I want to start sharing with you some of the plus size clothing I’ve sewn for myself and I’m starting with the Rebecca Page Toronto Tee and Burda style 7505 pants patterns.
My uncle, Robert Smith, from Gore in New Zealand was in Timaru recently. He loves taking photos so I asked him to take some of me wearing clothes I had made. It took several hours and I was surprised by how many garments I had made in the past six years that I have been sewing my own clothes.
My Burda style 7505 pants in natural-coloured linen
I love linen pants. They are so soft and flowy and great for hot weather.
I can’t remember where I got the linen with which I made these pants. It is a little transparent and quite slubby.
If a fabric is “slubby” it has a texture which is uneven, with some thicker areas or “knobbles” in the weave which are sometimes created intentionally for an organic, tactile look or occur naturally in some natural fibres.
What pattern did I use?
When I first started sewing my own clothes, I hadn’t yet discovered online pattern designers so I tried to use commercial patterns because that was all I knew. I struggled to find patterns with a plus size fit but this Burda style 7505 pattern looked promising.
The first pair I made (teal linen) and this natural-coloured linen pair were made using size 28 which is for 43.5 inch waist and 52.75 inch hips. They fitted really well at the time I made them but now they’re a little tight, especially in the hips.
I have since made another pair using the largest size in this pattern (size 34) for a 50.5 inch waist and 60 inch hips which is more accurate with my actual body measurements. It is much more comfortable to wear.
While this pattern would still fit me, I have started looking for other options for pants of different styles.
My t-shirt made using Rebecca Page Toronto Tee pattern
I got this Rebecca Page pattern in a bundle of different garments. Unfortunately, the Rebecca Page website is no longer available. I’ve tried to find Rebecca Page patterns elsewhere but it seems they have simply disappeared. I do not know why. There is some information on the Internet that Rebecca Page simply shut down with no warning to customers. I’m glad I got a bunch of patterns from this supplier though as it had a good plus-size range.
I used size 4XL which the pattern says is for a 124.5-129.5cm chest and 132-137cm hips. My waist actually came in at the next size up (5XL for 119-127cm waist) but I ignored this as I figured if the hip size was bigger, it would just “flow” over my waist.
The finished garment measurements were then in inches. For size 4XL, the chest finished garment measurement was 58.2 inches, waist 60 inches and hip 66 inches. I found this was far too big for me. Given my measurements at the time I made the t-shirt, I could have gone down two sizes.
However, the pattern style was such that it was easy enough to shave off the excess from each side using my Babylock Victory overlocker. (NOT an affiliate link)
I got this red textured fabric from Fabric Vision in Christchurch. Unfortunately, that shop has closed down which is a real shame as I used to love shopping there. Fabric Vision had great sales tables and that’s where I found this fabric. It’s a while ago now that I bought it but I’m sure it was something like $6 per metre.
The sales table fabric was never labelled so it was difficult to determine exactly what it was made of. I’m pretty sure this fabric is polyester. It is very stretchy and has like a waffle texture.
I would definitely make the Toronto Tee again. I especially like its loose-fitting nature.