She has also discovered the Burda World of Fashion magazines and has been itching to try some of the patterns in there. Since I had already made the a-line skirt from the April issue, I figured I would be able to talk her through the construction, without inflicting the BWOF instructions on a fresh beginner.
I ended up putting together the front yoke for her, so that she could just put it together as six panels rather than struggling with the overlapping yoke pieces, the buttonholes, and the topstitching.She did a very good job in assembling the rest, even installed her own invisible zipper. She is very steady-handed, her seams are even, and her hems are very smooth and straight. Here she is as proud as can be in her new skirt:
I think that in our next lessons we may start talking about some alterations, because you can see in this picture that she has a little wrinkle below her waist that could probably be rectified by a small swayback adjustment:
But then again, it might have nothing to do with needing an adjustment and everything to do with her tendency to want to sling the waist of anything she is wearing down under her belly. Kids are such slaves to fashion, and the low-waist ANYTHING is still in style, so she wants to push everything down on her hips. The problem is, is that she is long-waisted and has a little bit of a pot belly. She doesn't have a weight problem, just a little puppy fat that I'm sure she'll drop as she becomes a teenager. But, because of that little belly, she just looks plain silly when she pushes the waistband of her pants.
I think the next time she is here I will slap together a couple of pants muslins for her if that wrinkle is still there or it really is just her tugging at the waistband. Or skirts....now that she wants to sew those!
I don't have much to report on my own sewing. I haven't been doing much other than continuing to work on alterations to my "tape pants." I added a fish-eye dart to the pattern to get rid of my saggy bottom, and after spending some time with Pants for Real People have become convinced that the smiles that I have at the crotch can't be rectified by extending the crotch curve (that just makes it worse), but that they are "false smiles" and need some additional fabric at the side seam instead. I also need to continue to work on the back curve, while the fish-eye dart has removed some of the extra fabric there, I need to make that dart larger to get rid of some more.
4 comments:
She has done amazingly well. I made a version of this skirt - it is not difficult, but not a beginner's piece either. You must be a good teacher!
Well, I did put together the front yoke, did the topstitching for her, and added the button holes and buttons, so by the time she started on the skirt, all she really needed to do was sew together 6 pieces, add the zipper, and the facing. If I set it up for her like that, she gets the satisfaction of a more stylish piece, but without getting frustrated with instructions that she doesn't understand.
I'm still working on my tape pants pattern as well. I agree with you that increasing the crotch point does not solve problems. Another thing I noticed about the PP book and DVD is that no one seems to have the small waist/flat stomach and "junk in the trunk." While the the information they provide is good, it doesn't help me at all. I've got what I hope is a wearable muslin going now. Other than scooping out the back crotch to look like a "J" I don't know what else I could do. I've found that the Singer Sewing Reference Library book "Sewing Pants That Fit" is a much bigger help than PP.
Great job to both of you! I agree with you, kids insist on pulling everything down, who knows why?! Keep it up with Sadie, even if you do the buttonholes and yoke, she'll learn with time, and expanding her fashion horizons!
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