ABBA Glitter Bell Bottoms

I am lucky enough to be going to the ABBA "concert" in London this summer! ABBA is pretty much my favourite band in the world. Even though they were in the charts before my time, I love almost all their songs and their vibe of sparkly, upbeat, lyrical pop is my thing. 

Of course, their visual imagery is so strong too, and if I'm going to their show, I want to dress up! When I was in my 20s, my mum made my sister and I matching bell bottoms, in turquoise sequins. We wore them to a 70s fancy dress party and I remember how much fun they were to wear, we spent the whole night dancing. Probably to a lot of ABBA!

I couldn't find any turquoise sequins at Fabricana, but I did get this silver-rainbow-shimmer-glitter-stretch fabric. They call it Liquid Lame. I got 2.5 yards, and used it all. I love how it has a holographic rainbow effect, especially in artificial lighting. It is silver, but shows a lot of blue, green, pink and yellow too. It is not sheer, in that you can't see through it, but it is very sheer in that it shows all the lumps and bumps under, it really is like liquid. I might have to wear sports leggings underneath, just for a bit of modesty. (Plus, I wouldn't have to wear them on the London Underground, just pop them on and off at the show!)

For my pattern, I looked through my trousers patterns, and settled on New Look 6057. Considering I have never sewn an actual garment, as designed, from this pattern, it has been one of the most useful patterns I own! That wide, low, scooped waistband is ideal for me and I've used it four times now.

I cut a size 10, even though that does not correspond with my measurements. The fabric is stretch and I wasn't sure I wanted negative ease, but I knew I had room to play with. I cut the pattern to the lengthen/shorten lines at the knee and then, for the bell bottom, flared out to the remaining width of the fabric that I had. I also left the leg hem long so that I could decide after trying them on, ideally with footwear.

I cut the front and back waistband on the fold. There are two pieces each, one for the outer, and one for the lining. I used my own traced pattern piece for these. I made up the waistband and added elastic inside for extra security. I made the whole thing up on my overlocker, with the exception of the back darts. I left the hem unfinished.

I went back and carved out some more ease above the knees. It has messed up the lines of the leg, they are pulling in a funny way now, but they are pretty baggy, and bell bottoms make your legs look so slim that I didn't want to miss out on that effect. I should really make them a whole lot smaller overall, take out all the ease, but the fabric is so sheer that I don't exactly want to dress like that. Any more. 

Supplies:

  Fabric: 2.5 yards, Fabricana, $23.57

  Pattern: New Look, used previously, $0

  Notions: elastic, upcycled, $0

Dino Overalls

Oh my gosh, how cute are these overalls? I feel like I am dressing a toddler again!

The dino love is real and she has been wanting some wild, loud overalls for a little while now. We went fabric shopping in Australia, at Spotlight, and this cotton poplin exceeded her wildest expectations. Pink and purple dinos! On a black background!! With lots and lots, and lots, of dinos!!! Ok, so it was poplin, but it would work.

I used the Seamwork Beckett pattern, with a few modifications. For the toile, I cut size 12, grading out to 14 in waist. This was too large, there would have been even more gaping at the waist, which in overalls, would mean that you can look down inside the garment. Not nice. I cut the pattern down to a 12 all over.

I also graded out the leg seams to make them less pegged. She wanted straight legs. I added 1/2 inch to either side on the back and front pattern pieces, for a total addition of 2 inches to each leg.

I lengthened the pattern pieces by two inches, one at each of the lengthen and shorten lines. She thought the leg length was too short in the toile and wanted an extra two inches. I decided to do it in both places because I think she is a bit short waisted, so the extra rise would give her a bit more fabric through this area.

Pockets! It needs side pockets! I decided to add pockets to the side fronts, which really did make things difficult. I can see why the pattern designers left these out. Firstly, I had to toile the making of the plackets, because I really didn’t understand how these all fit together, then figure out the construction order for putting the placket inside the pocket

My adjustments: Firstly, I wanted to do a flat felled seam on the inside leg, so I had to assemble this seam first. It is not possible to do once the other leg seam is sewn. I did a false flat felled seam (French seam to the right side and then stitched it down. 

Then, I sewed the front placket piece (known as the lining) to the back of the pocket bag. The back placket piece went on the back of the leg piece, as normal. I used the pocket pattern pieces from my SOI Erin Skirt. I needed to make the angle of the pocket opening steeper so that it would almost fully expose the placket. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be able to stitch it down at the bottom properly, and the buttons would not be properly accessible. I added stay tape to the top of the pocket opening.

I attached the front pocket bag to the front trouser leg, and the placket to the back pocket bag, then joined the two pocket bags together. Finally, I sewed the leg side seams together, catching the two pocket bags into the same seam.

Not gonna lie, these pocket-and-placket steps took as long as the whole rest of the garment assembly.

I made the straps wider. I wanted to use metal eyelets and sliders, not the tied on grommets that the pattern called for. The eyelets are 1 inch wide so I increased strap size to 3.25 inches. I also lengthened the straps by... quite a bit. I had to lower the back by about 1.5cm to allow extra width at the back. I just eyeballed this at the assembly stage. The sliders keep sliding down so I'm going to actually sew these in place, and she wants hooks added to the top of the button plackets to add more shape to the waistline. 

I should have added interfacing to the top of the front bib. It is a serious point of weakness, where the buttons are hammered through. Interfacing would support everything better.

The side fastenings are just two buttons. I went with purple, because I had them in my stash, and they are cute touch of whimsy.

I used 2.85m of the 4m of fabric that I bought. I cut the pattern pieces as single layers but I didn't bother to do any pattern matching. I have 1.15m remaining and she would like a pair of summer shorts. Stand by!

Supplies:

   Fabric: Spotlight, 4m, A$58 (C$52)

   Toile fabric: old sheet, $0

   Pattern: bought one pattern from Simplicity that I didn't use A$6 (C$5.40)

   Then Beckett from Seamwork, USD$16 (C$22.40)

   Hooks and sliders for straps: Amazon, $14.25

   Interfacing, buttons, thread: from stash $0

Total: $94.05

(Yikes! That came out a bit expensive for a novelty kids garment!)