Guest blog – Nathalia
Hello everyone! I’m Nathalia, a.k.a. @whatawondersewworld on Instagram, and today I’m the guest blogger on Felicity Fabric’s blog. I was so thrilled when I heard that Caroline and Fliss were looking for guest bloggers, as I’m constantly eyeing their gorgeous fabric selection. Felt like a good opportunity to collaborate, so yay, here I am!
Let me start by shortly introducing myself. As you read, my name is Nathalia, I’m originally from Brazil, but I’m based in The Netherlands. I started sewing last year in March, when I got a sewing machine as a birthday present (best present ever!) and I haven’t stopped sewing ever since. I have a full time job as a Software developer, but when I’m not working you will find me in my sewing room. Sewing is all I do in my spare time (seriously, when I’m not sewing I’m thinking of sewing).
Now, let’s get down to business and talk about my fabric choice. As you may know, choosing fabric over FF’s selection is a tough task, just because there are so many beautiful options it can be overwhelming. But as soon as I set my eye on this lime linen, I couldn’t stop thinking about how it could be a Heather Blazer from Friday Pattern Company. The pattern is available as a bundle, combined with the Chandler Pants from Untitled thoughts. You know, the power outfit I’ve always dreamed of…
My fabric arrived super quickly, and let me tell you this: this linen is a dream to work with. First of all, it’s super soft and gentle on the skin, and the lime color just gives me life and brings color to the very grey Amsterdam weather.
I started the project by treating my fabric, washing it on 30C and air drying it, as I would normally wash my finished garment. Because linen is kind of a wrinkle prone fabric, I gave it a good press after washing, but in general it was a very easy and quick process.
Let me tell you first about the Heather Blazer. It’s the latest Friday Pattern Company pattern, and it’s my second time making it. If outwear in general sounds a bit intimidating to you, I would say this pattern is a good way to dip your feet into the coat making waters. It’s relatively uncomplicated, and they provide very clear instructions, and even a sew along video on Youtube. It’s great to watch the video so you can actually see all the steps as some can be difficult to pick up from the illustrations alone.
The blazer is designed to be oversized, so I made a size XL and didn’t make any alterations. It fits perfectly, and it’s very comfortable.
I used a soft cotton I had on my stash for the lining, and the contrast just worked perfectly. It’s almost like these two fabrics were made to find each other and become my Heather Blazer.
I also added some small details, like this very cute label from @modistasewing, and this cute pin that is just too cute.
Needless to say, I’m absolutely amazed with the end results.
Now onto pants business! Very serious and tricky business this is, I have to say… It was a whole adventure to make these pants, and I wouldn’t be able to accomplish this without the help of the sewing community on Instagram. I found many posts and resources about fitting pants, and got many tips from my sewing buddies.
The Chandler pants pattern is from Untitled Thoughts, and it’s this very relaxed fit, that has an elastic back — it also comes with a faux fly option, and you can choose from darts or pleats on the front. It’s a “confident beginner to intermediate” level pattern, but I would highly recommend you to have a few makes under your belt before attempting this one, just because you know…pants, it has a learning curve.
I also highly recommend you to make a toile (I made 3) before cutting into your beautiful fabric, just to see if you’re happy with the fit and if you need to make any alterations.
My measurements put me on the size 1X, but after making my second toile and struggling a lot with how much excess I had… everywhere, I decided to go down a size and see how it would fit. And that actually did the trick.
In the end I only took off about 1cm from the side seams on both sides, and I did not make the length adjustment as you would normally do (slashing across the knee line and then overlapping by how much length you wanna take it off). Instead, I just cut on the hem to get the desired length, and that’s because when I did it “by the book”, it was deforming the shape of the legs, since I would need to take a LOT from the length.
Keep in mind the pattern is drafted for a 1,73cm tall person, and I’m 10 cm below that. But doing that worked for me, and I’m happy with the final look!
I also added some belt loops, and I made a cuffed hem, because why not? And to finish it up, I used this Kyle and the machine label, that summarises perfectly what these pants are: perfectly imperfect.
Here are some helpful tips for making pants:
1 — Always make sure you cut on the grain. That is very important if you don’t wanna end up with twisted seams (trust me, I’ve been there). I cut every piece individually, and I was a very good girl and measured my grain line against the selvages of the fabric, just to make sure.
2 — There are a lot of good resources out there for understanding pants fitting and the most common alterations you might need. Some of them are Seamwork (they have a whole class on how to make pants) and Closet Core patterns (you can subscribe to their newsletter and get the PDF with the most common pants alterations).
3 — Use hashtag searching on Instagram for the garments you’re making. For example I used #HeatherBlazer and #UTChandlerpants – That way you can see other people with similar bodies to yours that have made the same garment, and what kind of possible alterations they made.
4 — Last but not least, have a lot of patience. Making pants might be a bit overwhelming if you’re beginning, and it can be very disheartening when you can’t get that fit right. But don’t you give up, take a break if necessary, you got this!
And that was that! This project was by far the most complex and bold project I have ever worked on, but I had tons of fun and picked up a whole lot of new skills. I’m very happy with the results, and even happier that these two pieces work with pretty much everything I have in my wardrobe. As you can see below, I have plenty of style options!
Now, if you’re interested in making this power outfit, Felicity Fabrics have other lovely options, some of my favorites are:
- https://felicityfabrics.co.uk/shop/anisiya-red/ (That would look so cute as a blazer and skirt kind of suit)
- https://felicityfabrics.co.uk/shop/brushed-checks/
- https://felicityfabrics.co.uk/shop/checks-pink/
- https://felicityfabrics.co.uk/shop/anisiya-black/
Thank you for reading my blog post, and special thanks to Caroline and Fliss for having me over. I had a great time working on this post, and loved collaborating with you!
