The Dragon Unleashed ...

First a bit of snarky soapbox time ... there is another run of HP patterns out, this time with instruction sheets courtesy of McCall's. Kudos to a small Indie company for reaching for the big guns wrt getting help. Congrats on pulling it off! Makes me smile in pride that I have been a supporter of Trudy and Jeremy in my own small way! Now for the soapbox.

It has been said by others before, and I just have to say it again. Why is it a crime to have to make a muslin for an HP pattern but it is considered par for the course for other companies? Nobody blinks an eye at muslins for Marfy or Burda (don't get me started on their instructions, BTW!), but the minute somebody recommends a muslin for HP people get upset saying for the amount of $ the patterns, cost they shouldn't have to do muslins ... Sorry. I wasn't aware of the fact that HP gave out custom sized patterns that didn't require a fitting session. Get over it people, Trudy designs her patterns her way and just because it may require you to do alterations that you may not have to do in other lines doesn't make her patterns bad. Custom fit takes work. IN ANY PATTERN LINE. So, come on, if you order the pattern, bite the bullet, make a muslin and enjoy the journey .. you just may learn to like muslins when you see the quality in the final garment.

OK, enough of that. Last night I finished altering the Pilot's shirt pattern and actually hemmed the Dragon Pants. Yup, I am wearing them as I speak. Any of the extra ease that I was thinking of tinkering with is gone (no doubt thanks to all those chocolate almonds), but they are still very wearable. The drape is not as nice as I like, but that is due to the fabric, I think. Now that it is warming up, I will sew these up in a lightweight brown crepe I got in a Fabric Mart bundle last year. I think the legs are a bit too wide, but I will see how they lie in the crepe. It amazes me how fabrics change a pattern! I am off to take pictures and post the final product!