Ah, Flint and Rowan. They go together like peas and carrots, don’t they? I’ve made both before – Flint pants here and Flint shorts here. Rowan was more recent and a stretched a bit further than the original pattern into a swimsuit.
I love my past Flints but unfortunately they’re a bit big now. And an upcoming holiday is the perfect reason to sew another pair right? This time from sweet drapey tencel that I picked up at Spotlight. The Rowan body suit is lovely soft Timeless Treasure cotton jersey from fabric.com.
I went for the tie version on the Flints and couldn’t help but to brighten the inside a touch with a vintage fabric covered button (I pick these up from op shops, but they are often just singles, which is perfect for this use) and some rayon off cuts. The rayon is the right weight for lining the tencel. I think quilting cotton would have been too heavy.
The closure on the Flints is pretty magic. It does your head in a little bit while you’re sewing them, but the instructions are really great and you just have to trust the process. There isn’t a zip, you just get into these bad boys by opening the pocket. Superb.
The Rowan bodysuit has nice details at the closure too. There’s not a fancy way to say it, but at the crotch. But who doesn’t love a fancy crotch? The facing pieces can be cut from just about anything. I used some soft lawn scraps I had. It’s a nice detail. Oh and I used those old metal snaps because I don’t have a snap press, which would obviously look much more professional. Still, they do the job and I can’t feel them at all when I’m wearing it.
So size wise the Rowan is perfect (straight large) but the Flints aren’t. To be honest, my body has changed a fair bit over the past few months and I’m still getting used to it. It seems it doesn’t matter if it’s weight loss or gain – it can still feel like your body isn’t quite yours when it changes. I made the straight medium in the Flints because I went by my waist measurement. I thought there would be enough ease in the hips and thighs but I really should have graded out to the large. My waist seems to be about a size different to the rest of me at the moment and I’m not really used to my new proportions yet.
They’re not as swingy as I’d like, but they’re still wearable. And who knows, my hips could catch up to my waist eventually. One can only hope. But even if they don’t, that’s fine too.
I know there’s a few sewists who’ve eliminated those front pleats, but I actually quite like them. They bring out my inner 80s mum chic.
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Aw yeah. I love me a fancy crotch! 😛
I hear you on the weight shift being a bit disconcerting. Those proportional changes really throw me. It’s odd how used we get to our bodies how they are, even though often it doesn’t feel like it. But then they change and hey! Who authorised this! I wasn’t consulted! Oh well, we get used to it again next time. These days I try to take it as a reminder that our bodies are pretty arbitrary, really, and there’s something to like about them however they are. Mind you, I get pretty tired of all the body posi rahrah. Some days I just don’t love my body, and that’s fine. I try not to hate on it, but it’s just a body, you know? It does its thing and it gets me around, but I don’t have to be obsessed with how great it is to be ok with it. We get along fine these days, my body and me, but we’re more like friendly work colleagues than best mates, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
So anyway, that’s my thesis on my own body, whoops! Sorry if I got too full on. While I’m rambling I’ll also say that I wanted to comment on your post where you mentioned being told by the CSC that you ‘aren’t curvy enough’. That CSC post was how I found your blog and I’m thrilled that I did, and I’m so so fucking over people policing groups that are about, as much as anything, how it feels to be in ones own shoes. I mean, it’s important for us near the straight sizes to acknowledge that being larger than that is a whole nother ballgame of drafting and grading etc, and to see the privileges that we do have. But it’s also ok for us to take up room on the internet. Crikey. Anyway I meant to comment that on the actual post about it but I do most of my reading on my phone and it’s too annoying so I kept forgetting, so here is my very belated and not particularly relevant support.
So I guess I’ll cap this ramble off with saying, bummer about the fit issues, but from the photos they look really excellent on you – and that whole outfit together is just fab.
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THANK YOU! Thank you, thank you, thank you! For taking the time to type all that (especially on a phone!). You’re so right and that is how I feel a lot of the time. We’re pretty fluid, aren’t we? Shit changes all the bloody time.
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I think the challenge is to remember that, because at least for me my tendency is to assume that how things are now is somehow real and true and immutable. But that is just not how the world works, no matter how the human brain likes to pretend it is! Being mentally flexible is always a challenge for me (not to mention physically flexible :P) but it’s usually worth the effort, both in terms of being kind to myself and to others. Life is hard enough without making the world smaller and meaner for other people, surely!
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You’re making me very much want to make some Flints! That pair are stunning!
And for snaps, my life changed when I realised that you don’t need a snap press. Packets of metal studs come with a stud press that you whack with a hammer. They turn out great and the whole process is quite cathartic, really.
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