Pant muslin, or I always want to wear what I can't: Burda 11-2008-121

Every so often I get this wild idea in my head that I can wear pants cut like this.

DKNY 2008, Style.com

In reality, I know it's more likely to be squat and lumpy rather than lean and chic on me.  But maybe I'm onto something with these pants.  I'm wearing them with 2.5" heels, I have a pair of 3" heels on the way that I will try with these pants before deciding whether to move forward.

For the record, I won't be making the final pair from cotton muslin.

 These pants are cleverly drafted, so that the pocket makes the front fit like a straight cut pant, but there are still pleats overlaying them for slouchy effect.  I think it's genius that you get the pleats without pouf (see side and three-quarters views above).  I shortened these pants by 2" and I suspect that if I shorten them any further (or wear shorter heels) I will be skipping my way to Stumpiness.

Here is what these pants look like in the magazine.  Long, lean, slouchy.

Burda 11-2008-121, center photo.

Cocoon: Burda 11-2010-133

I don't knit.  Sometimes I'll have a very short lived knitting streak that often ends with me balling up whatever it is I'm working on, needles and all, and throwing it into a box or bag and shoving it to the back of the closet.  I just don't have the patience for knitting.  I won't lie, it's partly instant gratification that keeps me sewing.  Sewing, you can produce something in about 4-6 hours (an afternoon).  In that same amount of time as a knitter I will have... a sleeve of something. 

I bought this "sweater knit" fabric on Fashion Fabrics Club this winter, intending to make a sweater dress with it.  It turns out that the knit backing is a little too scratchy for my liking so I decided against a dress, but a cardigan could be a go.  Burda issued an open drapy cardigan, intended for woven fabrics, in November and I debated trying it.  Here's the result. 

Burda 11-2010-133, front.  I don't remember what was so fascinating on the floor.

Burda 11-2010-133.  I am in there somewhere.  My arms are so short I needed to roll the cuffs.

Burda 11-2010-133, The Coccoon

If I can work out some way to stand around with my hands on my hips all day, this might work.

Inside is all serged.  You can get a good idea of how fluid the collar is in this photo.

The fabric is super drapy and given how much ease there is in the pattern (I cut the smallest size, 36), I am lost in a sweater cocoon.  I think I could have interfaced the collar to give it more body and shape, but what's done is done.  The fabric was a mess to sew, lint and little black specks of knit confetti all over my apartment!  I thought that the sweater would be drapy enough that it wouldn't be so cocoon like (I guess, be more fluid?) and while I'm not unhappy with it, I'm not exactly thrilled either. 

Is the problem that I'm mismatching fabric to design?  Or that I haven't taken the time to style it?  Here's how it looks in the magazine.  In the first photo, it does look pretty drapy on the model.  In both photos, it's apparent that the sleeves are super long so it's not odd that they are orangutanish on me.  Maybe I should belt it as in the lower photo?  Thoughts, dear readers?

It doesn't seems quite so huge on the model.

Maybe the secret is having a friend hold it snug to your waist.

Favorite shirt, twice in paisley: Burda 09-2009-105

I am noticing a trend in my wardrobe.  There's plenty of paisley and I went on a fuchsia fabric kick a while back so there's a lot of that in stash and soon to be in my working life.  I never got around to sewing the shirt I was planning to sew from the September issue.  I found a plain button down shirt pattern in the same issue that I thought would be perfect for some dotted swiss paisley in my stash (pretty loud, when it comes down to it) and it turns out that it was a good match.  A good match for the fabric and for me, as far as having a good basic in my wardrobe.

Here's Burda's version in a subdued business blue.  It's a classic shirt, vented cuffs, shirt tail hem, and yoked back.  I love the fit and that the collar is small and flattering.

Burda 09-2009-105, to be accessorized with glasses and a paper cup.

 Here's the first version of this shirt I made, in November, in dotted swiss paisley.

Dotted swiss paisley button down, front

Dotted swiss paisley button down, back

This is my second shirt, which I finished this week, in yellow paisley cotton lawn and yellow buttons.  I think that after it's washed it'll feel more like the first shirt, which is my favorite.  This yellow shirt seems to have more ease in it, and I'm not quite sure why.  Having put the shirts on one after the other for photos this morning, I think I forgot to fold out the ease in the upper sleeve on the pattern while cutting out this shirt.  It makes a difference in how the sleeves fit, and I'll have to pay attention the next time I make this shirt.  There will be a next time!

Paisley cotton lawn, front

Yellow paisley cotton lawn, back.  Extra ease in the sleeve cap?