Category: trousers

Summer Outfit

New summer outfit (prototype)

This week’s been a pretty hot one, as far as weather goes in the UK. I’m sure most people are thrilled to bits (in fact I can hear them all outside, laughing and enjoying their barbecues in their gardens), but unfortunately for me, I’m really not very good at hot. I get sunstroke very easily, and just generally don’t cope very well with the heat.

All my usual work clothes are making me much too hot, and all my summer clothes aren’t really smart enough to wear for work. Everything in the shops appears to be made of polyester, which is not a nice fabric to wear in the heat, so I decided it was about time I stopped moaning and tried to figure out something I could make quickly and wear all summer.

I started with an idea for a loose kimono-sleeved jacket, although the prototype didn’t come out very well. More work needed on that one. So I moved on to a very loose, draped top. This will definitely work better in a softer fabric, like a linen or a lawn, but I think it works nicely with a belt. A bit martial-arts-looking all in white, but I think that effect would be reduced in a different fabric or a different colour.

New summer outfit (prototype)

The trousers are a simple wraparound style with a drawstring waist. They’re so cool and comfortable, and they were extremely easy to make. These would definitely be lovely in a nice soft, crinkly linen or a handwoven organic cotton.

I think if I can get the fabrics right, this would make an ideal “smart-casual” outfit for work.

Yoga pants and psychic powers.

Last week I was looking at these lovely yoga pants from Gossypium, and lamenting that I didn’t have £35 to spend on a pair of trousers just at the moment.

Today I was finally able to reach into my pattern stash at the back of the Shed (which still has a great deal of kitchen piled up in front of it, as we gradually move everything back indoors) and pulled out Vogue 8396. I must have been hanging on to this pattern for a long while, as it’s now out of print, but version C has that fold-over waist that I was looking for.

I unfolded all the pieces and pulled out the ones I’d need to make the trousers in view C. Then I tried to figure out which size to cut. Unfortunately I didn’t bring my psychic powers out with me today, which means that I still don’t know.

The trouble with dressmaking is that the measurements given on the pattern envelope are almost never the same as the finished measurements of the garment that you’re making. That’s because each pattern has a certain amount of “ease” built in, to make sure that you can still breathe and eat and sit down and move around once your garment’s finished. So the pattern pieces usually tell you the actual measurements of the finished garment.

Except that this one doesn’t.

Given that they’re close-fitting trousers, made from stretchy fabric, it would be reasonable to assume that there isn’t any ease – that the measurements given on the envelope are the ones you’ll end up with. But then again, stretch garments (especially leggings) tend to have negative ease, so that they stretch when you put them on. That’s how they stay up.

Normally I’d cut out the pattern, pin it together and carefully try it on – but for a stretch garment that doesn’t really work. I can’t afford to waste either the time or the fabric to make a pair of trousers that don’t actually fit, so I guess I need to iron the pattern pieces, measure them carefully, subtract the seam allowances, and try to work it out that way.

Or, given that the Gossypium ones are now reduced to half price, I might just give in and buy a pair!

Altering some new trousers

H! by Henry Holland

I like Henry Holland, and he had some trousers in Debenhams, and they were pink tartan, so obviously it was compulsory for me to buy them.

(Yes, I know they look ridiculous. I have every intention of wearing them anyway.)

But!
Because these are tapered trousers, the legs were much too tight in my usual size. So I tried the next size up, which were much more roomy in the legs but ridiculously enormous around the waist.

So I looked at the trousers and came up with a solution.

H! by Henry Holland
First I carefully removed the fake pocket welts from the back.

H! by Henry Holland
Then I wrapped the resulting strip of fabric around a length of elastic, and sewed them together many times.

H! by Henry Holland
I tucked the elasticated strip underneath the belt loops, and sewed it into place. Now the trousers can’t do that annoying gappy business at the back!

I also slipstitched down the inside pleats on the front, so that it didn’t look as though I was carrying inexplicable balloons in my pockets.

Ta-daa!

New trousers.

