Vogue 8719 Pants Summary

I finished the wearable-muslin for my Vogue 8719 pants.  Besides the gaping pocket problem, they went together rather nicely.  There are a couple of things I will change when I make them again.

First will be a different style front pocket.  I don't want to deal with gaping pocket issues again.  Since my fix was to release stress from the pocket seams by removing the darts, I will add the darts back.

Second will be finishing the fly and facing differently.  The pattern did not call for any kind of edge-finish.  I serged the fly which worked fine, but I want a little more refined look.

Third will be to have more fabric overhanging the zipper.  The zipper is covered, but not by much.  I think the fly looks great.  I hope I can make this little tweak without any issues.

Fourth will be to have a snugger fit around the waist.  Adding the darts back will take care of this.

These are small tweaks, and in my mind a good pattern since the overall fit is good.   I am going to move on to the jacket muslin now.

Here is my photo shoot.  I wanted to show these pants are versatile.

Dressy-Casual

Pocket-flaps give a dressy look  

Casual

Casual

Dressy-Casual

Dressy

100 degrees!!  Let me out of this jacket!

I would like to thank Max for being patient with me as I did this on his walk.  Also thank you to my photographer, Joe.

My next posts will be about the jacket muslin.

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Bloggers are Smarter Than Google

In my last Blog I showed an update of my Vogue 8719 pants.  I liked them except for gaping pockets. When I Googled this problem the answer was it is normal.  However, when my Blog readers saw my problem, they quickly responded something was too tight and the pocket was being pulled open.

I pulled out the darts the pattern called for in the rear.  This took a while because the darts were under the rear pockets.   I ripped out the stitches on half the pocket so I could release the extra fabric, then I reattached the pockets.

I never felt the pants were tight.  However, this seems to fix most of the problem.  I am happy enough with the repair to continue finishing the pants.

Pocket Before

Pocket After

After

No Darts in Rear

 I fit the measurements of the pattern exactly, 30" waist and 37" hip.  I read that gaping pockets are a problem with men who have muscular thighs.  (I definitely don't have those.)  If my measurements are right, I now have 38" hip pants.  Maybe the combination of stretchy-polyester and non-noticing tightness is causing the problem with these pants.

I have never owned a pair of pants with side-seam pockets, so I don't have anything to compare.

Thank you Peter and Mike for the help.

Now for the waistband.

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Closer To A Suit

My Vogue 8719 pants are nearing the finish line.  I need to put on the waistband,  buttons, and hem the cuffs.  I am happy with the way they look except for the gaping side pockets.  On my next pair I will follow some online instructions for side-seam pockets that aren't supposed to gape.  Did I say next pair?  Yes, even if the coat doesn't turn out, I like these pants enough to make them again

Here are some photos.  Remember, no waistband.

Front

Nice Rear Fit

Another Angle

Gaping Pocket

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A Suit in My Future?

I started sewing a pair of  Vogue 8719 slacks.   This pattern has a sport-coat and a pair of slacks.  The title of this blog means to imply if the pants go well, I will try the coat.  I have been thinking about slacks for a while, since I haven't made any type of pants since last summer.  Funny how a year slips away.  I have done shirts, a winter coat, and lots of crafts this year.

I am actually sewing a wearable muslin.   I am using size 36(30 inch waist) and adding 4 inches to the length.  The material is from my stash.  I am using some cocoa colored polyester material for the slacks.  If  I like the slacks, and want to continue, I will find something to make a muslin for the coat from.  Once the muslins are done, I have some beautiful lightweight-gray wool-blend material to make both. Of course, all my material and zipper are from the thrift store.

I copied the pattern  to tissue paper Saturday.  I cut out the material yesterday.  Today I started sewing.  I am using my Brother XL2600 for this project.  The zipper-fly is the first to be sewn.  It turned out quite well.  I followed the directions exactly.

Pattern

Zipper Front

Zipper Rear

Zipper Opened

It will be interesting to see how the rest of the project turns out.

In other news,  I could not help myself again.  This was a Goodwill purchase.  Since my first name is Wilson, I could not pass up my namesake sewing machine.

It purrs like a kitten. It is made by White.  That is all the information I could find.  I have no idea who Wilson was.  A department store?  A man wanting a sewing machine named after him?  It is a mystery for now.

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My Changing Fashion

I have finally become adventurous enough to make a two-tone shirt.  My wardrobe has always been conservative.  Venturing out to this type of fashion is a lot for me.

I have changed from store-bought medium shirts to made-by-me small shirts.  I now wear small size shirts because I can make them long enough for me.  I used to wear medium shirts for the length, but they were too big.  I am also trying different colors.  I used to wear horizontal stripes to hide my thinness, but now I don't.

