I made some new pants. As you can see, Griswald had to get in on the photoshoot action. He does this EVERY time I try to lay something out to take a picture of it. Jewelry, clothes, tchotchkes, you name it, if it is an inanimate object in the house, he will try to put his butt on it.
Detail shots, with feline assistance.
I used an irridescent embroidery floss for the topstitching. It is some kind of plastic thread, which glitters in rainbow colors. I wound it up on a bobbin (the embroidery threa originally came on a little card) and doubled it up through the needle with a strand of ordinary black cotton thread, and did the topstitching. I zig-zag appliqued the little flowers on, and used buttons for the centers on two of them.
These pants are a back-zip style, modified from a 1973 Simplicity pattern. I un-belled the bottoms, raised the waist 1″ and added pockets. The original pattern was the dead simplest pair of pants on the planet. No pockets, faced waist, back zip. I can't stand pants without pockets, so I put some damn pockets on the pants. I like the back zip, however. It makes a smooth line under tunic tops and is really flattering to my butt. They're dart-fitted in back, and that's pretty much the best style for me. I've got kind of a big butt and a small torso, and if there are no darts, or too shallow of darts in the back waist of the pants, I end up with a heinous waistband gap.
I'm in the process of making a skirt for myself. It's A-line, to-the-knee, black cotton twill, with self-fabric applique flowers. Under the flowers, I'm going to have circles of tulle which will stick out around the outside of the flowers, to create a kind of textured effect. I'm going to applique the flowers down with colored thread–probably red, orange, and yellow. Of course, when it is finished, I will post some pictures.