Pinstriped Montrose Top + Full Legged Pants

I started out making just a pair of pants to wear with my black Cashmerette Concord Tee. Then I realized I had enough fabric left over to make another Montrose top so this is what I ended up making ~

The fabric is a linen/cotton blend that was one of the five pieces I bought from Fabric Mart during Sew Camp. I got four yards of it. I originally purchased it thinking that I would make a flowy waisted shirtdress. Well since I've sworn off waisted shirtdresses, I had to come up with another plan. These garments ended up being my "other plan."

As I stated above the idea for the pants was first. Then came the top, but for this post, I'm going to discuss the top first.

Montrose Top ~
This version is made with the pattern length added back to the pattern pieces and the two-piece gathered back. Also the stripes were manipulated to make it with some black ribbon added to make the black pinstripes pop.

I also changed up the sleeves, cause why not?  I cut the sleeve pattern piece into two pieces.  Primarily because the sleeves were cut from fabric scraps after the pants and top body were cut out.

- I added a 5/8" seam allowance and sewed the sleeve pieces together - 2" down from the sleeve cap.
- Pressed open and then topstitched
- Added the 2" ribbon to the top of the sleeve
- After the top was finished and paired with the pants, I realized that I needed to add more of the black ribbon from the neckline to the bottom of the top to finish the top off.

- Rounded the edges off the end of the ribbons to finish
  

Supplies ~
2" black grosgrain ribbon from Joyce Trimmings
1.5" black grosgrain ribbon from Joyce Trimmings

I really like the black trim on the top. It adds something to the top and the black trim ties it to the bottoms.

The last thing is the darts are a little low on the top.  I didn't notice it in the first version of my Montrose because the lace hid the details. I will change the angle of the darts for the next version - because there will be more of these!

My TNT Pants ~
I'm describing these as full legged because I added some width to the sides of my TNT pants pattern to get a fuller leg but not so full that they are palazzo pants...but they are WIDE! 

I also made a change to my back pants crotch area based upon an alteration that I saw on EricaB's blog here. I've made a few changes to my pants pattern over the years as well as totally abandoning it when I lost the 48 lbs 3 years ago.  As with all things I'm back up 15-20 lbs., depending upon the day, so I'm finding it's easier to alter my TNT pants pattern again. 

Also in all honesty, the other alterations I'd made from various other sources, weren't working. Maybe I was misinterpreting the alterations...maybe it wasn't the right alteration for me...but since I'm always trying to improve my craft, I thought I would try Erica's alteration. 

The final changes to these is I added the same ribbon from the top's sleeve hems, down the sides of the pants.  Using a 2" ribbon with 1/2" seams on both sides so that I was adding an inch to both sides of the pants.

I took 1" of width out of the inner legs from 10" below the crotch because they were a little wider than I wanted them to be.  The waistline is finished with the Japanese elastic I like and found at Pacific Trimmings, as well as, Shams brought me some back from her trip to Japan. Sewing friends are the best!

Finally, when I started constructing the two pieces I thought they would work well together but I look like I'm wearing pjs when the two pieces are together.  So, they will be worn separately.

A few pictures ~

Wearability Factor ~
After these were made, I was wondering if I would actually wear the wide legged pants in the heat. However, we got a couple of days of warm weather that wasn't hot, humid and stifling. This was a great outfit to wear then. The back crotch alteration worked like it was supposed to and my pants cover my backside when I sit down now.  The pants were comfortable and I got a couple of compliments on them! 

I'm glad that I made both pieces. Both will get some wear this summer! I'm on a tear though and want to add a few more pairs of pants to my summer wardrobe...so look for more of them on the blog soon.

...as always more later!