Allegro Gardening Pants Hack

I recently listened to the Love to Sew podcast episode about TNT patterns, and today I'm bringing you one of my favorites!

I've made the Allegro Bottoms in shorts four times, and the skirt once, but this is my first stab at the cropped pants. I don't know why I waited so long! Please note, right after I made these, the pattern was updated with a slightly different fit and higher rise.

My very first pair of Allegro shorts were an XS and were made about ten or fifteen pounds ago. Last summer I batch-sewed three pairs and went up to a size S. For reference, my hips are 38". I adore the fit of these pants, they are just loose enough to be comfortable but not sloppy.

I needed a pair of pants to wear on our outdoor treks, and particularly while gardening. I seem to find myself in my garden in the middle of hot afternoons, no matter how often I tell myself to go out in the mornings instead. I'm always losing tools and knew I needed some big pockets.

I decided to order some lightweight poly stretch woven from The Fabric Fairy. I am a part of their promo team and thought it would be a cool challenge to use this fabric in an unexpected way. This is the kind of fabric that most people use for running shorts, it's that lightweight swishy stuff that dries quickly. This colorway is sold out, but there are lots of others here.

I added giant patch pockets on the side of the pants. I didn't really measure, just went with the largest rectangles I could cut from my yardage after cutting the pants.

The back pockets are rounded instead of the rectangle ones that come with the pattern. This is a personal preference that I think makes my butt look better!

I did not have 1 1/2" elastic for the waistband, so I stole a tip from Instagram and zig-zagged some 1" elastic to some 1/2" elastic. It's not perfect, but given the shelter in place order we were under at the time, I made it work.

I added 1/2" elastic in the hem. It was not a part of the pattern originally, but it is a part of the update.

I will say, I didn't love sewing this fabric. I imagine that people who sew a lot of synthetics would probably have an easier time than me, but I almost exclusively sew natural fibers. It took to pressing just okay. I was scared of scorching the fabric! It does hold up well to washing and the outside abuse I've already put the pants through. I love the finished product but I'm not in a hurry to sew with it again.

So there you have it, the perfect outdoor pants for sitting in the dirt, carrying super interesting rocks, or picking mushrooms!

The fabric for this post was purchased with a gift certificate given to me by The Fabric Fairy as part of their promo team. I purchased the pattern. All opinions are my own!

Athletic Lace Hoodie

I am SO excited about today's post! It's been so fun to be a part of The Fabric Fairy blogger team. The group is very creative and I'm always inspired. A few months back, Sarah from Sewing With Sarah posted about a new fabric, a super cool stretch mesh/lace suitable for athletic wear (it also comes in black!!). She used it as an accent to a top and leggings. I wanted to try the fabric myself, but to mix it up and not directly copy Sarah. I settled on a hoodie and I think I've got a pretty cool piece!

The texture of this fabric is great, and since it's a mesh, it allows air to flow through it. It's 80/20 poly/lycra, so a stable stretch and recovery. To make the hoodie, I used the Sloane pattern from Love Notions. It's a basic pattern that easily transforms depending on your fabric. This is View A, with a slim fit and and shirttail hem. My bust is 33" and I made the XS. I made the S once before and felt it was a little baggy for the look I wanted here.

I did a lot of test sewing before I started working with this fabric. The seam allowance is only 3/8", so my ideal choice of French seams wasn't an option. I would have used my serger but didn't have four matching cones of purple thread (it's not a color I wear often). I ended up using a zig-zag stitch and a walking foot for most of the construction. The exception was the hem, where I used a slightly longer straight stitch. There is clear elastic sewn into the shoulder seams for stability. I lightly pressed all seams with a press cloth on low heat.

I hemmed the front of the hoodie a little more narrow than the pattern suggested, which meant I had some extra length that I could transform into a crossover hood. I also took advantage of the cool pointed motif that runs along the selvedge, and created a pointed cuff on the sleeves.

This is the most accurate color depiction

To make that work, I did narrow the sleeve from the elbow to the wrist. I cut around the pointed motif, and essentially faced it with scraps of the mesh, also cut from the selvedge. I wasn't able to sew the cuff into a complete circle, so instead I butted the edges together and basted them before sewing the cuff to the sleeve.

