Oh pants!

I need new trousers for work. I’m a theatre technician, so I need something practical, hard-wearing and with plenty of good size pockets. Oh, and preferably in black! I’ve been wearing an old pair of black skinny jeans in a thick denim up til now, but a.) they’re getting a bit snug and b.) I’ve got a lot more shifts than usual coming up (yay, panto season!) and so I need an extra pair to tide me over while those are in the wash.

At the Knitting and Stitching Show, I found some black denim on clearance and bought 4 metres. I also picked up a pattern for some men’s cargo trousers that was close to the style I had in mind.

This week I sat down to start making them and spent an age trying to figure out what size to make as I gradually came to realise my mistake – a woman’s waist is a totally different shape than a man’s. I then spent ages comparing the pattern against a women’s trouser pattern (of a completely different style) and then against some of my existing jeans to work out if i could modify the waist, before concluding that I just needed an entirely different pattern.

So I have trawled and trawled every pattern site imaginable and yet still cannot find a pattern that matches what i want to make. I did find an amazing template of a pair of cargo/jeans that were exactly what I was after but it turned out to be a graphic design image template, not a sewing pattern. Gutted.

I toyed with the idea of using the Ginger Skinny Jeans pattern from Closet Case patterns, but in the end, after a bit more googling, I found these Bryce Cargo Pants by Hey June Handmade. The picture isnt great. They’re more fashion style-y than practical looking, (and i certainly won’t be rocking up to work in high-heeled open-toed sandals) but the waist looks about right for what i want, which is the most important bit in terms of a pattern. They’re definitely too short, and a bit too fitted around the lower leg for my liking, but i figure it’ll be easier to modify a leg than a waist!  It comes as a pdf pattern, so no hanging around waiting for the post, and i think I’ll feel a lot less precious about chopping and changing the pattern, since i know i can just print it again if needs be. Mind you it’s about 30 pages, so took an age to print, and i still need to assemble it, but thats a job for another day.

 

I’m still very much a novice when it comes to sewing, so i have no idea how this is going to turn out, but I’ll do my best and keep you posted. It could be an interesting challenge.

Right, where’s my sellotape?

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Knitting and Stitching 2018

It’s been quite a week!

I have spent a larger than average amount of time crafting in one way or another. The costume bits for the musical involved a lot of hand sewing. I returned the set to the wardrobe mistress and she’s giving me another whole set to do this week.

I bound off the sleeves of Crazy Stripes at long last and have begun the lengthy task of sewing in many many ends. Buttons and blocking will follow soon.

I moved my attention to costumes for the boys for World Book Day. The process was taking longer than I anticipated when I finally got round to it, but fortunately I was given a reprieve when school declared a postponement and then a snow day! It will be rescheduled for sometime in the next week and I still have a little work to do so I’ll save the details for another time.

I finally finished the alpaca hat just in time to give it to my bestie on the train this morning on our way to the Knitting and Stitching Show at Kensington Olympia. She will need to attach the pompom on the top and I still have the scarf to finish, but it was good to get the hat done.

I went to Knitting and Stitching without much intention to purchase as I still have several projects in the works, and yet I still managed to come home with a fair haul.

I picked up a couple of thimbles as all that hand sewing on costumes made me realise my fingers were in dire need of some protection. I nabbed a fat quarter for some details on Pumpkin’s Book Day costume. I had a rummage in a box full of assorted patterns and picked up three for a tenner that I thought would be useful to use with fabric I already have.

Actually, one of the three required new fabric, so I went in search amongst the various stands, but I struggled to find what I was looking for. Lauren at Guthrie and Ghani was immensely helpful and though she didn’t have quite what I wanted, she and her staff helped me work out what it was that I needed so I knew what to look for if I resorted to ordering something online. As it turned out, just as we were leaving, I spotted a stand that had a rack of various bolts of fabric for just 2.50 per metre, which included a bolt of black stretch denim, which was a perfect alternative for my pattern. At that price, it was worth it even if just for a practise make. I also nabbed a metre of blue jersey at the same price.

Finally, not being totally satisfied, I also bought a metre of this cute llama jersey which will become a top using the other pair of black sleeves that I cut when making my pink top.

We had a fab day and I can’t wait to get working on some of these projects.