I don't know if this is part of getting older, or part of sewing for myself.  But it will be interesting to see where it goes.

This shirt is McCall's 6613.  I made it before for my "fun shirt"  Then I made it a second time, but I messed up the seams and it ended up being too small.  I can wear it,  but I don't think I will.

Fun Shirt

I Look Super-Thin in This Shirt

My "go to" shirt pattern before this was Simplicity 7330.  I still like this pattern, but the 6613 is  fitted, so it now has a place in my "go to" box also.

I decided to use some light-blue broadcloth for the body and some dark-blue for the collar and trim.  This shirt came together nicely, and I am sure to make more two-tone shirts in the future.

I made the shirt with my Viking 190, including the buttonholes.  This is a mechanical machine except for the needle up/down setting. I find the automatic up/down needle to be helpful.  I used flat-fell seams on the sides, and over-edged the armscyes.  I did write Thinmansewing on the pocket with my Memory Craft 6000.

Made-By-Me Outfit

Enjoying Window Shopping

A Bowling Shirt?

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My Refashion Tale

Once upon a time Wil decided to start sewing.  Thus he needed a sewing machine, a pattern, and material.

Santa was kind and thoughtful.  He brought Wil a Brother XL2600 for Christmas.  After hemming some jeans and making a cover for his machine, he decided it was time to make a shirt.  But with the prices of fabric and patterns so high at his local Box store he didn't know what to do.

Wil's Prince Charming came to his rescue.  He said to go to the thrift store, they would be sure to have some fabric and patterns for a low price.  Being a Doubting-Wil, but wanting to please his Prince Charming, he went to the thrift store.

Wil was amazed by the stacks of fabric and patterns at low prices.  He found a T-Shirt pattern and some material he liked  at an amazingly low price.  Just what he wanted!

Wil made two short sleeve shirts, then decided to make a long sleeve.  Wil wore the short sleeve T-Shirts often, but the long-sleeve was tucked away in the closet because Wil thought the sleeves were too short.

Wil made many more shirts and sewed with many machines and forgot his long-sleeve shirt

Two years went by....

It seems in Fairy-tale land everyone knows each other.  David's Fairy Godmother told Wil's Prince Charming a Refashion was in order so the forgotten long sleeve shirt could see the sun once more.  But first Wil had to watch a Craftsy Video on how to sew with a double needle on stretchy fabrics.  Then his Brother XL2600 worked a miracle.

The Refashion was a success!

Original long sleeve shirt

Double-needle stitch

Refashioned to short sleeve

Now Wil and his Refashioned short sleeve shirt are living happily ever after.....

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Mystery Project-Conclusion

The Mystery Project from San Francisco Stitch Co. was finished last week, except for the revealing of what their project looked like.  I revealed my project last week, and I like mine more.  Theirs has ruffles around the edge, which makes it too busy for me.

My Pillow

Stitch Co.'s Pillow

The only thing to do this week was embroider the label. Their label turned out better.  I am not going to re-ebroider, I am simply not going to use the label.  If  I want to label it, I will make my own simple label.

Mine

Theirs

My conclusion is it was a great project and I will be sure to do the next one when it comes out.

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Mystery Project-Finished

The mystery project I have been working on for eight weeks is now finished.  San Francisco Stitch Co. did a wonderful job on the embroidery designs my Memory Craft 200 and I stitched out every week.

I think the final project turned out nice since I didn't know what it would be.  The last panel was a lotus flower.  I embroidered it, stitched it to the other panels, and added the border.  Remember the border was embroidered a few weeks ago.

Finished Top

I thought the instructions said to make a pillow, so I did.  When I reread the instructions I found out I was supposed to find the final assembly instructions next week.  In other words, week 9.  Probably since it was called am eight week project, in my mind this was the last week.  Well, I like the final product I have, it will be interesting to find out in a few days what I was supposed to make.

I have made pillows before, but I wanted to put a zipper on this one instead of a flap.  I found some marvelous instructions for making a pillow with a zipper in ten minutes.  Of course it took me longer, but the results were good.  Check out Scout and Nimble to see how.  I'll show you my version.


Sew the right sides of front of pillow and back of pillow together on one side.  Then turn wrong side up and iron seam open like below.

.Pin zipper right side down against ironed open seam.

 Sew zipper in place with zipper foot.

With right sides up, cut or rip out the first seam sewed.  The one holding the top and bottom together.

Et Voila!  A zipper in and finished quick and easy.

Now you have the top and bottom attached by the zipper.

Now put right sides together and sew the three sides up.  With zipper open of course.  Turn inside out and you are almost finished.  Just add the appropriated sized pillow. 

The finished pillow!

It only took eight weeks.

I used my Viking 190  to do the sewing this week.  A very fine machine.  I am sure to do a YouTube video on it in the near future.

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