The Laundry

October 26, 2023

This is kind of a dual email this week on a pattern that I'm doing a review on, and also how to launder.  
 

Here's the video, but there are some things that I refer to in the video that you'll want to know.  

My recipe for laundry soap.  This has been out there for decades, but I like this because I know exactly what's in it and where I can and can't use it.  For one thing it doesn't have any chlorine in it so I can use it on colors too (and I do with success).  It's also fairly gentle without some of the more harsh chemicals you might see in other detergents.

This soap is fairly straightforward, and some of the ingredients won't matter on some of your stains and clothes and some will.  For example, Sodium is excellent and pulling out greasy spots - particularly animal grease from a meal, oil while cooking, but also from our own bodies.  It does this without harming the fibers too much.  

I'm a great fan of soaking garments and fabrics to get stains removed rather than raking them across a board or rubbing the fabrics together.  This causes more wear and tear on the fabric that probably doesn't do that much good for the damage that's being done to the fabric.  

Also the lavendar scent is nice, but it's not too much and it's certainly not offensive.  As a matter of fact, the scent pretty much dissipates in the dryer if you do dry your clothes.  

Additionally this doesn't contain a chlorine bleach.  Chlorine can literally make silk disappear.  As a matter of fact, that's a basic test for silk fiber, if you put it in chlorine bleach overnight, and nothing's there the next morning, it's silk!  So imagine what it's doing to cotton, linen or any other fiber.  There's damage being done and although it's a favorite for white sheets, I simply don't use it on mine and they last so much longer.  I'd rather soak my sheets overnight and get them as clean.  

Finally, the dryer.  That heat in the dryer can kill your knits, and it plays havoc with your elastic.  It will dry out your elastic sooner and cause it to crack and have no more stretch at all.  The same thing happens with Lycra, and once your Lycra (or Elastane or Spandex - they are all the same stuff), dries out and cracks, your stretch is gone and the garment is toast.  You can prolong the life of these garments by hanging them to dry, and I can't tell you how much better they look when they have not been through the dryer.  

Even if I'm not sure what the content of my fabric is, keeping it out of the dryer is a better way to treat your clothes.  Aside from the agitation that the clothes receive in the washing cycle, at least saving them from the dryer, will keep them in much better condition longer.  

Most of the time, an overnight hang up is enough to air out any odor and wrinkles in the garment and it's ready for another wearing.  Sometimes your clothing may require a spot treatment, which you can use a soapy Zote bar, or Fels Naptha Bar (for petroleum oils, like asphalt) or an oxygen bleach like Oxi-Clean.  For animal oils and grease, baking soda is a wonder with 4 parts soda to 1 part Dawn dishwashing liquid - soak overnight and run through a cycle in the washing machine.  Hang to dry and it can look like new.  

The Pattern

This is the Sailor Sue Pants Pattern from Style Arc.

Here's the pattern on me and shows why I like this so much.

The bottom line is the hang and the drape of this pant, which is due to the cut of the pattern.  This hang on this pant is so cool right out of the envelope, that I can hardly stand it.  

I'm also getting tired of the skinny pant and the leggings.  It's a great look but I'm tired of it, and the fuller pant looks more sophisticated right now.  

Now the four basic steps to fitting a knit pant:

1. Cut the pant with a 4" to 6" added to the waist line, according to you hip measurement and add about 1" to that.  Sew the pant up - side seam, inseam and crotch seam.
2. Crotch Height:  Try on the pant with underwear or hose or something to mark your waist.  pull the pant till you get to the right inseam height (this is a nice way of saying it gets to a comfortable height for the crotch.  This is also referred to as the rise of the pant).  
3. Hang Correction: Now that you have this height set, tilt the pants forward and backward while standing sideways in the mirror and when you have a straight and unwrinkled hang (it's straight and looks straight on your body) mark that on Center Front and Center Back.  Now check your side to side - bowled or splayed legs.  This will tell you if you need to lift or lower your side seams.  
4. Determine your hem length which can be anything from the Bespoke English over-drape of the cuffed break, to a more moderate half break.  Remember Truman was a haberdasher before he was president.

I love this picture with two very distinguished dressers showing their distinct styles.  The more moderate half break of the Truman haberdasher style, compared with the grandeur of the cuffed, double-break of the bespoke Englishman.  

I think the overdone double-break is a little much, and a slight break on a flat is certainly handsome.  But a break on a heel or raised hem, is too much.  

You can see this has no break and part of what I love with these boots with a heel about this pant is that no break on it.  

Here's the inspiration in all this, and although Amal Clooney has legs from here to the moon, that's not me, but it can be with a boot, with a little heel, and this nicer longer pant.  

Again, this has a slightly different wider cut than the skinny pant and this is part of what's so appealing to this pant.  It's all about the hang, and the cut on this pant lends itself to an excellent hang.  This means you have to be in the 55% to 65% stretch range for this ponte to work.  I like the stability of the ponte for this, but getting a ponte in that 55% to 65% stretch range is hard, but not impossible.  Vogue Fabrics Store in Chicago (and search for Sofia Ponte) has some great choice, and Gorgeous Fabrics has a killer herringbone that is in the perfect stretch range for this.  That herringbone is about as classic as you can get and this pant in that herringbone would be something you can wear with anything.  

Try these pants for something a little different.  And try hanging and airing out your clothing overnight before sending things to the cleaners.  A spot can be taken out sometimes by just soaking in water - blood stains respond very well to this.  
 

Be as gentle on your clothes as you can and they can last for decades.  

The SewingArtistry Resource Library is designed to contain information to not only make your sewing better, but to aid in you fitting and flattering your shape, size and style.  Check it out. 

Look for future classes coming in 2024
The Core Pattern Shirt, (one of my favorites for woven core pattern that you can make into a myriad of different garments), 
Basic Knit Top (core pattern class for knit basic tops, shells, tees, dresses, and tunics)
 

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