discovered the indie pattern designer Okistyle thanks to another blogger and I would give them credit if only I could remember who they were.  Since discovering this pattern company I have bought six of their PDF patterns and have another four on my wish list.

One of the Okistyle jacket patterns is cut out in a lovely two faced leather which didn't quite get sewn in time for the tavel wardrobe.

It is a great compliment to the designer Oki that I have purchased so many of her patterns as I hate (and hate is not nearly a strong enough word) taping PDF patterns together. I have found however that the bench or floor in my hotel room is good for taping PDF patterns together and it whiles away a good few evening hours.

The Madrid Blouse is described as "a sleeveless top with nice peplum, Back darts are visible on the right side. Visible long zipper on back, french darts on front."

Oki is from west of Mongolia, now living in Germany. She has been interested in textiles and clothing since her childhood, learning dressmaking from her mother.  Oki is a one woman company who in her own words "design, construct patterns, fabric dyeing, sew, model and do everything myself.  I love unusual precious materials and unusual shapes for dressmaking. To sew Okistyle dresses should be fun and it should be even more fun when you wear them :-)"

The pattern alterations

I can't actually tell you what pattern alterations I would have made to this pattern because when I printed it out (the whole pattern not just the first page with the 10cm square) I didn't print it actual size. My 10cm square was about 9cm ish but I only discovered this after taping all of the pages together and whilst I may have been willing to sacrifice a few pages of paper and print it again I wasn't willing to do the taping again.

Something else to note is that the pattern pieces don't contain seam allowances but I didn't read that important piece of information until later.  So with such amazing attention to detail it is a miracle that this blouse fits.  Not a miracle really because I used a TNT blouse to give me an idea of which size to use. I changed the armholes to be the same as my TNT pattern so I could use its' sleeves as a sleeveless blouse would get limited wear.

Two other changes I made were: a forward shoulder adjustment; and lowered neckline. This neckline in its original form is high enough to make me feel like I'm being strangled.

The sewing

This was sewn using my 1953 Singer Featherweight with French seams. The hems and neckband were machine sewn too. Nothing difficult or unusual about the sewing.

I did omit the facing. Instead the neck was stay-stitched at 3/8" then folded to the stay-stitch line and folded again to give a narrow hem.

The other thing I missed out was the zip down the back. I thought the tana lawn was a bit too light for a zip and I didn't need it to get the top on and off with its lowered neckline. This meant the back pattern piece could be cut on the fold.

I really enjoyed making this top on the little table in our motel room and it is great to wear, even if it does need ironing. (Something else to do in my Wellington hotel room to while away a few minutes.)