Oh Spatterdashes!

Sounds like a good way to avoid cursing, right?  Well after the epic task that creating a pattern for my spats has turned out to be (so far), this is probably a very appropriate title.

I was so disappointed with my first set of drafts, that doing more alterations seemed far too daunting.  You can see that the front didn’t sit right, the button band swung forward and the calf didn’t sit well.

So today, while The Boy was at preschool, I decided that the alone time I had was the perfect timing to just sit down and nut it out.

So I laid the first draft out and decided that fitting the calf was just TOO much hassle.  And in all reality the likelihood that I’ll make full length spatterdashes was miniscule.  So I grabbed my scissors and hacked the bulbous top off.  I have to admit, I got a little nervous at this point.  Before I started I was ready to forget the whole idea, and I was worried I was about to spend time trying to get something right that just wouldn’t get there.

Next was to see what alterations needed to be made and baste and change, try on and curse etc until I was happy with the fit.

The shorter version was far easier to manipulate and fit than the taller one.

The front of this one seemed to dip in the front, so I made some alterations to the shape of the top so that it would rise slightly, almost like a superhero boot.

Tracing the fabric onto the paper wasn’t easy (mainly due to lighting), and OH how the hands suffer with felt markers.  (Luckily they were my son’s washable ones and there was no permanent damage).  But eventually I ended up with purple hands a suitable pattern.  This is a very basic pattern, which I will be able to make small alterations to which will make each pair of spats really individual.

I have some heavy denim and quilting cotton lined up for my first pair.  I just need to get my hands on some medium interfacing and some nice buttons.