In the stash was a gorgeous piece of rayon challis that I wanted to turn into a lounge wear set. I love the Asian style print of the flowers on a dark background. I wanted something cool for summer, and in a fabric that was not knit. It is irritating that everything these days is knit fabrics in leisure wear. I don’t care for knits as they are too hot. I much prefer woven cotton or very light weight synthetics. Anyway, this fabric was perfect. It is lightweight, drapes beautifully, cool and comfortable. I got out my patterns and selected a pants pattern. I made the adjustment in the inseam for my petite height.

Next was to draft another bit onto the top of the front pieces as it had an inset waistband that I was eliminating. I’m ignoring the darts as well as the waist will have elastic.

I made adjustments to the back sides, and pinned to the fabric for cutting.

When the pattern pieces are cut out, I begin with sewing the inseam.

Serging finishes the raw edges while it sews the seams. Yes, you could sew with your regular sewing machine.

Lining up the side seams, I pin a bit and serge them.

I serged the top to finish the edges, then measured to fold over for a channel to hold the elastic.

I sew the channel with my regular sewing machine.

I inserted the elastic, and closed the opening by machine. I added a little bow to the front to make it easier to tell which was the front and which was the back.

I actually finished the pants some months ago.

When the longarm was out of commission, I pulled out the leftover pieces to figure out how to get the top pieces. The problem was the fabric left would not fit on any commercial pattern I owned. I pulled out a princess seam one, and it wouldn’t work either. The only thing to do was to start with a front and back just to get the necklines and armscye. The pieces are cut on the fold using pattern weights. The fabric doesn’t cover the pattern fully for length on one side of the fold. The edge is an uneven angle under the pattern pieces from cutting the pants.

The pattern runs off the fabric edges on both sides as well. I’ll need to clean up the sides, and plan inserts from the other scraps. I’m fitting it with a draping method. Those of you who do garment sewing will know what a pain this is to do it on yourself.

I began with sewing the shoulder seams, then put in the side inserts with the serger.

When the top was assembled, I finished the edges with a rolled edge on the serger. I had to recut the bottom as the front piece was shorter than the back. I gave it a gentle curve from the middle front to the middle back. Then, the edge was given a rolled edge.

Outfit complete and ready to wear this summer. The shoulder seam is long enough for the top to have a short cap sleeve.

It is nice to have this finished!! Do you like this kind of soft, woven fabric? Do you like to sew a garment now and then?