Another Plantain and Ottobre 02/2015, no. 14 loose-fit pants

Spring seems to have finally arrived in our beautiful mountains of South Carolina so Tom and I hiked the 1 mile Oconee Bell Nature Trail at our local Devil's Fork State Park this past weekend specifically to see the rare Oconee Bells in bloom.  This trail is very wooded and descends to a meandering creek where the moist area is always cool, so my new Plantain and Ottobre no. 14 pants kept me warm without suffocating me.

These endangered lovelies are what brought us into the woods this day.  They are one of the rarest wildflowers in America and are only found in certain locations in the Southern Appalachians.  We are blessed to have them thriving nearby.  If you are interested in seeing more photos, click here to take you to my South Carolina Photo Journal site.

The Plantain, a free .pdf pattern download, seems to be my go-to long sleeve tee pattern at the moment.  It's a 3/4 sleeve pattern that's easy to lengthen.

 I'm not sure it's the most flattering 'look' on me, but it's a quick sew with only 3 pattern pieces, serged seams and flat sewn-in sleeves.  I used my sewing machine's decorative stretch stitch again for hemming.  This technique seems to be working out well on knits.  Much better than a twin-needle stitched hemming which usually channeled and pulled the fabric.  Sewed the size 38 with 1/4" serged seams, raised the neckline 1/2" and finished the binding a little different this time.  Can't seem to find the tutorial I used, but with this stretchy knit fabric, I was afraid my neckline would be too stretchy so after I cut the binding pattern's piece, I hand-walked it around the neckline, added my seam allowances, subtracted @15% then cut for length.  This way you are in control of how your neckline will lay depending on the stretch of your knit.   Applied the neckline binding using Deepika's Narrow Binding on Necklines in Knit Fabric tutorial. It is the prettiest finish.  Fabric was purchased at Hancock's.

This also seems to be the season for Ottobre's 2/2015 issue elastic waist no. 14 Loose Fit pants.  Love 'em!  Sewed size 38, 1/4" serged seams, with my skinny leg version.... narrowed and lengthened 2 ".  No topstitching on these as the fabric was so heavy.  Also no full butt adjustment.  Yay!  After Christmas, when I got my Fitbit, I decided instead of modifying patterns to fit me, I needed to change a few areas of my body with healthier eating and exercise.  The Fitbit has been a great tool for me.

The pants are out of the best fabric for hiking that I bought at Wal-Mart for $2.50 yard.  Used 2 yards.  They are a thicker woven, with a little stretch and the inside is flannel.  So, on a chilly morning in the mountains, you are toasty warm and when bending down to take photos of pretty flowers your pants don't ride down in the back.  Double win!

Here I'm wearing the pants with a rtw hi/low top..... and not so sure I like the front of this top after seeing these photos.  Photographing outfits has been incredibly helpful in seeing myself as others see me.

The self-fabric in-seam pockets are made with the flannel side toward the pocket's interior to keep my hands warm.  It makes for a little bulky look at the sides, but that's okay as this pair of pants is more a knock-around/hiking pair of pants and not necessarily a go-to-town pair of pants.  The inside serged seams shows what happens when one doesn't have proper serger thread.  I kind of like this look though!  No one but me knows the 'insides' match my outfit too, right?!

With this Plantain being my 4th version and pants my 5th..... methinks I've met this month's Make a Garment a Month's challenge.  Definitely 'more'!  :)

And after our hike, my husband and I enjoyed a thermos of hot coffee sitting on these rocks looking out over Lake Jocassee.

My sweet husband, who is not at all keen about cameras, took these photos of me on the trail.
Happy Sewing Everyone!