Loux shot at Victoria Baths, Manchester

More specifically meet front woman Jordan, who I first met up with last summer to begin the process of making her Wes Anderson inspired colour palette come to life (in clothing form). The vision and styling were pretty clear from the start - an cool, slightly androgynous and exaggerated silhouette, offset by a selection of well paired and carefully considered colours.

Jordan - Loux

I drew from my already existing pattern collection (vintage and present day) plus a couple of charity shop patterns that Jordan sourced. By the time the shoot came round in early February, I'd managed to sew up a capsule wardrobe of two tops, two pairs of culottes, a pair of trousers (my very first fly front ever - talk about nerve wracking!) and a vintage shirt - phew!

Loux

The specifics:

Papercut Patterns Fall Turtleneck x2
Forever a favourite pattern of mine, we made this up twice to get the exact colour spot on. The fabrics are from Minerva and Fabworks.

Papercut Patterns Rise Turtleneck x2 and culottes (just seen)

B6178 Culottes x2
I've blogged my love for this Butterick pattern previously here. We made these up twice to get a better fit around the hips and waist, and the 2nd pair turned out just perfect! The fabrics were both super cheap, draping, emerald greens from Bombay Stores.

Vintage New Look 6316 blouse
This was one of Jordan's pattern picks, sourced in a charity shop; a boxy, retro blouse (minus the shoulder pads) with some neat tucks and detailing. It's made up in a salmon pink cotton from Fabworks, which makes quite a bold statement in the video.

Vintage New Look 6316

This was my first attempt at this 90s magazine pattern and I loved the results so much that I went and made my own pair! They're made up in the perfect weight deep blue/green cotton drill from Fabworks.

My first ever fly front fastening!

Behind the scenes:
I went along to see the video being shot at the beautiful Victoria Baths in Manchester. Here are a few behind the scenes shots that were too lovely not to share:

Jane by Ready to Sew

This is my first experience with Ready to Sew patterns, and I have to say, I'm really impressed. The PDF is layered so you can select the sizes you'd like to print - one of the things I really love with about most Named patterns. Something that I haven't come across before but really liked, were the click-through links in the PDF, leading to further instructions and tutorials - I didn't need to use them, but it does make the pattern feel that extra bit user friendly.

Jane by Ready to Sew

Inspecting that amazing crossover front!

The sizing threw me a little as I found that my measurements fell across 3 different sizes, which is a bit unusual for me. I recently bought my first pattern from another French pattern house, DP Studio, and similarly fell across a few sizes, but upon comparing them both with standard European sizing, I found little difference. Maybe it's just me (or maybe I've fallen into a habit of using patterns that fit me pretty well straight from the off)? Anyway the Jane blouse is loose fitting in design and I was feeling too lazy for grading, so I went for the a straight size 42.

The pattern piece for the main body of the blouse (which forms the front and back) is very large and unusually shaped, but it was at least a bit kinder to my limited floor space than cutting the V9186. The cutting layout indicates which edges need overlocking before you begin sewing, which I quite liked. Although it felt like extra prep at the time, it meant I could speed along with the making without having to shift between 2 different machines.

Worn with a shortened version of this skirt from wayyyy back, and of course, Docs.

I found the simplicity of constructing the draped crossover from one big pattern piece totally mind blowing! Essentially, you just make very long button plackets down the two curved edges, and these form both the plackets and the hem of the blouse once you've twisted it and the centre back seam is sewn. The instructions are easy to follow, which is lucky as I would've been totally clueless otherwise.

Back view

I used a textured, light-ish crepe with a slight stretch from Samuel Taylors in Leeds, originally bought for a second Ralph Pink Sahara Shirt. I realised it would be the perfect weight to get an amazing drape through the crossover front of the Jane, so it got bumped to the top of the pile. (Note: the fabric has to be the same on the right and wrong side, as the twist means you see both on the outside of the garment.)

Close up of fabric and amazing Textile Garden buttons

My only critique of the pattern is that it doesn't explicitly say to apply the interfacing (although on looking back, the illustrations do show to do it). I accidentally bypassed interfacing my button placket, which made my button hole sewing a little trickier than it should have been. Once I'd managed them though, I couldn't help but use these amazing contrast buttons from Textile Garden, (who cares if they're actually a little too big for the narrow placket?!). I'd go as far as saying they totally make the blouse.

Just finished Jane hanging at home

Had to get a sleeves down shot - they're a decent length if anyone was wondering!

In all, the Jane blouse was a really enjoyable project to work on, and I still can't quite believe how quickly it all came together! It's a little looser and boxier than I imagined, and I had worried whether the lightly gathered in sleeves stuck out a bit as the shoulder is slightly dropped, but some careful pressing sorted this out.

Thank you Sara, as ever, for the fab pictures

I'm looking forward to seeing how I can fit the finished Jane in with the rest of my wardrobe, and I'd like to try a second version in a mid weight plain crepe (I'm thinking khaki)... I'd definitely recommend!

My first 'proper' trousers

This is only my second attempt at a pair of 'proper trousers', the first being for someone else using the same pattern - for a project I can't wait to tell you about, hopefully soon! After the initial fear of the fly-front, I'd been surprised at how easily they came together, and loved the finished pair so much that I wanted my own version. The pattern is a pretty retro magazine pull out from June 1993's Me Magazine, and is a part of a wider collection that I was very lucky to inherit from my former school textiles teacher when she moved schools last year!

Me Magazine June 1993

Me Magazine June 1993

And here's a bit of Pinterest trouser inspiration which also spurred me on to make up the pattern!

Pinterest trouser inspiration

I used a soft, grey, poly/cotton mix from Lucky Fashions in Dewsbury, purchased at last week's fab #sewdowndewsbury meet up. If you're ever in the area, I'd recommend checking it out - they had a great selection of fabrics, loads of crepes (my favourite!), and the prices were really good too. This fabric was only £4.40p/m and has the feel of a lighter-weight wool - perfect for a pair of trousers to take me into spring!

Roomy legs! A different silhouette for me

Just like my until-recent-aversion to shirt making techniques (tackled with the Ralph Pink Sahara Shirt and the V9186), I'm finding that some techniques definitely aren't as hard as I've built them up to be! The slanted pockets were fun and simple to construct, and along with the front tucks, they create a great shape. And the fly-front was pretty straight forward, even with project instructions minimal enough to fit on one side of A4!

Fly fastening, and front detail

Showing off my Docs and socks

You may notice on some of these pictures that the waistband looks a little creased at the front, something which seems to happen often to my handmades with wear. I know that I've caused this in part by stitching the bar of my hook and bar fastening a bit further over than it should naturally sit (to try and get the waist to fit a little closer) but I wondered if it could be the interfacing? I used a mid-weight interfacing, but would something a bit heavier prevent this? Advice welcome!

Back view - excuse the funny bum rumples - the result of a windy day!

I skipped my original plan of turn-up legs after an unsuccessful attempt, and cropped them at (what I consider to be) a more fashionable, awkward-ankle-flashing length. I even bought myself some fancy socks now that I have the opportunity to show them off! The trousers seem to pair well with my fairly sizeable collection of Rise/Fall Turtlenecks, and the length sits nicely with my black pointed ankle boots too - a whole new world of wardrobe possibilities has been opened!

...and I can do a whole new range of poses!

Thank you Sara for braving the wind with me to take pictures (again!)

It might be unlikely, but if you ever come across the pattern I'd definitely recommend it! I know I'll be using it many times more now I'm a fully fledged trouser maker! This might just be the start of something...Can anyone else recommend their favourite trouser pattern?