In this guest blog post, Montana (aka montanastrange) has made the Pomona Pants in this beautiful pink African print fabric from Dovetailed London. Montana was gifted this fabric in exchange for a blog post as part of the Dovetailed London Ambassador Program. Want to read on, get a cup of your favourite drink and enjoy!
Hi all,
I've been meaning to make a set with fabric I received from Dovetailed London, so far I've managed to make a pair of Pomona Pants which I'm obsessed with already!
These are my third pair of Pomonos (not including two pairs of the shorts version) so I'm very familiar with this pattern and I enjoy making these so much. I've learned that these trousers fit slightly differently depending on the weight of fabric you use.
What I used to make my pants is called "AFRICAN PRINT-0149", it's super soft, bold and the print is very eye-catching. I had to choose this print otherwise I'd regret passing up a chance to not only sew with this but to wear this print. As soon as I was finished I wore these to go grocery shopping in, I felt so confident and I couldn't help beaming with happiness too!
The only trouble I had was deciding on pattern placement, I thought I wouldn't be able to get away with making trousers due to the print going across when I first laid this pattern down. I then realised that the Pomonos are long on me so I could chop a few inches off and I bit more to crop them, hurray! I folded the fabric short ends together so that the print ran downward. I feel as though having the print in this direction is more pleasing to the eye and just made more sense to me.
I'm almost finished with the crop top to complete this set! It'll be fully lined with a slightly heavier weight cotton in black. This is made using the Hinterland Dress bodice pattern and cropping it an inch and a half, was contemplating adding a zip you would use in coats but I thought it'd look too bulky. I really can't wait to wear them together and take more photos! Once I wore them I didn't want to take them off.
In terms of wear, this is immensely comfortable! Especially with an elasticated waist, the soft cotton doesn't irritate my skin at all. Sewing with this type of fabric went smoothly as usual, it does fray but not a massive amount. I zigzagged the seams together instead of overlocking/serving them, this is enough for me. I don't really do "pretty guts" often.
As I'm sure that you can tell, I'm overjoyed with this fabric and these pants but what to do with the leftover fabric other than a top?
Some options are:
Head tie
Cross body/toiltery bag
Chokers
Bracelets
Lanyards/key chains
Cuddly toy
I'll do my best to tick at least two of these off my list, maybe the choker.
Happy sewing!
Want to make something gorgeous on this fabric? Shop here.
Want to sew with African fabric? Shop here.
Looking for a range of sewing patterns designed specifically with African wax print fabric in mind, shop here.
Want to buy ready-made in a selection of Dovetailed garments? Shop ready made here.
Want to make your own with a little help? Shop workshops here.