I'm on a kick right now, sewing up lots of basics (Cake!). Having two pairs of jeans that don't fit well at all, I was desperate for something comfy to wear on the weekends. Being petrified of sewing a fly front, I chose the new Jalie pattern, Eleonore. I've made three pairs, blue, grey and black. All three fit differently as the fabrics are quite different. The black ones (which I have no photos of - black does not photograph well, and they are constantly in the laundry) are a high quality bengaline with lots of stretch and good recovery. The fabric was from The Fabric Store in Auckland. It was the only stretch woven I could find there with the required 20% stretch. They are the most comfortable pair.
The grey and blue ones were made with stretch wovens from Dress Smart fabrics in Auckland, it's a great little store with a wide variety of mostly synthetics. The grey ones (pictured below with the kimono tee) are not very stretchy, and the least comfortable pair. The blue ones are nice and comfortable, but as my DH says, the polyester material looks like something from a cheap uniform.
Here's some pics of the blue ones:
You can't see the details well in these shots, but they have rear pockets, a back yoke and fake front pockets/yoke. They are great everyday pants, and with an elastic waist they are a really quick sew.
The pattern was great, I had some trouble fitting the pants, I was a size T at the waist, and V at the hips, I had to still take in another inch at the waist, and stretch the elastic at the back to prevent gaping (as per Dawn's review). I also had to add 2" to the calves, and 1.5" to the thighs as my legs are quite large. This explains why it's impossible to buy RTW pants that are not wide leg and belted.
The next set of photos is the Kirsten Kimono Tee from Maria Denmark (Free :) ), it was really quick to sew up, but I forgot to add a hem allowance, so it's shorter than I would have liked. The fabric is a good quality cotton knit from the Fabric Store, but was very off-grain, so although I had bought it to make a tank dress, I couldn't get two full length pieces out with the stripes staying horizontal. I made no alterations to the pattern, but instead of going by the measurements, I measured the flat pattern pieces, and used the size that gave me 1" of ease across the bust. I added a bias strip at the neckline, using the bias even though it's a knit to get the stripe pattern. I used steam-a-seam lite for the sleeve hems and bottom hem. Looking at the two outfit photos I can see that the kimono sleeve tee is definitely too short to wear with those pants, so I'll probably wear it with some of my more casual skirts.
