Wednesday 13 July 2016

Begin again trousers!

 Hello all! I'm very excited to be taking part of the Vintage Pledge July Extravaganza, as I have of late fallen out of practice with using vintage patterns and I have missed them. The making of these trousers was a bit of an extravaganza in itself, but I got there at the end.
I have decided that 'Begin Again', starring Keira Knightly, is one of my favourite films. Her characters wardrobe is to die for. So simply chic, so elegantly nonchalant. I wanted some of her elegant nonchalance for myself so I set about making a version of her navy pleated high waisted trousers for myself. The pattern I used was New Look 6871, which I heavily suspect is from the 80s, although I can't find any solid proof to confirm that. It features a high waisted trouser, pleated at the waist with a slightly tapered leg. Bingo.
I sewed them up in some gorgeous navy blue linen, found at Goldhawk Road for around £12 per metre. I was running out of money at this point so I had to stop at 1 metre which wasn't quite enough for full length trousers. It's alright, I was going for the cropped look anyway. I do wish that I had enough for pockets and cuffs. They would have been the icing on the cake.
The sewing up went super smoothly until I got to the fly front. This was a nightmare. I attempted to understand the patterns instructions and then looked at Heathers Ginger Jeans fly insertion post and then got thoroughly confused and went back to the pattern instructions again. I think I ended up sewing some sort of fancy lapped zip by accident.

Next time I would add the fly onto the pattern pieces instead of cutting them separately like the pattern dictates. This way I could follow Heathers instructions properly. I'm still not happy with how it looks, as the metal part of the zip is really obvious so I think I'll rip it out, sew that seam up and insert an invisible zip down the side seam instead.
 I am really pleased with the fit though. I was expecting to have to pinch out masses of ease but they are perfect. The first time I tried them on I practically cried, because they are so out of my comfort zone, style wise and I felt horrible in them. They are just a totally different style, and I must admit, they are growing on me!

Thanks very much to Kerry and Marie for having me, and to Mum for taking these pictures! This post was originally published here.
Lauren xx