Behind the Seams: Hike And Seek. The Explorer Outfit.

Do you have any UFOs in your sewing room? These are the unfinished objects or projects you started but didn’t quite finish. At The Sew Weekly Challenge, we are attempting to finish one of these UFOs this week. You can find my post here.

Before I started on this outfit, I had two UFOs.

This outfit which was planned for St.Patricks week until my son insisted that I wear dresses to pick him up from school which instantly created a strong need for a casual dress wardrobe.  That was exactly what I’ve spent the last couple of weeks creating.  The second UFO I have is an animal print pendrell blouse in knit which I have cut and have every intention of wearing for Made-Me March 2011. Which means I have two days to get it done and wear it! Gotta get going on that project!

The Pattern Review

I scored this lovely 1955 blouse/shorts/skirt vintage pattern from etsy sometime back and it has been on my must sew list. Of the shorts/ blouse patterns I have seen this has quite a flattering and cute design and the possibilities are endless. Using the same fabric for top and bottom like on the pattern cover or in contrast. I can see myself creating a few of these separates to wear with each other or other garments.

The instructions were clear but as this was the first time I sewed shorts cuffs that ended with a button band, I did spent sometime figuring that portion out. I think they could have turned out better if I have had some practice but I didn’t have anymore of the scrap fabric to make changes so I talked myself into living with them the way they looked.

The pattern recommended an 8 inch zipper for the blouse. That worked but i think a 10 inch one might have been even better. The shorts fitted well at the waist, has a side zipper/ eye & hook and the waistband is finished with grosgrain ribbon which surprisingly worked marvelously!

I love the surprise find in the pattern envelope. An original receipt dated 14 June (no year though) and it only cost 52 cents!!!

The gallery and photoshoot

Meet my hike and seek outfit made using an echino green glasses fabric and scrap ikea home decor fabric. You will notice that I created four pleats with piping down the front of the blouse. I accidentally cut the front of the blouse too wide as I didn’t notice that the previous user of the vintage pattern didn’t cut away the tissue next to the front centre fold. So, to rectify the situation, pleats were created.

Don’t you love the bands and buttons, though not perfect, they are my favorite design elements on the outfit!

This photo session was simple and easy. My family visited the Singapore Zoo that day and we usually snap photos of the animals so the photo shoot became part of the snapping activity:)

Some tips I’ve picked up from sewing shorts

Tagging the darts

I’ve done darts many times and sometimes despite ironing them in a certain direction, they can get turned to the opposite direction after seams are sewn.  Most of the time, the seam ripper come into use but it never occurred to me that I can actually baste/ tag the darts after finishing them until I’ve read the instructions in this vintage pattern.  Yay! From now on my darts are gonna be obedient! And its applicable for any project with darts or pleats.

Sewing two sides of the pants right sides together

Step 1: Turn one side of the shorts to the wrong side and slide the right side of the other side into the other. This way the right sides are facing. I find this to be the easiest way to do this.

Step 2: Pin the seams of the two sides together and stitch
Step 3: Trim, clip and notch seams allowance.

Step 4: Turn shorts out and press. This ensure that the seams will be smooth and flat without being bulky.

Hope that’s useful for your shorts/ pants projects! I’m just thrilled to have completed my first vintage pattern shorts and blouse!

Have a blessed week!