a haircut, a cat, and a pair of pants.
I finished these pants last week but haven’t had a chance to share them until today. I love all this Spring rain we’ve been getting but Wil and I always seem to miss the dry window of opportunity for outdoor photos. Luckily we caught a break long enough to get a few shots in the yard. My little friend here decided to join us.
These are my new favorite pants! They’re made from the Marlene pattern by Burda Style and even though the directions are less than helpful, I’m happy to report I made my way through alright after the initial muslin. I can’t say anything bad about Burda because I love their selection of downloadable patterns (all for around five dollars), but I am noticing a serious lack of sewing instruction and there are definitely no diagrams. I’d be lying if I said I was the type of girl who always follows instructions, because I rarely do (it comes back to bite me usually, I might add) but I do like to glance at illustrations as I work through things. Luckily I’ve sewn enough simple pairs of pants to get through the construction without help but I hadn’t done a lined pocket quite like this before so they totally threw me off the first time around! The pockets on my muslin definitely empty out into the pant leg and are completely useless haha!
Not to worry though, I clearly figured it out. Honestly the construction isn’t that difficult at all, I just tend to confuse myself with the wording when reading directions. …it’s definitely a “problem” I deal with. If there is such a thing as directional ADD, I’m sure I have it. Whoops I’m losing my train of thought here… oh right the pants. Awesomest pants ever!
I could have done a bit better job on the waistband but aside from that, the Marlene Trousers are everything I’ve ever wanted in a pants pattern. I thought I wanted a pair of trousers with a fly front, but turns out I don’t have man parts that necessitate a zipper in the front, and I’ve always preferred lapped zippers anyways, so there’s no Master Of Sewing telling me I HAVE to learn how to sew pants with flys right now. So I’m not going to. However, the common problem with lapped side zippers and pants is: no side pockets. I don’t mind not having back pockets, but I need some pockets in the front. So once again, these pants are everything I want/need in a pair of pants!
The legs are also gigantic! Again, a want/need for me. Lately I’m borderline obsessed with the wide-leg pant styles of the 1920s and 30s. They’re just so comfortable! Oh and the fabric I picked for these pants is fantastic. It’s a lighter weight denim by Robert Kaufman that I bought from Hawthorne Threads. I think it’s the perfect thickness for summer! The thread pattern makes the fabric look almost shiny from a distance. It’s pretty neat stuff. Wonderful to sew with!
Outfit Details:
Pants – Marlene Trousers via Burda Style
Shirt – Antique (another gift from my aunt)
Art Deco Bobby Pins – ModCloth
Shoes – Target
Glasses – c/o Victory Optical
Hair Color – Manic Panic Vampire Red
photos by William Waldon
To match my 1920s/30s obsession I went and got another hair cut (just in time for Loran’s 1920s sew-along!). I know I prefer my real hair to be short (any photo of me with long hair is actually a wig!) but it’s taken me several cuts to find the perfect short style for me. I think this might be it! It seems to be working really well with my natural wave.
This here is my friend, Karl Cat. He wanted to see why we were standing around in the side yard, looking like we were free to pet him. He’s really handsome so I obliged his request.
…he doesn’t like when Wil tries to pet him though haha!
“Dude. Hands off the brow.”
I think this is the project that officially got me excited for summer sewing! I also bought two shirt patterns from Burda that I can wait to make, and I’m even more excited to pick fabric for them, especially since Cotton Steel just went live at Quilt Market! Ahh! Must have ALL THE C S FABRIC!
What are you working on lately?
xo
Rochelle
