Kwik Sew Men's Jeans + Contest Winner!

Friends, we have a winner of the Audrey-Hepburnesque 1962 vintage Vogue pattern.  She is...

Victoria, of Savannah, Georgia!  (Big cheer)

Victoria, please email me your mailing address (peterlappinnyc at gmail dot com) and I'll send it off to you right away.  Congratulations!

And now back to our regular programming.

Friends, I have a lot of projects in the pipeline...OK, I have two projects in the pipeline.  First -- and please don't ask me why I took this on -- I have to make a simple straight skirt for my mother.  The genesis of this goes back to the day we went shopping together at Lord & Taylor, and Yours Truly had to remark that for a tenth of the price of the nothing to write home about Calvin Klein skirts they were offering in Petites, I could make her one myself.  No fool, my mother replied, Great; I need it by early December.

I saw her on Tuesday and took her waist and hip measurements, and we went together to Trumart fabric store, which is just a block from my apartment.  There we picked up a very nice quality black polyester crepe and an acetate lining.



I'll be using Dorothy Moore's Pattern Drafting and Dressmaking book to draft the pattern, and hopefully it will all come together without any problems.  I'll probably make a muslin first, of course.  The only clothes I've made for women other than Cathy were two fleece jackets, one for Michael's mother and one for my own.  It's actually a little intimidating -- but exciting too.



My second project is making myself a new pair of denim jeans.  The first pair I made, more than a year ago, I have worn to death.  The knees are badly faded and the front pockets, which in my ignorance I made from a piece of a washed out flannel duvet cover, got so shredded I finally just cut them out.  When I stick my hands in my pockets I'm basically touching my underwear -- or worse.

I'll either use Kwik Sew 2123, which I've used once before to make these pants, or Simplicity 5048, which I used to make the jeans I've worn nearly every day since September 2009.  Yuck.





Men's jeans aren't difficult to make but there's a lot of topstitching involved.  If you have any questions about making men's jeans, please ask and I'll address them on the blog.

Oh, before I forget: a major score on Etsy yesterday!

This toggle coat pattern dates from 1992 and I plan to use it to make a shorter coat that will hopefully look similar to this:

Could I have drafted this myself?  Probably.  I'm lazy.

Friends, guess how many men's patterns are in-print over at Vogue Patterns.  Try six.  SIX!  And four of them are tuxedos and tuxedo accessories (vests, cumberbunds, etc.).  No outerwear.  No jeans.  No pajamas. No underwear.  Jumpsuits, capes, caftans, chaps?  Dream on.

There are more patterns to make doll clothes and stuffed animals.  WHAT is up with that, Vogue-ies?  (Don't bother answering, I know: no market for them.)

So that's it, friends.  I have work to do and so do you, no doubt.  I don't even remember what you're sewing these days; indulge me and remind me and maybe I'll nag you about it early next week.  Discipline is extremely important as we move into the holiday season that starts next week with Thanksgiving and gives us barely a chance to come up for air till Easter.

BTW, you'll be happy to know that while I have temporarily quit coffee, I have substituted weak tea with excellent results.  And while I've cut down on sugar I still indulge in the odd square of dark chocolate or spoonful of fruit juice-sweetened jam.  Food asceticism is troubling to many of you, I know, and it isn't much fun, let's face it. 

That's it for today.  Have a great day, everybody!