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!





  

My Cashmerette Montrose Top

Originally I made this top to go with the shorter Simplicity wrap skirt which is coming to the blog soon.  After completing the top and trying it on with the skirt, I just looked like a big ole box.  Not the look I was going for.  When I put it on with a pair of jeans and a camisole it worked. The problem is that I don't wear jeans in the summer...AT...ALL!

Supply Info ~
2 yards of lace embroidered fabric from Metro Textiles purchased in 2014
1/4 yard of lace from the collection
1/4" purchased bias binding
1/8" white ribbon

Construction Info ~
For this Montrose top, I cut a size 24 right out of the envelope. I made two changes to the pattern.  One - I shortened the top at the lengthen/shorten lines. It's because I want it to hit the top of my skirt(s).  The second change was to the sleeves. I no longer just have fat biceps, I have fat upper arms.  So I used the wide bicep sleeve and instead of cutting it as the pattern suggests, I straightened the sleeve down to the elbow length line on both sides.

(Used the dark background to adequately showcase the fabric)

I used a size 70 needle to sew this top. The straight stitch foot and plate on my sewing machine and a very small stitch so that I was laying more thread in the seamlines.  This was necessary due to all of the lace in the fabric.

Since the fabric was so delicate and sheer, I added 1/8" ribbon trim to some of the openings. It just struck me that the fabric was sheerer than I wanted it to be.  Of course I didn't have any ribbon trim on hand so I had to make a Michaels run to purchase some. BTW I HATE that! LOL! I'm pretty anal about having all of my supplies together before starting a project.

Adding the ribbon took time because I had to thread it through all the openings and that got boring quickly...so I added days to the construction of this essentially very easy to sew top. While the top pattern comes with a binding pattern piece, I used purchased double fold bias tape that was 1/4" wide. As an aside, this is from the collection and has a date of 1986 on it. Dayum that's old!

The sleeves were cut from a separate piece of lace from the collection that I honestly have no idea where it's from since I've cut on it before. It will go back on the shelves to wait it's turn to be an accent on a future garment since there is about a yard and a half left.

BTW, I didn't use the back loop and button closing. Gaylen made a version of this and when we were talking about it, she said she could put hers on without it...so I left it off too. She was right...my neckline ended up being very deep and the top slips on and off easily.

The final aspect of the project was to add the lace that bound the fabric to the hem of the top. Again a fiddly piece that took time but adds so much to the top. I think the finished project was worth all of the extra effort though.

A few pics ~

Wearing the top with a linen skirt that I made 

almost two decades ago!

Conclusion ~
I liked this top especially after I paired it with the right bottom. I will be adding more of these to my wardrobe because as usual Cashmerette Patterns fit all of my wardrobe needs.

Up next on the blog will be the Simplicity Wrap Skirts.

...as always more later!