Spool River

Ahoy! Several weeks ago, Instagram friends from across the globe- @suestoney @sewing_in_spain - asked me to co-host the “Make a Garment a Month” (MAGAM) sewing challenge on Instagram in April. No need to ask twice- it’s been a long and socially isolating winter, and I was more than ready for some sewing camaraderie. And even though I’m more than used to conducting business and socializing online this year- it was a real thrill to have a Zoom meeting with Suzy and Sue over three continents: Europe, Australia and North America. The guest host gets to pick the prompt for the monthly sewing challenge, and since my sewing daydreams were most recently filled with nautical style, I pitched April Ahoy as a theme.

I have a longstanding crush on nautical style. Maybe it was all those J. Crew mail order catalogs I used to get in the 1980’s where everyone looked so healthy, fresh and happy. Nautical looks are timeless and suit everyone- they are gender and age neutral. I love, love, love striped tops (and striped dresses), boat neck styles, pea coats, brass buttons- anything in the color navy! When I was in high school, I actually owned a full on navy sailor dress complete with a white sailor style collar and red neck tie. My long-time maritime romance is puzzling – as I am a lifelong resident of Minnesota- smack dab in the middle of the continent.

For my nautical project I made the Pauline and Alice Romero sailor style trousers which I’ve made before - and I blogged about here. I always felt they were a little snug and I wanted to give the pattern another try to get a better fit.

There’s more than a few theories out there about the evolution of the wide legged sailor pant. Some say the wide leg could be easily rolled up so feet and ankles were free from getting tangled while working on the rigging of sailing ships. Another theory is that rolling the pant prevents it from getting wet when swabbing the deck. One actual, practical use of the pants is as a life saving device. If you have to abandon ship or fall overboard, you can easily remove the wide leg trouser, tie the legs in a knot and inflate the trousers with air. Making pants into a flotation device is something I actually practiced in a water safety class when I was young.

Back to my pants project. I used a twill fabric which had some stretch that I purchased a while back from the Fabric Store. I cut a straight size 40. Then, I carefully followed the excellent instructions for adjusting for a full backside provided by Colette- here

Armed with colored pencils and a ruler- it was pretty straightforward to add some leeway to portside!

And I achieved a ship shape fit after the adjustments!

To finish, I scoured my button collection and came up with almost enough brass buttons for the pants- there is one orphan button- still nautical though.

I am super pleased with my trousers- but the best aspect of this project by far- was the fraternizing fun- especially all of the nautical puns -shared with co-captains Suzy and Sue.

The Fennel Fanny Pack by Sarah Kirsten is a charming, functional little pouch that I have been eyeing on social media, and my middle daughter requested I make for her at least a year ago. It takes extra effort and motivation for me to tackle sewing projects that are not garments. A great Christmas gift idea is a pretty good motivator, so in December, I decided to go big and make the fennel fanny pack for all of the young adult women in my family. I sewed three in succession, and – embarrassingly- I made more than one major blunder while constructing each and every single one. I am not adverse to unpicking a seam, but I mortified myself for the cavalcade of mistakes on each of them. I eventually got them all done and delivered to everyone’s delight. You would think that would be end of story. But, still smarting from my mistakes, I decided to try this pattern again. It is January and dull, and I broke my arm and it’s hard to try on clothes and the world news is dismal or worse. So, I challenged myself to make a fourth fanny pack without having to rip out any seams. The challenge reward is a fanny pack for myself which would be incredibly useful in my present one arm state.

Challenge results- I had to rip out a few stitches here and there- but not total seams- as was the case in the first three makes. So, I consider that a win. The real win, however, is a fabulous little fanny pack for me. Here are my recommendations for mistake free fennels.

I used lovely Rifle Paper Co. cotton linen canvas fabric from Lakes Makerie for the exterior and a quilting weight cotton for the lining. I interfaced all pieces with Pellon light-weight sew in interfacing, and I ordered this webbing clasp package. I also used Wrights double fold seam binding .25 inch wide.

Tip number one to make assembly easier- use regular nylon zippers in the 7 and 12 inch lengths recommended by the pattern. It’s just plain easier measuring and constructing and safer for your sewing machine needle.

Number two and most important- read and follow the instructions. My bad, but sometimes I get ahead of myself in sewing or decide I should do things in a different order- the hazard of being a long time sewist and thinking I know what’s going on. Well, with this sweet little pack, I actually didn’t fully understand the construction, so I should have simply FOLLOWED THE INSTRUCTIONS. The instructions and diagrams are very good, thorough and clear. I understand some people have trouble with diagrams in two dimensions. SewNorth has a good tutorial here with photos to accompany all the steps. This is a good resource for those who are more visual learners.

Number 3- or where I previously screwed up. If you are using a print, double check to make sure your print and zip openings line up directionally- you want both zips to start on the same side of the pack. I am right handed so I determined the zips would start on the left when wearing the pouch.

Number 4- Measure accurately and use the 3/8 seam allowance as directed for all seams. However, for the zipper installation, I used a ¼ inch seam allowance. That seemed to leave the right amount of zipper exposed and worked best with overall fit.

Be sure to clip the corners on the main panels- step 21- this of course is essential for fit.

Number 5- Add the binding after the main panel is added- after step #22. This is the only time I strayed from the order in the instructions. It is worth it to wrestle with the bias binding even though it is a struggle. It might be worthwhile to make a wider binding- say 3/8 inch. If you are going with pre-packaged, the .25 inch narrow binding is the most appropriate size. I trimmed the seams a bit especially the corners.