Pants!

Ok so that was childish. I'm English so my title would suggest I'm talking about undercrackers when really I'm talking about trousers. What can I say, growing up is overrated.

Do you think you should iron your trousers before you put them on the internet? Nah

The trousers I'm talking about are the Sew Me Something Portia Trousers. On my pre-make googling I didn't find many people had made them already. There was only one lady who made them in a really quite funky tartan (who is waaaaaay better at fly fronts than I am).

I don't like skinny jeans because, as mentioned previously, I got a lot of junk in my trunk. I think skinny jeans make me look like I'm wearing comedy jodhpurs al la this guy. So I'm all about the bootcuts, flares and wide legs. My particular favourite being the wide leg so when I spotted this pattern in a magazine it looked ideal.

I first off started with my wearable muslin fabric which is an excellent example of why you should actually bother to read the description rather than rely on the colour you think the picture is. Monitors can lie, this is a life lesson. If you really want a gold star you should order a swatch but who's got time for that with a quick muslin project?

It's pinstripe suiting in beige (but the picture looked grey to me) from Minerva which is going for a song and on sale now. It works fine for a wearable muslin but the only thing to consider is it's incredibly thin. It can only be worn with beige underwear as it's less VPL and more 'I can see your pants'.

                                                        

The instructions are a little frustrating as generally they're comprehensive until it gets to how to do a fly zipper. Unfortunately the pictures and instructions are not very clear on this at all. I was never sure which side of the fabric or zip was being referred to. If you've never done one before I strongly recommend you go to this tutorial.

First attempt at a fly front. I went a bit nuts with the bar tack.

Inside first attempt at fly zip.

Second attempt. Getting better.

Other than that it's pretty much smooth sailing. I love the line of the pockets as it allows me to indulge my love of anally retentive top stitching. The pictures that come with the pattern did give my some concerns that the crotch would pouch out a bit. I think that's a. to do with posture, b. to do with fabric choice, c. not enough of a concern to me.

For my next pair I went for again another Minerva fabric but this time a Jumbo corduroy available here. This is navy blue.... I thought it was black. Don't roll your eyes I'm not going to learn any time soon. It's a lovely fabric but I think it has a tendency to grow as both items I made out of it (these trousers and a yet to be blogged Moss skirt) both needed taking in by a considerable amount at the waist.

   

With this pair I decided to add a bit of colour by making the pocket insides with a quilting cotton. I can't remember what I'd ordered that for but I remember there being less than I expected so it sat on my shelf until an appropriate accent use could be found. I also bought an edge stitch foot so it's fun to play with that. I also got to play with my overlock foot which was very useful for the corduroy as that stuff frays like a mo fo. Still umming and ahhing as to whether I want to go the whole hog and get an overlocker though. They intimidate me, what do you think?

 I love these trousers. Love them. Since I was student and spotted a girl working behind my local student bar in a pair of heavily flared black cords I've wanted a pair. Now that dream is a reality.

Also I can cover my whole shoe with my trousers and look like I don't have feet.

It's the little things really.



p.s I link to things because that's what I used/liked. I am not being paid to do anything and my opinions are my own.