Purple Trousers!

I finally finished off my trousers!  I was gifted a pattern and some fabric for my birthday and started sewing at the beginning of the summer!  A couple of months later and other projects seem to have taken over so they were still sitting there.  But now they are done I'm pretty pleased.

I used a vogue pattern and the trousers are quite fitted which was a first for me.  Usually I go for baggy clothes to sew that have plenty of gathers of pleats which makes fitting easier.  All was reasonably simple until I got to the crotch and the zip.  That stage required a few unpicking sessions to break through it but I made it out the other end.

I did make it a bit more difficult for myself by using a strong and clear striped fabric.  My pattern matching is far from perfect and I found myself thinking of May and Patrick on the Sewing Bee when I spotted my errors.  If there was a camera in my sewing room it would have been zooming in on my mis-matching but luckily for me there isn't and overall the mistakes don't look to glaringly obvious.

A bit of under stitching

I learnt to do under-stitching which was a great for me and I was so happy with how easily the pockets lay flat against the trousers afterwards.

I really enjoyed following a pattern again although it did take me a little while to get into it.  I have become so used to making things up myself that I had to remind myself to slow down and do things step by step.

I really like the fit and I am glad I added the extra fabric for the flare - it just gives them a little something extra and especially with the purple!

 So what do you think?

I love the shape and love the fact I can add or take away from the flare.  I also haven't had a pair of trousers that fits me so well in a long time. Do share your trouser makes below!

Sewing storage

As you might have guessed I am currently making attempts to sew at every opportunity and explore the loveliness that is my new machine.

That said it is still new and I am taking things slow and steady so as not to confuse myself.  So lots of little simple projects it is!

So while practicing on the machine I found myself irritated by the many charger wires gathering next to our computer.  So I decided to sew some little storage pots to hold all those annoying things that have no place to go. I learnt this technique from a sewing evening I go along to on Wednesdays.

I needed a reasonably strong fabric and a lovely friend recently gave me her old flared jeans.  Fabulously wide and fabulously funky!  A true ode to our 15 year old selves and the fabric is perfect for what I needed.

Now the jean leg is already a tube so I just cut it to the length I wanted.  I then did the same with the lining fabric.  I then sewed down the two edge seams of the lining to create the same tube as with the denim,

On the base of your fabric cut two squares out from each corner as below.