May 21, 2015

Sewing the odd trousers

You may have noticed that I edited yesterday's post a few hours after it was posted...
I was sewing up my trousers and I had just found out that I had made a rather stupid mistake in the pattern. A typical example of over-thinking and flawed logic, especially when you know that I actually did it right the first time, while drafting the pattern, and then altered it. 
The mistake was that I had doubled the amount of width needed in the pleat. 

Like this. The fronts of these trousers should be wide but this is just ridiculous. And I had faithfully copied this mistake in the instructions here. So, I took out the "add two more" point and added a warning about the last two drawings. And just before I started writing this post, I re-did those and removed the warning. So now the drafting instructions are as they should be. 

Luckily, fixing this in both my pattern and my trousers only meant cutting a piece off. So, I could continue to make them and to take the promised pictures to illustrate that.
Obviously, you should treat the front pockets and the construction of the back as you would in any trouser pattern. 

Then, you sew up the center front seam (all of it). (I could only take the picture like this because it wasn't until I had sewn one of the side seams that I realized my mistake). Because my trousers are in jeans-blue chambray, I'm using yellow topstitching thread for flat felled seams. 

Sew the inner and outer legs seams.

The unusual bit of construction starts here:

Narrowly hem the edge of the fabric around center front, between the notches closest to CF. I like to taper this hem up so its last bits fall inside the seam allowance.

Sew the curved waistband. This is actually even easier than normal because these have a symmetric waistband. When you start on this, you should decide how you want to close your trousers. If you want buttons, you can just go ahead and make the waistband. If you want a tie, like I used here, you have to insert one tie in the right front edge and another in the left side seam. 
My waistband is is curved and 3 cm high and the ties are 70 cm long and 3 cm wide (finished sizes).

Pin and sew the outside of the waistband to the top of the trousers. the front edges of the waistband should reach exactly to the notches. Press seam allowances up. 

I often use bias binding to finish the edge of the waistband facing and keep its seam allowance pointing down. This keeps the amount of bulk, in the waistband just above the seam, down. In this case, it also helps with finishing.

On the side which will overlap, the right side for the wearer, fold the end of the hemmed top edge back on the seam allowances inside the waistband. Because you tapered the hem, the rest should easily stay on the outside. 
On the left side, don't fold it back.

Pin the waistband facing in place and sew. I usually stitch-in-the-ditch from the outside. 

Now, all you need is a snap or a hidden button at the left side of the waistband. Or if you didn't use ties, also a button at the right side.

My trousers are finished and I'll try to get some pictures soon to show you the end result and how these actually work to wear. 

1 comment:

  1. I've just seen these trousers on the Burda site and I think they're awesome. I love wearing trousers and I like the idea of a no-zip design. Wrap dresses and wrap skirts are popular. Why not wrap trousers. I think they are very flattering and perfect for summer.

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