Corduroy and Velvet

Corduroy and velvet

This weekend I’ve been sewing the waistcoat to go with the Dorset buttons I made last Sunday. The pattern is McCalls 8285, and the fabric is a sage green cotton velvet. It’s almost finished – I just need to make the buttonholes, and sew a little silver buckle onto one of the straps at the back.

The trousers I actually made a few weeks ago. I didn’t photograph them because as soon as they were finished I put them on, and I’ve been wearing them (or washing them) ever since! They’re another pair of Vogue 1034, this time in black needlecord with a bit of a stretch to it. The pockets and waistband are lined with the remnants of the Sea of Holes fabric – just so I could feel amused by having pockets full of holes. (Yes yes, groan, I know.)

The trouble with wearing both cord and velvet is that they both act a bit like velcro when it comes to fluff. The cords accidentally went through the washing machine with a stray tissue which left them all white and fuzzy, and now they’re covered in green dandruff from cutting the velvet.

This outfit is two-thirds of what I’ll be wearing when I go out playing the recorder with the clog dancers. I now have just less than three weeks to either make or buy a shirt with long sleeves and no collar. I’ve got miles of white polycotton that’s suitable for shirting, and two patterns that would be fine. One is Folkwear 117 that I’ve made before, and the other is McCalls 5976. It just remains to be seen whether I’ll have time to make one of them, or whether I’ll need to dash down to the shops. Thankfully pintucked shirts seem to be in fashion at the moment, so hopefully I won’t have too much trouble finding one that’s suitable.

Three weeks until my first recorder-playing performance in about eighteen years. Gosh.

California Pants

California Pants

This is what’s been keeping me busy for the past few days – Laughing Moon #106, California Pants.

These pieces are just the linings and facings for the pockets, waistband, gussets and fly.

As you can probably tell, I’ve still got a long way to go with these! My plan to try and make two pairs before starting my new job is going to have to be abandoned, I think.

Green cord trousers

Vogue 1034

I’m not sure that a pair of olive green cords would have been on my shopping list, but I had the fabric in the Shed, and I wanted to test out Vogue 1034. This time I’ve been able to make a pair of trousers that actually fit me, and with only a minimal amount of adjustment to the pattern.

These jeans are a “today’s fit” design, which means that the measurements are given in actual inches rather than spurious dress sizes. I looked at the body measurements given on the pattern envelope and the garment measurements given on the pattern, and decided to make a size E. For the trial run I left out all of the pockets, and made a very simple pair of trousers.

Once they were ready to try on, Paul very carefully helped me to stick pins in my backside until I had the perfect fit. I graded down to a size D from the waist to the hips, and then made a sway back adjustment. Perfect! Even the length was just right.

The method for making the fly front seemed rather fiddly, and at times the instructions were a little bit difficult to follow. It does make a lovely neat front though, with much less bulk than you might find on other jeans. I’d definitely use this method again.

The order of construction was also different from other trousers that I’ve made, but this allowed for decorative topstitching on more of the seams. I didn’t add any topstitching on these trousers, apart from on the waistband and fly, but I probably will on the next pair.

The waist is much higher than you’d find on most jeans that are in the shops at the moment, and that’s absolutely fine by me. The back of the waist has a deep triangular yoke rather than a normal waistband, and this makes the fit of the centre back much better than on mass-produced jeans as well.

I have several metres of pinstriped cotton velvet, which I think would be absolutely perfect for this pattern. Topstitched in white, with a silver button, I think they’d be really dramatic. They’d also look great in a stretch denim, or maybe a nice wool tweed.

I’m so happy with this pattern that I may never have to buy a pair of trousers again!

Small Grey Trousers.

Grey trousers

I’ve spent all day working on a pair of trousers.
Unfortunately I have managed to make them a size too small for me.

According to the finished measurements on the pattern, they should be an absolutely perfect fit. Unfortunately this fabric doesn’t have any stretch in it, and whilst I can get the trousers on, I can’t sit down.

Or breathe.

Bother.

The pattern is Vogue 2812, view B, although I left out the horizontal seam half way down the leg, and didn’t bother with the non-functional pockets. Or the belt loops.

They’re made from grey polyester/wool blend suiting (not itchy, machine washable), they have a nice deep waistband, bootcut legs, and no pockets.

