Twill – The Finished Garment

A Little Koi

As soon as my kids saw these fish, they were in love! They wanted fish pants.

“Fish pants? Really?” “Yes, yes, yes!”

The print is Don’t Be Koi from the Koi collection by Rashida Coleman-Hale for Cloud9 Fabrics, and is my latest Warp & Weft Sewing Society project.

I wasn’t sure if I could do the whole pants purple koi (maybe a bit too rock ‘n roll), but a tuxedo stripe sounded fun.

I used the After-School Pants pattern by Oliver + S. It was a breeze to sew. I made size 6 and 7 in a medium-weight twill, with koi accents, of course. I had originally planned to use quilting cotton, but after patching yet another pair of pants, decided on something just a little tougher.

After-School Pants sewing pattern by Oliver + S, in Don't be Koi. Sewn by The finished Garment. A Warp & Weft Sewing Society project. — After-School Pants

The only changes I made to the pants were to add a bit of extra top stitching, to make them look a bit more like jeans, and to use the koi print for the side stripes, interlined with the same twill. I though quilting cotton alone might not hold its shape well enough, when combined with the twill.

I originally had not planned to make anything else. Fish pants seemed pretty distinctive. But while the pants took four long stripes of fish, but there was still a little fabric left over. And of course, it’s gorgeous, so I had to do something fabulous with it. I only had one yard of the Don’t Be Koi print, but I still managed to get four garments out of it.

Roller Skate Tunic sewing pattern by Oliver + S, in Don't be Koi. Sewn by The finished Garment. A Warp & Weft Sewing Society project. — Roller Skate Tunic (view C)

Prepster Pullover sewing pattern by Blank Slate Patterns, in Don't be Koi. Sewn by The finished Garment. A Warp & Weft Sewing Society project. — Prepster Pullover

Boy's outfit, in Don't be Koi. Sewn by The finished Garment. A Warp & Weft Sewing Society project. — Boy’s outfit.

Girl's outfit, in Don't be Koi. Sewn by The finished Garment. A Warp & Weft Sewing Society project. — Girl’s outfit.

So I made up the Roller Skate Tunic by Oliver + S (view C), which I’ve made once before. I cannot tell you how much I love this pattern. When it first came out, I wasn’t sure I liked it, but it definitely grows on you. It is a really quick, easy sew, and there are so few seams to finish, which is always a bonus. I used some more koi, and some white shirting that has been in my stash for ages and ages. It’s actually older than my oldest daughter (so embarrassing!). The tunic is lined in soft cotton batiste. I made no modifications, beyond colour blocking the tunic.

For my son, I used the Prepster Pullover by Blank Slate Patterns. I first thought about making a button-down shirt, but my son is not a fan of those. So many buttons for little hands! This shirt is easier to get into, so he gave it the thumbs up before I got started.

I used contrasting fabric for the placket and collar, modified the pocket to add some extra koi, and lengthened the hem on the sleeves. I also changed the construction order. The pattern has you put in the collar at the end, after you’ve sewn in the sleeves and attached the sides, but it is much easier to do earlier on. There’s a cool article on the difference between the two construction methods here.

Unfortunately, the Koi collection is almost gone, but you could get a similar effect with the Charley Harper collection or the Beyond The Backyard collection. Anything bright, with some good contrast would work well.

Summary

Pattern Reviews:

Pants: After-School Pants by Oliver + S,
Tunic: Roller Skate Tunic by Oliver + S,
Shirt: Prepster Pullover by Blank Slate Patterns.

Fabric:

Beige twill, white shirting (poplin?) from my stash, and Don’t Be Koi from the Koi collection by Rashida Coleman-Hale for Cloud9 Fabrics, courtesy Warp & Weft.

Sizes: 6 (pants and pullover) and 7 (pants and tunic).

Sewing Level: Pants and tunic: advanced beginner. Pullover: intermediate.

Modifications: I colour blocked the tunic. I interlined the side stripes with twill and added some top stitching to the pants. For the shirt, I used contrasting fabric for the collar and placket, changed the pocket, lengthened the sleeve hem, and changed the construction order.

Results: Excellent! I especially recommend the tunic, which I’ve made once before.

Spring Showers

Well, it’s not quite spring here, but mother nature is working on it. So this pattern came along just in time. It’s the Spring Showers Jacket by Elegance & Elephants (yay! Canadian content!) and I was lucky enough to be a pattern tester.

It’s a lined, zip-front, hooded jacket. You can make a version with a cinched waist, but I like this version better.

I was going to make a waterproof/water-resistant version, but the one day I could get to the fabric store…. snow storm! So I shopped my stash instead. I used a (hard to photograph) navy, 100 per cent cotton twill for the outer fabric and quilting cotton for the inner fabric. I thought about using lining fabric on the sleeves, to make them easier to slide on and off. Montreal may be Hoth in the winter, but it’s Tatooine in the summer. Cotton breathes better, so this will be a better summer jacket this way.

I made the size 4/5 for Kid No 2. Usually he wears a size 5, and the fit of the jacket was just right. Room to move and grow and layer over whatever he’s wearing.

The pattern is really cute and practical, and I’ve already had a couple requests for more from Kid No 1 and Kid No 3.

Summary

Pattern Review: Spring Showers Jacket by Elegance & Elephants.

Fabric: Navy twill (100% cotton) for the outer fabric and Ziggy in Aqua from Timeless Treasures for the lining.

Size: 4/5.

Sewing Level: Average.

Modifications: None.

Results: Great. I hope to make this again. Next time I’d like to add snaps to the pockets and a zipper flap to the outside.

Disclaimer: The pattern was generously provided by Elegance & Elephants, in return for testing the pattern. As always, my opinions are my own.

Star Pants

This past week Kid No 4 came down with the chicken pox, so sewing time and blogging time were extra limited. Babies with chicken pox are 100 per cent grumpy 100 per cent of the time.

The worst part is that there is a vaccine for chicken pox, a vaccine that all my other kids got at 12 months, but which is now given at 18 months. It’s like a guaranteed recipe for 12-18 month-olds with chicken pox.

Anyway, since I had only intermittent sewing time, I decided to tackle some unfinished objects (UFOs).

Sandbox Pants sewing pattern by Oliver + S as sewn by The Finished Garment — Sandbox Pants

This is the first one – my very first pair of Sandbox Pants by Oliver + S. I made them in a size 6, and they were just too big. So I put them aside, waiting for Kid No 2 to grow and started on some cords using the same pattern, but in the right size.

I made this first pair in a heavy twill with quilting cotton for the waistband and pocket lining. It’s hard to tell from the photos, but the twill is really beige denim.

I underestimated the weight of the twill and I think the waistband will be too flimsy. When I made my second pair out of corduroy I used corduroy for the waistband as well, and made a flat front pant. They are much more sturdy.

If the pants were in a lighter material, the drawstring waistband would be great. It’s not the pattern, just my poor pairing of fabric. So to compensate somewhat, I added a second row of elastic to the waistband, but without a drawstring, just to be on the safe side.

I also added a second row of topstitching to the pockets, since the pants seemed so much like jeans.

And of course the grumpiness was catching so the now taller Kid No 2 tried them on, declared them “wonderful”, then took them off and refused to pose for photos. Oh well. Some days are like that.