My next move

Having completed the black pants, I knew I should get back to sewing decorative pillow covers for my couch, but I just couldn't stomach that quite yet. (What is my problem with home dec sewing?) Instead, I started making a top heavily inspired by this one from Anthropologie.



It's all done, except I need to find buttons for the little sleeve tabs. Mine has raglan sleeves and is made from a larger striped, thicker knit, but other than that, yeah, I ripped it off. It's just a marriage of all my favorite things: stripes, cowl, 3/4 sleeves. Plus, I like the little shirttail hem.

I did want to answer Emily's question from my black pants post:

How did you do the lining in the pants??? Especially around the zipper?

This pants pattern doesn't have pattern pieces or instructions for lining. I'll try to explain the best I can since I didn't take any pictures. To cut the lining, I just used the regular pants pattern pieces, but you have to make sure on the front piece, you cut the fabric straight up at the pockets instead of how it's drafted for front pockets. To assemble, stitch the inseams first, then the crotch seam, leaving open where it will attach to the zipper. Next, sew the outer leg seams and then put the lining in the pants, wrong sides together, and baste the top edges together. Treat the pants and lining as one when adding the waistband. The final step is to hand-sew the lining around the zipper. There's probably an easier way to do this (not using the hand sewing), but it only takes a couple of minutes and looks nice. Next time I line some pants, I'll take a couple of pics.

I used nude lining since that's what I had on hand. I would have preferred black, but not enough to get my butt in the car and go buy some!