The waist sits about an inch below your bellybutton, so they’re not ridiculously low rise, but they’re definitely not bellywarmers either.

I loathe making trousers (well, I hate making the fly front – so fiddly!), but I’m really pleased with these. They’re possibly the nicest trousers that I’ve made so far.

It’s just that they don’t fit.

Damn.

Duplicated trousers?

I was browsing through the Vogue website today, looking for a jacket pattern. I rather like Vogue 8604 – I have a fondness for both cropped jackets and kimono sleeves. The trouser pattern is included, so I popped the pattern on my shopping list. (I only ever buy Vogue pattern when they’re on sale – they’re so expensive otherwise!)

Then I looked at the drawing, and realised that the trousers looked suspiciously similar to a pair I made earlier this year. They’re Vogue 8367, and the more I look at these illustrations the more certain I am that these are the same trousers!

I really like that little jacket… but I don’t really want to pay for a pattern for a pair of trousers that I’ve already made. Perhaps I’ll see whether I can find a similar looking jacket elsewhere.

Enormous Trousers!

Vogue 8367, view C

Here’s what I’ve been up to for the past couple of days – making a pair of ENORMOUS trousers!
The pattern is Vogue 8367, view C.

The fabric is a slightly mad pinstripe… it’s a polyester/wool blend, but the stripes are metallic in red, blue and gold.

I wanted a pair of high waisted trousers for a reason – I have a lot of abdominal pain, so most trousers are really uncomfortable to wear. Because they’re so low, the waistband digs in when I sit down, and that’s pretty painful. I have some pull-on trousers which are great, but I wanted something that was a bit smarter. I think these fit the bill, and I’ll probably make a couple more pairs in different fabrics.

I am madly in love with these trousers, and I can’t wait to take them off the dress form and put them on!

Thinking about trousers

I’ve also been thinking about trousers for a good long while.

I’m in desperate need of some new jeans, as my current ones are both slightly threadbare and much too small. I did try on a few pairs in the sales, but the fit was so terrible that I didn’t feel terribly inclined to buy any.

I’ve somehow managed to convince myself that trousers are difficult, and I don’t like making them. This is patently untrue, on both counts, but I somehow never seem to get around to making trousers for myself.

Here are a few patterns that have made me want to get sewing:

Vogue 8397 – three pairs of trousers with elastic at the waist.

Vogue 8499 – trousers and a skirt.

Vogue 8561 – this pattern hasn’t been released yet, I found it on Marcy Tilton’s website.

These first three patterns are all hers. She’s developed quite a few patterns for Vogue, and they all have very interesting and unusual shapes.

I’m attracted to the plus four-like shape of Marcy Tilton’s trousers, although I think they’d probably work better in more summery fabrics, like,linens, than they would in heavier suitings or tweeds.

Artisan Pant – a Mary Ann Donze pattern for Indygo Junction. I’ve had this pattern for about a year, and I haven’t yet got around to making it. For some reason it makes me afraid that Trinny and Susannah are going to come after me, point scathingly, and accuse me of looking like a mad art teacher. Which is silly, because “mad art teacher” is probably my ideal fashion inspiration!

Vogue 2367 – this is a discontinued Vogue Men’s pattern, which made Paul laugh. He said that the zoot suit trousers reminded him of MC Hammer. Charming! I thought they’d look particularly excellent with a pair of coloured spectator shoes, but I’m not certain I’d want Paul to be thinking of MC Hammer every time I wore them…

Vogue 8367 – I have started to make a toile for these, out of an old bed sheet. I’ve managed to adjust the pleats and darts around the high waist to accommodate the odd shape of my stomach, which is a good start! I’m very short waisted though, so I need to shorten the rise quite a bit in order to avoid the MC Hammer effect with these as well.

Burda 2767 – this is a men’s costume pattern. I thought that a pair of drop-fronted trousers might be flattering, and I was thinking of putting buttons on either side of the front panel, for a sailor-like effect.

The fabric shop where I used to work now has a few really nice wool fabrics that are made in British mills. I might go and have a look, and see whether I fancy any of them for a nice pair of sturdy winter trousers.