Mitchells - finished!!!

 I am very pleased to report that with some final adjustments I DID finish  the Mitchells and wore them in public.

The final steps were to attach the waist facing and the hem.

The instructions for the ends of the waist facing were not great, so I used a link on SewSewLive  to check how to do it. YES, I could have figured it out myself, but I was not sure if maybe I had missed something. This video suggested wrapping the end of the facing around the end of the pant edge in order to hide the edges, and I was glad I found that!

For whatever reason, the pants were not going to be quite long enough... and yes, I had made a muslin.  (I had taken it apart once I started on the actual pants. Next time I should keep the muslin until the garment is finished!) So I created a hem facing, which allowed me to fold up only the 5/8 inch seam allowance, but also have a deep enough hem... phew!

The other quirk about this pattern is that the waistband facing cruves up to reveal the top of the zipper. But it does not curve up enough, and the instructions have you tuck it under... not a great look, so I unstitched a short length of my binding strip, and trimmed the facing, then reswed it. A much cleaner look!

The problem with this pattern is that it does not really suit my body! The high waist does not suit my short-waisted body, making it look like the pants finish nearly at my bust! (Like a corset?!)

Otherwise they look nice, and I do love my fabric. (Tropical wool suiting from an outing to Montreal last March.)

With my local 'frock-friends' we had a frock-outing on Friday, visited Makers Lodge in Carleton Place (adorable destination out in the woods for some fine fabric and yarns!), then the Mississippi Mills Textile Museum.

I bought three lengths of linen -ramie with a wonderful weight and hand. Will make a white cropped Kalle top to go with the Mitchells - that might make reduce the corset effect! 

The photos were taken by WW at the Textile museum.

I also bought a vintage spindle-type bobbin, to try to use as a Nöstepinne - a tool for hand-winding yarn purchased in a skein. 

facing - after

Facing - before

really this is supposed to look nice?

 

Weaving/spinning bobbin

hoping to improve!

This week I also worked on the linen blend knit top. I chose the Jalie Marie-Claude, raglan sleeved top. In retrospect, I wish I had used the Jalie 2805 that I have used a few times before. The Marie-Claude ended up being too oversized, and so does not look great for a dressy top. I will be spending time trying to add some shaping...

shapeless

The other option is to try to cut out Jalie 2805) the other knit top pattern I use. A quick check to see if it will fit shows that it kind of will... I will have to cut over a seam, but if I get a better fitting shirt in the end I will be happier...