Visible Machine Hemming: There's probably a more efficient way to do it, but (shrug)

One thing I hadn't gotten the hang of until recently is having a clean finish on my hems when I do it by machine. I've gotten plenty of practice sewing pants over some months and with the extra practice comes a raising of the bottom line for what I consider acceptable quality. In this post I'll discuss what I'd been doing wrong, and what I've done to rectify the method and get that neat hem.

Fibre Mood Yushu Tee

Officially summer will be here soon, which gives me a great excuse to bust out some quick muscle tees. Sun's out guns out, as the kids say. I've made two of Fibre Mood's Yushu, a generously loose and boxy tank top or long dress. Knife pleats at the shoulder seams bring volume in and the shoulders themselves are designed with shoulder pads inserted, which I ended up omitting. The bulk of the sewing is simple as it's mostly comprised of a front, back, and neckband with no shaping or darts. About as easy as making (and wearing!) any t-shirt, I'd say.

Fibre Mood Beryl (Shirt)Dress

Serving you high femme lumberjack, today I have for you the Beryl dress from Fibre Mood's Fall 2023 issue in a slubby, small-scale, red-and-black plaid. Surprising no one, I picked a pattern that is essentially another collared button-up shirt, but with some fun pleating and a unique blouson top silhouette.

There's a neat juxtaposition between its elegant pencil skirt and oversized, almost slouchy shirt bodice and dolman sleeves. Altogether the dress is both appropriately chic as well as casual enough to be streetwear. My evidence for the latter being that everybody and their mother (and myself) seem compelled towards styling the dress with a beanie and combat boots or sneakers — a compulsion only strengthened by choosing a plaid check fabric that evokes the image of that one trusty, 10-year-old flannel overshirt everybody has in their wardrobe. It's just like that shirt but pretty'd up.

SILK CHIFFON NIGHTMARE BLOUSE FROM HELL

Let it be known that I do not fear working with delicate fabrics. They require more finesse than a brute like me would typically employ, but I know I can force myself to be careful and patient through excessive pinning and sewing slowly. Perfectly doable. Not scary. Even less scary knowing I'm using the same shirt pattern I've used so many times I could make it in my sleep, so I won't talk about it in too much detail to avoid being redundant. Instead, I'm going to spend most of this post grousing about this awful chiffon and what it forced me to do to make it work. Get ready.

Ann Tilley Magic Pants + Peppermint Wide Leg Pants: The Sequels

Hey, guess who got over her fatigue immediately after expressing she was tired of making pants? This gal! And I didn't even choose an exciting new pattern, nope, it's the Peppermint Pants and Magic Pants again. Now with a minimal but nonzero number of adjustments, which I felt were useful to list and elaborate upon. And so I will.

Peppermint Magazine Wide Leg Pants, but Jeans

It's everybody's favorite pay-what-you-want pattern from Peppermint Magazine, their Wide Leg Pants, remixed into the bluest of jeans. As a recent convert to wide leg pants,I have to say I understand why people like this pattern so much, independent of its variable price. They're quite basic which understandably makes them easy to adjust and adapt. And because they're so no-frills, the design elements it does have are emphasized in their necessity. The curved and/or pieced waistband and pockets with stays, for example, make for a better fitting and wearing experience. There's none of that lower back gaping or pocket bags shifting around uncomfortably. Everything stays in place with just a few small design choices. In short, I appreciate that the pattern is designed thoughtfully in spite of (or maybe because of?) its simplicity.

Ann Tilley Magic Pants, in a Holiday-appropriate Plaid Wool

"What, no funny title?" exactly none of you are wondering. "It's not a phrase that makes no sense to anyone who isn't the person authoring the post? She's actually directly indicating the content of the post upfront, as titles are intended to do?" It's true. I've decided to adopt a less silly and far more comprehensible approach to writing posts for the sake of visibility and SEO. I take no pleasure in it, but I found it necessary for this post in particular seeing as I couldn't find any reviews of this pattern. It's not yet in Pattern Review's database, no one has blogged about it, and if anyone's posted about it on Instagram it's impossible to find said posts because the platform has rendered hashtags entirely useless. So in my attempts to be helpful: if anyone's looking for reviews you have at least one (1) on this blog.