Liberty Pants

 This is another glorious excuse to sew with Liberty Tana Lawn fabric. Last summer I made some shorts with the remnant of a dress, and they were so amazing to wear that the need to have some long trousers made with it became irresistible. My problem with wide trousers is that they are not becoming to my protuberant abdomen, so I came up with a solution: to make a jersey low waist yoke, which would embrace my belly and hold the pants in place as if it were a waistband. 

I used a me made pattern (following Aldrich's book instructions for the easy trouser block), which I had to narrow to fit it into my sparse 1 m fabric. 

It took several fittings to adjust to the waist band, which I had to place at the right spot, right under my protuberant abdomen. I used some cotton jersey elasticated with spandex. 

Well the result is gorgeous, comfortable and very practical to wear inside (we must ineligibly think about another confinement) and outside. They will also be perfect to travel whenever it will be possible again. 

Black Cotton Knitted Sleeveless Dress

 Wonderful project in all senses. 

I was invited to a big family reunion last June. That same day, when I arrived home, I decided it should be a knitted project (three months for a sewn project was not challenging enough, ha!). So that very first day I browsed in Katia's website looking for a nice summer dress and I found this one. It was perfect: sleeveless, cotton, possible to be knitted with circular needles (an easy variation), fast and simple but with a small cute detail. I ordered the cotton right away and started studying the pattern.

The first variation I made, apart from the circular needles, was to space the little holes further: ten rows and 10 stitches apart instead of six. It was an afternoon event with kids as protagonists, not proper to be too sexy, or even attempt to. 

This is a down to top pattern. To check that I was going in the right direction, I applied arithmetic and compared it with a good jersey model repeatedly. I only changed one lateral decrease, made it a bit sooner in the waist area, but I checked again and went back to follow the instructions meticulously. 

I also changed the neck cut, lowering them (back and front) 2 cm. 

And I made the shoulder straps narrower, as if they were for the lesser size. 

The result is gorgeous and it was a success in all senses. What I do not like about knitted dresses or skirts is that they deform in the bottom area after you sit for some hours in it, pitifully. Still, it is worth it. 

I knitted every day during all summer to be able to finish, even during our coronavirus travels (nature and social isolation). I set the objective at the beginning that I had to knit one ball of yarn a week. There were 8 of them, so thus it would be finished in 8 weeks and I'd still have two extra weeks for unexpected surprises. In practice, it took one extra week because I had to undo the whole neck line for some unforgivable mistake. But I still had one extra week to vapor it, and leave it to dry flat, try it on, sewing some suspender fixers at the straps, and not to stress at the end. 

The weather that day was nice, and I felt great in my new black cotton knitted sleeveless dress.

On Ravelry