Are You Sure It’s Summer?

Ya could have fooled me! Yesterday it warmed up some but today we’re back in the drizzle. And I’m supposed to be packing to go camping this weekend. Because it’s summer, right? Wonder why I’m not terribly inspired? It’s reportedly going to be downright cold in Manning Park for the next few days. I’m packing my longjohns and my rain gear – just in case. (So glad I made that bunting for Rosebud now!) T-Man has next week off so we may be staying past Monday (the end of our reservations) if it’s not too uncomfortable. We need to have extra supplies along because the little convenience store in the lodge doesn’t have much of anything. At least we’ll be able to get more ice for the cooler.

Meanwhile, T is feeling much worse again. The 100-day flu is living up to its name. He was getting better but then it seemed to start all over again with the coughing and the sniffling and the running up of the temperature. Poor guy! He still hasn’t gotten his hearing back in that one ear yet either. Hopefully the cold mountain air won’t make it worse. He’ll have some time to relax anyway. And to try not to share his germs with other family members.

I’m optimistically packing several knitting projects with me even though I have no idea how much I will get done. What with grandbeasties and hiking and hanging out with The Rellies. Plus I’m the designated Baby Watcher whilst Parents fish. I don’t catch or clean trout but I can definitely cook and eat them! Yum.

In sewing news, I managed to finish the pair of capri pants and two pairs of shorts – not that I’m going to need them for the trip it seems. The pattern was McCall’s 6360. I got the larger of the multi-sized versions because my body measurements said that a size W20 would fit me. Not so much! First off, I decided to go with an 18 instead. Then I adjusted it by adding 1.25” to the crotch depth and taking 1” away from the leg length. As you can see here where I cut out the modified size 18 in the black fabric:

The legs were still too loose so I had to modify the pattern some more and re-cut. They’re comfortable but still a little baggier than I’d like:

Brave me for sharing this somewhat unflattering photo, huh? Normally I would wear these with longer tops! The fabric is a cotton/lycra novelty knit and it doesn’t have a really good stretch recovery. I do like the cute elastic ruching at the side hems though. One pair of the shorts comes to the top of my knees and I added pockets to the sides of the legs to hold my iTouch or whatever. The second pair is somewhat shorter because I ran out of enough fabric to make them longer. Perfect for cycling or under a tunic top. I got 3 pairs of pants/shorts out of 2 metres of 60” wide fabric at $5.99 per metre so that’s a pretty good return on my investment. I might tweak the pattern a wee bit more before my next pair but otherwise these will come in handy this summer. Assuming we ever get a summer.

Just goes to show you however that you absolutely cannot go by the measurements on the pattern envelope! This pattern had too much ease for these close-fitting stretch garments. Also of course, I’m not any kind of standard shape. Pretty much any pattern is going to need adjusting to fit me the way I’d like! I’m happy that I’m learning more and more about how to make this work for me and my body shape As It Truly Is – not As I Wish It To Be.

Off to do something useful - like cleaning and packing…