I love the cool superhero vibe of the pointed cuff! I made sure to sew a Kylie and the Machine label into the side seam so everyone would know it's one of a kind.

Some mornings, you want to throw on a hoodie but not be too warm or sloppy-looking. This hoodie fits the bill perfectly. I also ordered a swatch of fleece-backed knit to see how well it coordinated color-wise. I wish I would've just gone ahead and ordered yardage, because it's a great match for the mesh and it's warm and luxe. I predict a matching pair of leggings in my future!

I received a credit from The Fabric Fairy in exchange for this review. Fabric and project choice were my own, I purchased the pattern. All opinions are my own. 

A Trio of Allegro Shorts

Two summers ago, I made a pair of Love Notions Allegro Shorts for the Summer of Basics contest. They are a gorgeous grey linen and I have worn them absolutely to death. It took me until now to get around to making this pattern again, but I made up for it by making three pairs!

Magically, they all go with my newest self-drafted tank top as well. Before I started batch sewing these shorts, I put my previous pair on and asked my husband whether I should reuse the same size pattern, or go up a size. I have added a bit of weight, maybe 10 pounds, in the last two summers. He gently suggested I needed a bit more room. Luckily, I was able to pull out my Sewist's Notebook and refresh my memory on that first pair.

10% off through July 4th!

The first pair was an XS and I shortened the inseam from 5" to 4". I went ahead and printed the pattern in a S and again shortened the inseam to 4". Love Notions patterns are no-trim and super easy to print and assemble. So, the denim pair was a quick one to make sure a Small was really what I wanted.

The fabric is leftover Robert Kauffman denim from my Morgan Boyfriend Jeans. I used scraps of Robert Kauffman polka dot chambray (leftover from a Hey June Phoenix) for the waistband facing and pockets. The drawstring is twill tape folded in half longways and stitched down to make a narrow string. This pair was hemmed to the wrong side for a sort of faux cuff.

The back pockets are not the ones that come with the pattern, they are drafted by me based off a pair of RTW shorts. These are definitely NOT the most flattering pair of shorts I own, but they are so dang comfortable I don't even care! I'd say they fall pretty clearly into some sort of mom-shorts category. They're not great for date night, but they work fine at the park chasing kids.

Next up, a pair in light green twill from La Mercerie. This pair is meant to go with my rust-colored Pinnacle Top (full story and Pinterest inspo here). These have a traditional cuff and again, the same twill tape sewn into a drawstring.

This fabric doesn't have much drape at all, and topstitching the waistband caused some wonky stiffness to form. I added the drawstring after the fact to help pull in the waist, which meant I hand-stitched the holes. Don't look too closely at them!

Lastly, my FAVE pair is made in Avery Slub Linen from La Mercerie (the best fabric on the planet). It's so drapey and soft and amazing as shorts. The color is beautiful as well. Another traditional cuff here.

The only bad thing about this pair is that they seem to stretch out over a few wears. These photos are fresh out of the wash and that definitely helps spring them back into shape.

I was seriously struggling to get the shorts cut from the small amount of slub linen and the Kauffman denim. I had to draft a pocket facing in order to make it work. I'm kind of scratching my head because I swear I easily got a pair of XS out of one yard of fabric...I guess there is that big of a difference in the S.

I'm super excited to have these three shorts in rotation! I have a bunch of RTW shorts that fit just fine, but I'd love to eliminate RTW completely from my wardrobe someday. This is a good start!

Oakley Vest

Cooler weather has found its way to Indiana, much to my chagrin. Give me 85 degrees year round, please! The one good thing about the temperature cooling off is the mix up in clothes. It's fun to pull out last year's items and mix them in with this year's newest sewing projects. My first fall sew was the Oakley Vest, from Love Notions Patterns.

Shirt is blogged here and jeans here

I've always been one of those people who didn't understand the point of vests. Maybe it's my climate, but I never felt like we had the right weather for vests. My body is cold but my arms are not? I didn't get it. I'm not sure what changed, except that I got tired of seeing vests on Pinterest and not having one!

I intended to make a black vest, but while fabric shopping at Jo-Ann's I ran across this grey quilted knit. Obviously, I had to take it home. It only took one yard to make my size (XS). I was between sizes and went down, per the instructions. I'm happy with the fit.

