After making myself a pair of grey linen trousers last year, which didn't quite turn out as I'd hoped, not to mention being really fiddly to make, I swore I wasn't going to make another pair of trousers. However, trouser shopping is equally as 'fiddly'. On one memorable occasion I remember trying on 12 pairs in I don't know how many different shops until I found a pair that fitted. I don't even think I'm a particularly strange shape.
However, it wasn't the fear of trouser shopping that led to me making this pair. It was the simple lure of beautiful fabric at a bargain price. (There, now you know what temptation I can't resist!) I can't even remember what I went out to buy but whilst in the John Lewis haberdashery department I spied a heavy-weight, navy linen with a white pin-thin check reduced to half-price. It must have been about September and so they were selling off the stock of 'summer' dressmaking fabric. It seemed an absolute steal so I promptly bought 2 metres, knowing that I could easily make a pair of trousers from that much.
The fabric then sat in a bag for months as I both plucked up the courage to tackle another pair of trousers but also thought about how the check pattern would work on the trouser patterns I had. In the end I decided simplicity was the order of the day and I began to long for the pair of trousers that took me 12 pairs to find. They were straight legged with no pockets, not even a waist band, and fastened with a concealed zip. I remember always vowing that when these trousers fell apart I would keep them and use them as a pattern to make another pair. The trousers are no longer in my wardrobe but where they are now is anyone's guess. Do I turn the house upside down trying to find them or see what the shops could provide in terms of a paper pattern? I decided on the latter option and was pretty pleased with what I found; burda 'super easy' pattern 6817, even if they did describe the style as being inspired by the 1970s. (Really?!)
Anyway, May Craft Club was my motivation to finally start making these trousers, perhaps also helped by the fact that another pair of work trousers was about to bite the dust having been worn to holes in unfortunate places.
What did I say about the previous pair of trousers being fiddly to make? These were no exception thanks to the weave of the fabric and the check pattern. I would normally fold the fabric in half and pin on the pattern for the leg front and pattern for the leg back and then just cut out two thicknesses of fabric. However, the loose weave meant that the fabric was very keen to shift on the diagonal and so to get two identical shaped pieces let alone ones where the horizontal line of the check lined up seemed impossible. In the end I had to cut out all four legs (two fronts and two backs) individually. Whilst catching up on the gossip and having to stop for tea and cake, all I managed in May was cutting them out and sewing the darts and the side seams. Very disappointing for a pattern billed as 'super easy'.
A month later, Craft Club came around again and the fabric, pattern, even the pins and scissors, were still sitting in the bag that they had returned home in in May. Out the project came again, but this time with the added urgency of a job interview in 4 days' time!
It was at this point that I began to worry about the fit. I confess, all I had done was cut out the pattern along the UK size 10 lines and sewn according to the pattern instructions. No adjustment had been made whatsoever and, seeing how hard it is to buy trousers off the peg that fit me, surely these would need a lot of adjusting - nipping in here, being a bit generous with the seam allowance there?
With the two legs joined together and the concealed zip inserted it was time to put the fit to the test and... can you believe it, they were a perfect fit! So, why can't high-street stores do the same?!
Anyway, a fellow Craft Clubber kindly pinned the hems for me and I spent that evening making the finishing touches. Teamed with a jacket from a vintage suit I bought last year, the outfit was all set for my interview, and seemed to do the trick!
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| Post-interview, complete with genuine creases! |
As a brief aside, watching the last series of the Great British Sewing Bee, I was amazed to learn that a concealed zip foot actually existed, and judging by the reaction of the show's contestants, I was not alone. I promptly ordered one on-line and these trousers were the test run of this small piece of metal. I can confidently report that it's really simple to use and gives brilliant results (assuming it wasn't beginners luck?) If you don't have one with your machine and are likely to be inserting a concealed zip into anything, I can't recommend it enough. Previously, I had always used the regular zip foot resulting in my concealed zips looking not exactly concealed, although definitely more 'wallflower' than 'party animal' in the world of zips.
Anyway, there is no going back now and I may even be tempted to make another pair of trousers from this pattern. Well, with that promotion under my belt, I probably ought to smarten up my work wardrobe!
