This is my last blog post (for now) about the Sew Beautiful book release from Kennis Wong of Itch to Stitch. When Kennis had the tester call for this pattern, it was not something I was interested in making. The Fortuna pants and shorts were a jogger style pant and I NEVER wore joggers. I had made 4 pairs previously from 2 other designers and they were just not something I normally wore. I typically only wore them in the fall and winter when I was working in the yard.
Then the Pandemic happened. Since I have been working from home daily since March 12th, I've made a point to try to be more active. I wear workout clothing daily and go for a walk at lunch and when I get off work in the afternoon. So my daily wardrobe has been a tank or t-shirt with leggings and a cardigan. Now that it's getting cooler, I have been wearing more joggers with my t-shirts and cardigans.
I have also started to listen to audio books as I walk and find it\s nice to have a pocket to slip my phone into as I walk. I tend to drop my phone a lot if I'm holding it as I walk. The pockets of the Fortuna joggers are really nice with a woven detail. I feel like the woven edge of the pocket allows it to keep a great shape and lay nice and flat when worn.
I found that the leg of the Fortuna joggers were pretty slim and needed to do a full thigh adjustment on them to get the intended fit. I had to do a very generous adjustment and was worried that my crotch would end up too baggy and need more fit adjustments. So I didn't pick one of my favorite fabrics when making these Fortunas.
I used an athletic french terry that I bought a few years ago. When I received this fabric, I immediately did not like it. The terry side is very microfiber like and it is extremely clingy and staticky. I have only worn these once all day so far and I am hoping that after a few wear/wash cycles that the feeling goes away. They don't feel bad on when I'm wearing them, but you can see in my photos that the fabric is clingy. They also seemed to collect every bit of thread in the wash.
One of my favorite places to walk at lunch is around the lake in my neighborhood. It is less than 500 feet from my house and if I really hoof it, I can get all the way around and back home in just under 30 minutes. I don't walk here daily because some days my rheumatoid arthritis just says "just be happy you can walk today". I save the lake for those days when I feel really great.
The other perk of the pandemic and working from home is that I am enjoying wearing graphic t-shirts. I owned about 6 t-shirts prior to the pandemic. I am not joking. I never wore t-shirts. The few t-shirts I had I wore to workout in, and frankly - they were looking really awful. I have had fun buying new t-shirts. I have fallen in love with Fabulously Feminist t-shirts. They have amazing messages that really resonate with me. This one especially - it states "Don't be Good Be Defiant". Those that know me would probably agree.
The Fortuna Pants & Shorts also have a wide leg pant option that I have cut out, but hadn't sewn at the time of this blog. I am making them for a blog post for Minerva and will post my photos on Instagram. I am prepping to make another jogger pair with a fleece backed grey athletic knit and I'm debating on fabric to use on the pockets.
The Sew Beautiful book is currently at preorder for release on December 8th. This is a great gift for a sewist or to yourself.
Included in the book:
- Mornington Top & Dress
- Taktsang Dolman Wrap
- Prague Top & Dress
- Carlsbad Cardigan
- Fortuna Pants and Shorts
- Castlepoint Skirt
- Palermo Top & Dress
- Orosi Top & Dress
The book is available as a softcover book with printed patterns that are nested (tracing will be needed) and in a digital (ebook) version with the patterns available in A4, letter, and A0 versions for printing. The book is available at the retailers below.
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