Sorry, more pics of me and my moon tan legs!

 I had to put that title, as I even I didn't know how white my legs were until I saw these! Can you tell I don't sun bake? At least I have a low chance of skin cancer on my legs teehee

My goal for this year (not a resolution, just a little goal) is to make more of my work wardrobe. I mainly wear pants and tee shirts, in winter with cardigans, and of course the skirts I made. But I wanted much more handmade work clothes that bought! So this post is to show off my three tee shirts I made, and the pants I am now living in!

These are the fabrics "Santa" put under the tree from Rathdowne Fabrics (well, actually, I did, and they weren't wrapped and I paid for them. Thanks anyway, Santa!) They were all different weights which made it interesting! I didn't end doing a production line because of that, but they were still pretty quick.

This is the pattern.... again!

This is a slightly 'slinky' fabric, ie I think it has a fair bit of polyester in it. Little Miss told me it was swimsuit fabric, but definitely not like the bathers I made her! I was worried the higher amount of polyester would make it a bit smelly at the end of a sweaty day, but I wore it to work all day and it's fine! And very comfortable. I left the waistband cuff at the bottom for this one, and love the sleeve cuffs, they are just so comfortable! Oh, and the fabric was quite cheap as it was a remnant.

 

The 2nd one is a thick cotton Lycra, about $10 a metre, I may have gotten a metre and a half, I cant remember. This fabric is the bomb! So spongy and comfy, and even on the hot day Monday I was cooool as a cucumber! The other reason these fit so well is I've lost a bit of weight and went down a size on the tee, so they fit a lot better I've realised!

  

And finally a black on- much batter than the one here, the fabric in the last one was too thin and had holes in the armpits from the needle along the seam. This is a touch thinner than the white cotton Lycra, still soft and lovely though. I left the waistband off this one (got lazy by the end) and used the twin needle for the hem; if it's not as comfy when wearing, I'll add the waistband back on.

Lookit that fit! My next job is new shorts, I'm sick of the sight and the wearing of these ones! But they were op shopped for a few dollars and have lasted a few years, so I shouldn't complain!

Tips for sewing with Lycra? Overlocker! (or serger). The top shiny fabric I still sewed the seams on the machine then overlocked with 4 threads; knowing how the last one got holes and the wear and tear I hope to get out of these, I didn't think I could reinforce the seams enough! And practice. We all fear something before we try it, then it's lots of practice, and being prepared to chuck out the fails!  I expect many more fails as I learn all about sewing stretch fabric!

Oh, a stretch needle too is great.

I also ran up some new pants from this pattern (which was half price at the last Spotlight sale = $2.50) and some of the ex-curtain fabric I was gifted from my daughters school (don't think I blogged that- I was told to 'take what I want' and ended up with about 10mts! It was going in the bin after all....)

They are The. Best. Pants! Elastic waisted, so no stressing your fly is undone all day! Yes, I have entered the 'stretch oant' stage of my life I think...letting it all hang out!

Outfit one TICK