I opted for View C, the version with princess seaming and in-seam pockets, but with the collar from View B. Halfway through, I decided the vest was too lightweight to be left unlined. I also didn't have enough bias binding (it needs five yards!) and thought better of the bias tape completely. I felt it would look more elevated if it were lined. The pattern provides directions for lining View A, which has no collar and no zipper. I was left to muddle my way through lining my version. I realize now it would have been easiest to sew the collar to the bodice, the collar facing to the lining, and then bag the lining that way. I already had the collar on, however, so at the neckline I pretty much just topstitched the lining down. If you have more questions about what I did, please ask in the comments, I didn't take any photos but I can try to explain it.

One other change I made was to make the pocket bags out of a lightweight woven (polka dot chambray left over from this Phoenix Blouse). The pattern has a somewhat unusual cut-on pocket that folds back into itself inside the princess seam. That would have left me with three layers of quilted knit where the pocket is, and I wasn't keen on that much bulk right over my belly. Since the pocket was cut-on, I just cut a pocket bag from the woven and sewed it directly to the quilted knit, then trimmed away the knit. You can also save a lot of fabric this way if you don't cut the pocket fully.

The lining is a mix of lightweight French terry fabrics that were languishing in my scraps. Not the prettiest, and I had to piece in places, but it works. Again, because the main pattern had cut-on pockets, there was some fudging of the pattern pieces to eliminate the pockets in the lining. Not particularly difficult, but an extra step.

This would've been a super fast sew if I hadn't made a bunch of changes, but even with those it was a quick one. I definitely recommend wash-a-way tape to baste your zipper if you make this in a knit.

My separating zipper was purchased at Jo-Ann's. The pattern called for 23" but this one was 24" and worked just fine. 

And I know I'm ignoring every "rule" with my photographs, and that I took pictures in broad daylight and you can see the shadows, and the color is blown out. Don't care. It had been raining for three or four straight days and the sunshine was all too welcome. Bet you didn't know that southern Indiana had such beautiful rolling hills, huh? 

Robert Kaufman Chambray Skirt

Is there still a little summer left out there?

Many moons ago, I wrote a tutorial for the Sew Mama Sew blog and they compensated me with a gift certificate to Fabric Depot. This was a new-to-me retailer, and I enjoyed browsing their apparel fabrics. If you've read even one post on this blog, you know I'm a knit #fangurl, but Fabric Depot has a lot of great wovens as well. One of the fabrics I ended up with was a gorgeous Robert Kaufman jacquard chambray. I originally wanted to make a pair of shorts, but the more I thought about breaking up the aztec print, the more the fabric spoke to me and said "skirt".

My husband and I had a retirement party to attend a few weeks ago, and after I finished this tie-knot Santa Fe hack, I decided to tackle a skirt as a date night companion piece. I started with the Allegro Skirt/Pants Pattern from Love Notions. It's definitely supposed to have more ease than this...but I wanted a pencil skirt look. With an elastic waistband. And a woven.

I hacked and cut and sewed and resewed this poor thing until it looked how I wanted. There isn't really the proper amount of ease for good movement. There aren't any darts, just the elastic waistband for shaping. It's short. It's 100% not useful for my normal mom life.

But darn it if I don't love the thing. I felt great at the party, kid-less, not holding a diaper bag and not worrying about carrying or chasing anyone. I don't need a ton of dress up clothes in my closet, but this one will certainly stay. And bonus, you get to see last week's halter lace bra! It also falls into that fun-but-not-practical arena.

After all my hacking, the skirt ended up with an almost paperbag waist. Presumably I could tuck in my shirt to show that off, but I haven't found the right top for that look (or those abs I misplaced three kids ago...).

Have you ever hacked a pattern into a near-unrecognizable state?

Allegro Linen Shorts

I mentioned the Summer of Basics sewalong in a few previous posts, and so far you've seen two of my three items (black Union St. tee and self-drafted cardigan). Today I'm sharing the third creation, which completes my outfit and total look! (Yes, I was wearing them in last week's post!)

These are the Allegro Shorts from Love Notions. Yeah yeah I know, I previously swore off Love Notions as just not quite fitting me properly, but to be fair, that was only tops. This is the first time I've made bottoms from this designer. There are other patterns out now that are similar, but I was looking for this type of pattern around the time it released, so, sale! I also know from experience that LN pdfs are quick to assemble. The pattern includes two length options for the shorts as well as two skirt options, so plenty of bang for your buck.

