Jun 2020 – My Stash Reduction Quest

The global “situation” has resulted it me watching a lot of films, courtesy of Disney+. On my birthday, I watched The Sound of Music whilst my husband made a cake and I felt very envious of little Gretl’s curtain dungarees. As a child, I liked to think that I looked like Gretl (see below). Around the same time, SandeepBeep shared a pic of her wearing some lovely Yanta Overalls from Helen’s Closet. It felt like the universe was telling me that I needed some short dungarees.

Looking at the hashtag for the Yantas and reading some blog reviews convinced me that it would be a great pattern. I haven’t used Helen’s Closet patterns before but was so impressed with the level of detail in her instructions. Helen gives a lot of helpful advice about fitting, what the garment should look like, where certain points should sit on your body, as well as instructions on how to do a FBA (not that I needed that!).

After toiling the pattern, I shortened the front bib section (and front facing) by 4cm and levelled the curve. I didn’t shorten the back as it fitted in between my shoulder blades, which was the right placement according to the pattern. I decided that I could get away without the zip as I was prepared to wiggle a bit to get them on and off. If I can avoid putting a zip in, then I will!

Pinning the ‘duvet cover toile’ to see how much to take off the front bib

Fabric

I bought some gorgeous navy tencel twill from Bobbins and Bolts after a message exchange with Gemma. I wasn’t sure if it was opaque and/or would sew up well into Yantas. Gemma really helpfully replied to say that she was making some trousers (coincidentally a Helen’s Closet pattern too) with it and that she thought it would make great Yantas…she was correct! I love shopping independently because (in my experience) the sellers are so helpful.

It’s all in the detail

As I said above, Helen’s instructions are so comprehensive, which is mirrored in her attention to detail in the garment. The pockets, topstitching and general finishing made this a really enjoyable sew, even though it was a relatively quick sew. I overlocked the centre seams before sewing them up, then pressed open so that I could topstitch parallel lines either side of the centre seam.

For splashes of colour, I used my rainbow overlocking thread and some cotton lawn remnants from my Melilot shirt because “life is too short for a boring lining”. I can’t remember where I read that but love it as a way of life!

The only other adjustment that I made was to do a 1″ hem, rather than the 2″ suggested in the pattern as I wanted a bit of extra length in the shorts.

Final thoughts

As you can see from my goofy grin, I love these Yantas. I wore them for a few days at the end of MeMadeMay2020 and they’re incredibly comfortable. I’m really happy with the fit and already have plans for a long pair for the winter.

Relaxing out and about for the first time

Thanks for reading, stay comfy :o)

As a statistician, I know that percentages are important in life. For some reason, I completely ignored this rule for my second exploration into using activewear fabrics. In August 2019, I made the Greenstyle Creations Power Sports Bra in preparation for an active holiday (remember them?) in Greece, where I was planning to play tennis.

The instructions are really clear that I needed to ignore my ‘rtw’ bra size and base the pattern size purely on my measurements. With this in mind, I made a size 30D and was really happy with the fit. There are lots of options included in this pattern but I immediately liked the strappy back version.

I got some white and marble-effect material from Funki Fabrics and really enjoyed making my bra but wasn’t 100% happy with the straps. They were fiddly little things and I knew they could have been more consistent in width after learning along the way.

In terms of a functional sports bra though, it was great and helped me through a tennis lesson in 30deg heat in Greece.

Round two

Tried and tested, I had a gap in my wardrobe for a black sports bra. I spotted the fabulous “Fizz Pop” Liberty swimsuit fabric on Sister Mintaka’s site in October 2019. Liberty fabric is pricey but I knew I’d get a lot of use out of a well-fitting sports bra and only needed half a metre for both outer and lining.

My sewing journal informs me that I started the bra on 13th Oct and was finished by 30th Oct. I didn’t even consider that the fabric might be less stretchy and just made it, not trying on. The straps were perfect…no, really. Consistent width, no misbehaving when turning through, perfect. The only problem was that that I couldn’t get the bloody thing on.

Naughty chair

I didn’t have enough fabric, or motivation to try again at that point, but knew that I did want a sports bra in that fabric. I kept the teeny tiny bra in case I could salvage any of the material in future, or at least the straps.

So it sat on the naughty chair (there’s also a coat toile there so it had company) until May 2020. I bought another half metre from Sister Mintaka, unpicked the straps – those babies were getting used – and recut a size 34D.

This time, I just cut out the bottom band and tried that for size before going any further. After reassuring myself that “it’s only fabric”, I took the plunge.

Third time’s a charm…though not without challenge

More confident in the sizing, but still a little apprehensive, I tried on as I went along this time. I had problems with the clear elastic used to strengthen the bodice because it was bunching up. In the end, I abandoned it and under-stitched the seam allowance to the lining. I think it’s because the foot was ‘sticking’ to the clear elastic and have a vague memory of putting Sellotape on the underside of the foot the previous time at this step.

The only other part where I deviated from the pattern was putting the band elastic in place. I attached the band to the bra, leaving a 3″ gap, then fed the elastic through the channel and tried on before sewing the elastic together and closing the band. I prefer to fit anything with elastic in this way.

I’m really pleased that I was able to use the original straps and get this to fit. We went on a bike ride today and it was really comfortable to wear and ticks all the right boxes for a sports bra.

The face of somebody who is slightly nervous about posting a ‘bra photo’ on her blog, but very happy to have sorted the fit

Thanks for reading and remember, percentages are important ;o)

Month: Jun 2020

Gretl’s Yantas