Long time no see!
It’s been a whirlwind of a past 6… SIX months !! Incredible, time just sped up lately. I am now hurtling my way in an Italo train through the Italian countryside going to Naples and Rome! Time for holidays now that most of Italy is in “yellow zone” (meaning you can move between regions). In the past few months I have also started working, I am now a proud Project manager in a Foundation working on mental health in Milan. We are also in the process of furnishing the flat and have started to make shelves and other small furniture in wood… totally from scratch- mostly my boyfriend but I chip in with the odd paint and sanding job!
Yes, yes, I know this is supposed to be a pattern review and I’m getting to the part where I actually talk about sewing!
Soo, I made these summer pants (currently in the suitcase above my head)!
It’s a classical Tilly and the Buttons pattern from #MakeitSimple, the Safyia trousers. It really is a simple pattern, especially if you actually READ the instructions and not skim the pictures and feel confident like I did. After a couple of months of putting my sewing machine to sleep and a lot of unpacking to get my sewing stuff out of boxes, when I finally got around to sewing this I was nearly screaming in frustration. And I made it all worse by promptly starting by making two left legs.
The other really frustrating aspect was the material I used. I had brought this blue viscose especially for this pair of pants. I also brought a sage green with the idea of making the dungaree version too. Being the first time I actually made anything viscose I was surprised how slippery the material was to manage. I really kicked myself for not buying the little clips to use instead of pins. Obviously they were everywhere in Paris and here in Monza I have a tough time finding anything sewing related. Not true, I actually found a nice haberdashery shop, called l’Antica Merceria Brumana, in the center with a kind lady that helped me pick out some lace to make a pair of pj’s wider. My heart sunk when she told me that there are no material shops in Monza though. So you will be getting a review mostly of the shops in Milan I guess!
I never found the good setting for the finishing on my machine as the material kept jamming when I tried with the over-locker foot OR even with just a simple zigzag stitch. Not sure if it was because of the material or because I simply forgot how to use the machine! Long story short, pinking shears are always a good idea!
On a brighter note my new table is exactly the right size, shape and height for cutting out patterns while standing up! It’s a basic IKEA bar table, initially we had put it in the kitchen but it felt like a punishment to eat in there so we moved it to the lounge where it fits rather well.
I decided to trim the hem of the trousers with this cream colored lace to give it a holiday vibe. I brought this lace for 1 euro at Mes Folles des Seours, gosh I miss hunting for bargains in their piles of buttons, zippers and lace! Next time I go to Paris I’m going with an empty suitcase and spending half a salary in that shop!
Anyway one good thing about this project was adding in-seam pockets as explained in the book and they actually look really sleek and don’t poke out at weird angles as I was afraid they would.
All in all it took more or less two months to finish this project that meant that every time I picked it up I couldn’t remember what was next and WHY I had put pins in like that last time. Now I actually have a little desk in the bedroom that means I could sew a bit after work at times and all my sewing stuff has found place on a set of shelves that my boyfriend built (and I painted turquoise). And I hope to get cracking on more projects soon!
Here is the finished result!
Crafty Poulette 