I've got a ton of inspiration photos saved on Pinterest. I wanted those sort of lived-in, stylish, but not sloppy shorts. I relentlessly studied the tester photos and took a gamble on size. I should be a size small according to the chart, but I wanted them to be more fitted and cute, so I went down to an XS. I also removed 1" from the inseam, based on measuring some of my favorite RTW shorts. I made a quick muslin and saw that these changes were exactly what I needed.

I also drafted my own back pockets based on a RTW pair. I vastly prefer rounded pockets and I think it makes my butt look better than square ones. Looking at this photo, I think I could stand to bring the pockets closer to center. I assembled the cuff a bit differently than the directions (basically the opposite) so that my seams were enclosed. My final change was to sew the crotch seam as a flat-felled seam, for extra durability.

Now for the fabric...I wavered between a pure linen and a linen blend. Linen blends are so much cheaper. I don't think I've ever worked with 100% linen before so I wasn't positive how it would turn out. I was also looking for a fairly specific grey, not too light and not too dark. I ended up with this grey/silver 100% linen from The Fabric Store. I love it. Hard. I'm so glad I went with all linen, as the fabric feels sturdy but also soft. It wrinkles, sure, but that's part of the charm. You can see above that the wrinkles do distort the fit and pull in weird places, but I've gotten used to it.

I loved how quick these were to sew. I got almost all the way done and realized I needed the proper width elastic, plus drawstring, plus cord stops (optional). I made a trip to Jo-Ann's, hoping to knock out all three of those things at once, but no luck. I left with just the elastic. I ordered drawstring and gold cord stops from two different suppliers on Etsy. They were overseas, and it took a while for the items to arrive. They were stuck in Chicago customs for more than a week. A lack of drawstring did not stop me from wearing my by-then-completed shorts, however! I'm thrilled to say my drawstring color matches perfectly.

Unfortunately, the cord stops did not work out how I'd hoped. I ordered a 4mm drawstring and 4mm stops...I think perhaps I should have gotten stops that were bigger? I tried inserting the drawstring and hot-gluing it to the stops, but they eventually fell off. You can see them peeking out in the photo above from my cardigan photo shoot. Who knows if they would have lasted through the washing machine anyway. It's back to the drawing board on stops, since I desperately want some gold SOMETHING at the end to elevate these shorts just that much more.

I have been wearing the heck out of these shorts this summer! The elastic waistband is comfortable, the rise is low the way I like it (remember, I went down a size, so in "my" size the rise would be a touch higher), and the fabric is cool and soft. The pockets are perfect. I'm sort of sad that I don't need any more shorts because I'd love to make more!

Laundry Day Tank Tops

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Is there anything more satisfying than using up large scraps, AND finding a TNT all at the same time?

I've been in need of some new tank tops this summer. I have a ton already, but most of them are close-fitting. I'm still working on that post-three-babies-belly-pooch and don't feel as comfortable or confident in those kinds of tanks. (Side note for anybody who isn't a mom...did you know your stomach muscles actually separate during pregnancy? Fun! Diastasis recti...Google it...meanwhile I'm doing exercises trying to bring them back together.)

A few months ago I made a Love Notions Laundry Day Tee (free code in the Facebook group!) and ended up wearing it a ton. I decided to try the tank version, since I knew it would give me extra volume around the waist and hide my belly. I did think that my tshirt was a bit large, so I sized down for the tank, to an XS, and I love the way it looks! I love it so much I made two.

The LDT works best in lightweight, drapey knits like rayon jersey, which is what both of these are. The white (from Urban Rag Trader on Etsy) was previously used for, you guessed it, my Laundry Day Tee! The blue stripe (from Raspberry Creek on Etsy) was used for a Hey June Santa Fe. I was so happy that I had enough yardage left to cut these tanks, because rayon knits are kind of my jam right now.

I also like how the shoulders are cut. They're more narrow than my other tank patterns (in fact, I thought I had cut incorrectly at first) and I think it's more feminine and flattering. These are a quick cut and sew, especially if you're like me and don't hem!

This is my "is it going to rain?" face...and the answer was yes!

What tank pattern are you digging right now? Anyone else obsessed with rayon knits like I am?