Crafting Body Appreciation

I am working a little out of order here. I had planned to share my March makes this first week of April, but I am jumping into my April sewing plans instead. I just haven’t had a chance to photograph my finished March projects yet but all the details of what I finished, what I didn’t, and what worked will be shared next week.

In March, I talked about my plans being spring-ish – mix of some cooler weather garments and a few items for warmer and brighter days ahead. My April sewing plans lean heavily into spring and warm weather (which still feels like a faraway dream on this cold dreary day).

Wide-Leg Pants

Wide-leg linen pants are my favorite things to wear from spring through fall. I love the comfy elastic waist and flowy lightweight fabric. I have a collection of ready-to-wear linen pants (mostly from Old Navy), but it is time to start making my own.

There are so.many.options when it comes to patterns for wide-legged elastic-waisted pants, I am pretty sure every pattern company has their own take. If you have a favorite, let me know in the comments!

I have decided to start with Helen’s Closet June Pants. I have made several Helen’s Closet patterns including Yanta Overalls in both the pants and shorts view. Helen does such a great job with instructions, to the point that I felt confident making the Yanta Overalls, an intermediate skill level pattern, while I was still in more beginner to advanced-beginner territory. Plus I have found a pretty good fit with her patterns in the past.

I decided to make a size 26, based on my waist measurement. My hip measurement put me in a smaller size but for simplicity I decided not to grade between sizes. Plus, with flowy summer pants, a bit of extra flow is probably fine…

I am using a blue/green striped cotton fabric that I found at the thrift store. The fabric had actually been made into a shower curtain by another home sewist so I had to do some seam ripping and creative pattern placement to get everything to fit on the fabric I had. This project is cut out and ready to hit the sewing machine.

Woven Tank Top

Next up, I am planning to make the Cashmerette’s Kersoe Top from the book Ahead of the Curve. I did sew up one of these tops last year and I tried to get away without grading between sizes but found I wanted a bit more room in the hip area. This past weekend I retraced the pattern and graded between several sizes to hopefully achieve my preferred fit.

For fabric, I am using a thrifted sagey green sheet that coordinates nicely with the green strips in the fabric that I am using for the June Pants. If all goes according to plan this might turn into my first head-to-toe me-made outfit (if you don’t count just wearing a dress)!

V-Neck Woven Top

Finally for my April sewing plans, I want to add another short sleeved woven top. I picked up the Love Notion’s Vivace Dolman on a $5 Friday sale. It caught my eye because I had recently watched a thrifting video on YouTube (I think it was Lauren Menz) where she picked up a Madewell top with a similar fold/pleat at the base of v-neck. This pattern is also cool because it is so versatile. It can be made in woven or knit fabric and has shirt, tunic, and dress lengths.

I am planning to make the woven shirt view using a thrifted chambray-esque duvet cover. I think this top will be another great one to pair with some of my linen pants that are already in my wardrobe.

Bonus Couch Project

One more non-garment related project! After returning to some regular knitting this past winter, I realized how much I like having a couch craft project to work on while watching TV in the evenings. While I wait for the next knitting project inspiration to hit, I have decided to try out English Paper Piecing.

I first learned about EPP last year from a Shannon Makes video. I was intrigued. Then the instructor at embroidery class that I took a couple of months later was also singing the praises of EPP. I tucked it away as a “someday” project.  I have picked up some hexagon paper templates, so I guess someday is now.

I love the idea of EPP because it uses small pieces of fabric, perfect for fabric scraps from other sewing projects, plus the hand stitching is ideal for a couch project. Have you tried EPP? Any tips for a first-timer?