I’m ready to step into the warm, sunny days of spring!
I was looking forward to sewing a cool spring outfit from these two fabrics: a soft cotton double gauze and a floral slinky rayon/spandex knit. I sewed a tee and wide leg pants. They are also both on my “Make Nine” list for 2021.
The tee shirt is the Classic Tee from Love Notions.
I made the crew neck tee with short sleeves in size medium. My measurements put my bust in a size large and my hips in a size medium, so I printed the pattern with both sizes and compared it to other tees. I decided on the medium and am happy with the fit. Previously, I found this very stretchy fabric hard to sew with, but I wanted to try again with this simple pattern. I thought I wouldn’t have a problem with the fabric growing with a pattern with sleeves and a higher neck.
I sewed the seams with my serger, but I cautiously machine basted the neckband binding on before serging.
New Look 6515 is one of the patterns I bought off EBay last year.
I planned to make the pants full length and without the slit. I was sewing with the fabric known as double gauze for the first time. There are two layers tacked together. The fabric is called bubble gauze at Joann where I bought it with a gift certificate from a sweet friend. It is very soft, airy and crinkly textured, and sometimes used for baby items. (I have since found out there is a smooth type as well).
Oddly enough for someone who googles everything, I didn’t look up how to sew with double gauze. I decided to just go with my instinct. I thought it best to avoid ironing the fabric as much as possible to retain the texture. I read the opposite while looking up tips for sewing with double gauze while writing this post, that double gauze requires quite a bit of pressing. Okay, ha!
This fabric doesn’t have structure and is a little thin, so it isn’t especially suited to most pants. The suggested fabrics listed on the pattern envelope are batiks, chambray, cotton types, gauze, linen types, so it’s a match. I can also imagine these pants even more unstructured in a flowing rayon with a slit above the knee. They would almost look like a skirt.
I started with a size 16 which matched my hip size allowing for some ease. The finished hip measurement for each size is given on the pattern.
The waist is partially elasticized, and the legs are full so there is no fitting or shaping. I thought the legs were too wide on me, so I slimmed them down. Maybe I slimmed them down too much, but they still swish when I walk. The waistband has an interfaced flat section, and it is folded to make a double layer. The elastic is inserted into the one of the openings shown below, extends a bit into the flat section, and is tucked in and sewn down at each seam. I love this waistband!
The pants have seams down the middle of the front and back. I subbed an inset pocket for the inseam pocket provided with the pattern.
Mistake of the month: I was merrily zipping along serging the seam allowances and didn’t realize I was catching part of the pants. I did this on parts of 3 out of 4 panels. Luckily there were no holes and I was able to unpick them. I did this gently; the open weave makes the fabric fragile.
Both the tee and the pants were easy to sew, and I highly recommend the patterns. The tee will also go great with jeans and the pants with sleeveless tops. These pieces will be light enough for wearing in the summer to the grocery store, and if I ever go anyplace else. Actually, I feel optimistic about the summer, and these are happy clothes for going out.
I love the cool and fresh colors and textures of this outfit!
Stitch It Again 