Papao Pants

Pattern/Technique: Papao Pants by Ready to Sew. Size 50, view A (no front pocket).

Modifications: None

Materials: 3.25 yds of Robert Kaufman Essex Homespun (45” wide) in Pepper

New skills: n/a

Lessons: I used the following technique for making darts, which produced an excellent result:

1. While cutting fabric, use an awl to punch a hole through the fabric at the dart point (the awl won’t break the fibers, just distort them). To make the hole more visible, mark it with a cross using a chaco liner.

2. Cut notches at the edge of the fabric where the legs of the darts begin.

3. Flip the fabric to the wrong side. Align a quilting ruler with the notch and the drill hole. Verify the placement by layering the pattern piece on top.

4. Draw the dart line with tailors chalk.

5. Pin the dart lines together. Insert pins along the dart line, and check the opposite site to make sure the pins are intersecting the dart line on both sides of the dart. Use a different colored pin head to mark the dart point. I insert it all the way into the fabric so the pin head is at the drill hole.

6. Follow the pattern instructions for sewing darts. In summary: sew from leg to point, then off point, leaving a 3 inch tail. Tie an overhand knot in the tail, so the knot is at the dart point, then trim the tail to 1cm.

When topstitching, I used a bi-level edgestitch foot and a -2.0 mm needle offset.

When finishing a hem I've started doing a couple things to make it look neater:

1. Start sewing at the inside leg seam so that the backstitching isn’t as visible

2. When I start sewing, I align the bottom edge of the hemmed pant with one of the markings on bottom place of the sewing machine and use that as my guide for sewing around the hem. This means that that hem stitching line will be a constant, even distance from the bottom of the pant leg.

What I'd do differently: I was a bit concerned about the rise being too long in the front and causing chafing, but that didn’t happen on my first wear. I’ll keep an eye on this and see if I need to adjust. If I decrease the front rise, I should probably do a full bum adjustment because the rise in the back feels just right and I don’t want to remove fabric back there.

Care: Machine wash, lay flat to dry.

Pekka Jacket

Pattern/Technique: Pekka Jacket by Ready to Sew in size 50, view A (narrow collar, non-folded sleeves)

Modifications: n/a

Materials: 2.75 yds Kaufman Essex (cotton linen blend) in Navy for exterior. 3 yds Ankara cloth for lining (cut on cross-grain to have large rosettes at the bottom of the jacket lining).

New skills: bagging a jacket lining

Lessons: I think because I used two different types of fabric (cotton/linen exterior and cotton lining) and cut the lining fabric on the cross-grain, I ended up with the exterior fabric growing and being larger than the lining at the sleeve hems and bottom hem of the jacket. I cheated the sleeve hems and made a small pleat in the exterior fabric to make it match the lining. The remedy for the bottom hem was more extensive:

• Steamed the exterior fabric (cotton/linen essex) to tighten up the fabric weave.

• Aligned the lining with the bottom hem and folded under excess fabric to prevent the lining from relaxing below the exterior fabric. (I had this happen with the black & white Unfolding Jacket I made where I cut the mariners cloth lining on the cross-grain.)

• Basted and stabilized the lining & main fabrics using Wonder Tape.

• Hand sewed the seam using a blind stitch.

Hand sewing through Wonder Tape was horrible. The moisture on my hands activated the adhesive so I had sticky fingers and a sticky needle. I ended up removing the piece hanging out of the steam 2/3 of the way through hand sewing for sanity. Next time I’ll be more careful with my placement to make sure I’m not stitching through the Wonder Tape.

Thread gloss is a boon for preventing knots in thread while hand sewing.

What I'd do differently: Next time I’ll cut the lining on the grain so that I can compensate for the exterior fabric stretching using the cross-grain stretch of the lining fabric.

Care: Machine wash cold, lay flat to dry.