Thursday, July 3, 2014

More Wedding Weekend Pieces


    Before I talk about the top, lets talk about how big these pants are.  I had them on maybe for 1/2 hour before these photos were taken. That's how long these linen and lycra pants took to stretch out.  I have another pair of linen and lycra pants that are not quite as bad, but they stretch out quickly too. Like a lot of sewists I like lycra in my pants since it make them more comfortable. These pants are  made from my tnt pants pattern and when I put them on they look perfect, hang beautifully and feel good.  I am thinking that it's time to give up lycra, at least in  combination with linen. I have cotton twill or sateen with lycra and that works fine.  It's also not an issue with a pair of wool lycra crepe pants I made.  The top is my interpretation of Hot Patterns drape back t shirt.  the front, sleeves and yoke are made from a dark gray print over a lighter gray rayon jersey from emmaonesock. No lycra in the print.  The back is a light weight rayon lycra from the 50% sale at Elliot Berman a while back.  It was a much lighter weight than I expected it and couldn't use it for a skirt, but it's perfect for this top.



This top is silk jersey with point d'esprit stretch mesh  for the sleeves and neck binding.that I made last year.  The pants are my tnt pant in a really nice weight cotton lycra from the Sewing Workshop from the designer Derek Lam. I wore this for the rehearsal dinner in the herb garden. Gorgeous setting!


The pergola we ate under.  It's covered in wisteria that must be gorgeous when it's in bloom.


Sunday Brunch

Yet another version of my tnt t shirt pattern and pants.  The top fabric is from emmaonesock. It's an almost tissue weight rayon jersey.  I always cut my t shirts with a 1" side seam so that I can adjust the fit to the amount of stretch in the fabric. This is thin and has little stretch, so I sewed it using up most of the ease.  But it caused me issues with the neckband. It stretched out so much that I ended up taking in a dart from the neck edge almost to the shoulder at the shoulder seam. Maybe 5/8" meaning I took out 1 1/4" at the neck edge.  It worked fortunately because taking off the neckband was just not an option on this very fine knit.  

The pants are in a wonderful, hard to find rayon crepe from Marcy Tilton.  I've got enough left over for a vest that I didn't have time to make for my trip. Another Helmut Lang garment is the inspiration.  



Yesterday was my 64th birthday and I made good use of my wedding wardrobe our dinner out.



The same tnt pants pattern after an evenings wear. Much better than the gray linen pants, but still stretched out a bit,  I think that I will stop buying fabric with lycra to use for pants.  

That's the end of wedding related posts friends. It was fun, and I really enjoyed wearing what I sewed and got lots of complements.

My son, daughter and grandson are coming for visit for a week, getting here on Wednesday. We have been looking forward to this for awhile. The beach, the ride on train at South Haven park and the Aquarium in Riverhead; we've got lots of plans for the week. Not a lot of sewing will be going on.

Have a great 4th of July everyone.

16 comments:

  1. You've sewn an entire mini summer wardrobe there. Very lovely!

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  2. Lovely summer wardrobe. The more I've worn my HP blouse-back tee, the more I've liked it.

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  3. A belated happy birthday Nancy. It's a wonderful wardrobe that suits you well.
    I had the same experience with linen and lycra, never in a pair of pants for me again.

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  4. First Happy Belated Birthday! Second - yeah for the grandchildren coming! I know you must be sooooooo excited. I don't know how you handle being so far from them ~ mine are down the street and some weeks I feel like I'm missing everything! Lastly, love your garments and how you accessorized them! Thanks for sharing them with us.

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  5. Happy Birthday! Your wardrobe is lovely, as always. Have a great week with your son and his family.

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  6. Enjoy those grandkids! Time with them is so precious and wonderful.

    You have sewn up a great wardrobe for the wedding trip. The low backed cowl top is priceless, going with so much and having such a blend of sophictication and comfort. Really nice work, Nancy! Happy Fourth!

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  7. Love the separates. I don't see the point of putting lycra in linen, which I think of a fabric with considerable give. Happy Birthday!

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  8. Happy birthday, and what a gorgeous 60+ year old you are!

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  9. Hello happy birthday . I too have had problems with Lycra until I started to accept that I had to add or subtract ease to cope with different fabrics even when using the same pattern . I also a stretch a bit of stretch woven I am contemplating in the shop and see if if rebounds at all and then make a decision . I tend to make up the pants and sew the side seams last of all and if it us a fabric which stretches out I make them quite firm and the they are ok even on hot day and hours after input them on

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  10. Happy birthday, Nancy. I so understand your frustration with Lycra blends. I think the most annoying thing is that some of them work as they should....giving some stretch for movement....but some of them seem to almost weaken the fabric and leave it baggy. I have some Fabric Mart natural linen that I didn't know had Lycra initial and I suppose I will have to reconsider how I plan to use it.

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  11. You really did sew an entire mini summer wardrobe for the trip!! You look fabulous and the prediction that the wedding top work well on its own was entirely correct.

    My pet peeve in pants is when they don't hold their shape. I find it is a real issue in cheap denim too.

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  12. Happy birthday! Some great outfits there! I'm no expert, but I think pants with Lycra need to be a size smaller. Perhaps fold out half an inch on each leg top to bottom. Your first pants look fine to me, just a bit more casual. Great use of your TNT's too.

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  13. Happy Birthday, Nancy. Nice photos. I have not tried linen with lycra fabric. I do have good luck with cotton and lycra.

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  14. Happy birthday. Your new wardrobe is great. Particularly like the striped trousers worn with black top.

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  15. That is a great looking wardrobe, must have made packing for the trip so easy! I can't get on with linen at all so avoid it now, I'd have thought the lycra would help things, but I know to avoid that too now. Although actually I think your pants look fine in the pictures.

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  16. I love your wardrobe selections, they are all beautiful on you! Happy Belated Birthday!

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