Christine Sews

I tried out this great fitting tip from Sandra Betzina: Draw two lines through the bust point. Split the pattern open. Adjust to fit the bust and waist.

You can see that the original pattern is laying on top of my favorite pattern making paper, packing paper. I have marked it with my favorite marker, water soluble pens that I share with my four year old, straight from the coloring book section of the grocery. (Those are my money saving tips for the post.)

In performing this alteration, I somehow managed to overlook the fact that I had just dropped the waist, which I had raised, back down to its original location. And the armscye was too small.

An alteration gone horribly wrong. Or maybe not so much. I made it in cheap muslin, tried it on, and could have adjusted the armscye. But decided that I don’t like the neckline - too high and not so flattering - and really didn’t want to go to more effort. So I chucked it out.

I haven’t given up on the Sandra Betzina tips though. I have three of her books, and all have helped me tremendously.

Instead of messing around with the wonky pattern, I bought some Today’s Fit patterns at Joann’s and have been really pleased with the instructions. I am hopeful that the patterns will sew up just as nicely. I bought a shell pattern, partly because I have been happy with the Sandra Betzina books, and partly because the blouse has a dart and neckline that looks flattering.

I need some blouses to go with my newly remodeled trench coat and pants .

Do you have a pair of pants that fit in the waist and bottom, but the thighs are enormous?  Want to get rid of the clown pant look?  A simple alteration can fix them for you, and very quickly.

How to Alter Pants for Thin Thighs:

1. Turn the offending pants inside out and put them on.  Yes, put them on inside out.
2. Get a water soluble marker, or chalk and draw a line where you hand and the pen fall naturally, which should be about the top of the thigh.
3. Make a second line on the same pant leg at the knee.
4. If you are right handed, do steps 2 and 3 on the right side.  If left handed, mark the left leg.
5. Take off the pants and place your marks in matching positions on the opposite leg.  Make additional marks on the inside knee position, opposite the original knee marks.



6. Machine baste from the top outer mark to the knee mark.  Start at the top mark, veering in to take up as much extra fabric as needed.  Then when you get to the knee mark, veer toward the seam line smoothly.  Repeat on the other leg.
7. Baste from the inner knee mark down to the hem line.  Repeat on the opposite leg.  (If you don’t do this; the pants will twist.)
8. Try on the pants to see if you have taken in the pants enough. Repeat the basting until it looks right.
9. Once you are satisfied with the results, permanently stitch the alteration in place.

Sewing Tips and Notes:

• This is an adjustment for women who tend to gain weight in their waist, not hips and thighs.  It can be used with mixed results with men who also gain at the waist.
• Pants will often drape strangely if the pant legs are too big.  Take in 1/2 to 1/4 inch at a time during the basting process to adjust.  When the pant legs are straight and don’t look huge you have it right.
• Pants shown are two different pairs of velour yoga pants.  But this alteration actually looks even better on woven pants.  I just forgot to take photos when I marked and altered those.

Once again, my apologies for mediocre photography.  It seems that no matter what I learn about photographing fabric, a new challenge will appear.

I stumbled upon the coolest deal at the thrift store, a too large trench coat.  It had worn cuffs, collar and hemline, but was otherwise serviceable.  I knew I had to refashion it.

[Trench Coat After]

Here it is before, very well loved.

[Trench Coat Before]

I removed the collar with a seam ripper, sliced an inch off the sleeves, and two from the hem.  Then I removed the tab and buttons from the sleeve.

[Old Cuff]

[Old Collar]

I traced the shape of the original collar and tabs onto butcher paper, then cut out two collar pieces, and four tab pieces from brown microfiber.

I restitched the hem with a sewing machine straight stitch, trimming it at the front to compensate for the stretching that the fabric had experienced during wear, and reduce bulk.  The cut edge is slip stitched .

I had originally tried to use a blind hem .  But the stretched fabric and the lining made that messy, and impractical.

[Straight Stitch Hem]

The sleeves are hemmed by hand for the same reason.

[Hemmed Cuffs]

Reattaching the collar took some doing.  I taped it in place with water soluble tape.  Then stitched it to the back collar stand, then to the front collar stand.  Then I went back and hand stitched any imperfections.

[Microfiber Collar]

The new tabs were more difficult to turn than ordinary fabric.  But not impossible, like pleather.

[Microfiber Tab]

Sewing Tips and Notes:

• Microfiber is a dense polyester. It can be turned, and stitched without use of special sewing feet or tools.  I found it much easier to work with than pleather .  It has a leather look, but can go in the washing machine.
• This project took me a week. It appeared that I might save time, since I would not be cutting everything, and creating more than two buttonholes.  But removing the worn items with a seam ripper, drafting new pattern pieces for them, and hand stitching cause the project to drag on.
• I wore this coat all weekend on my trip to New York.  It was perfect for wet weather, lightweight and no fear of ruining a real leather collar.  I have no idea why I did not ask anyone to photograph me in it, or model it.
• The original coat had a belt.  Since I’m 5′4″ and short-waisted, the loops fell at my hips.  I removed them and did not bother to make a new belt.  My idea of using a coat involves piling many layers of clothing underneath - not something I want to wrap a belt around.
• The cuffs, though I cut them to be the perfect length, pull up due to the very inflexible tabs and lining. For future projects, I will make them longer if these other elements are involved.

Sewing a ring bearer pillow is a simple and sentimental project.  Make it special by using high quality fabrics, and colors chosen by the bride and groom.  And make it small if the ring ring bearer is small so that he won’t be overwhelmed by the pillow.

How to Sew a Ring Bearer Pillow:

1. Determine how large you need the pillow to be, according to the person who will be carrying it.  Think about what kind of ties you’ll use in this regard as well.
2. Choose fabric.  This pillow is going to be held by an infant.  The body fabric is silk dupioni .  The sash is polyester (because I could not find cream colored dupioni.)  I hand washed the fabric to remove any fabric finish since babies chew fabric.
3. Cut four squares.  In this example the squares are 9×9 inches.  Two are brown.  Two are cream.
4. Sew two side together on each of the contrasting color squares that will form the sash.  Trim seams.
5. Turn the sashes inside out.  Press seams flat and centered.
6. Gather the ends of the sashes.
7. Baste the gathered sashes to the main body fabric pieces.  Make sure they will line up when they meet.
8. Sew a ribbon and piece of elastic to the center front of the pillow.  Tie the ribbon loosely so that it can be used to hold the rings or as an embellishment.  The elastic should be long enough to hold a ring box.
9. Attach anything special that you need.  In this case, velcro is attached to the back side, so that it can be stuck to the side of an infant carrier.
10. Place the pillow pieces right sides together and sew around three sides.  Trim seam allowances carefully.  Press.
11. Turn under the remaining edges and press.
12. Stuff with fiberfill.
13. Hand stitch the pillow closed with a slip stitch.

Sewing tips and Notes:

• Use a cool iron to press when working with delicate fabrics.
• All photos shown above were taken of the completed project.
• Use silk dupioni for a more elegant pillow.
• Once rings or ring box are in place, clip the ribbon and elastic.