Thursday, April 26, 2012

The easiest pair of pants: BWOF 6-2011-114

Dear readers, these pants are easy to sew! The gap in posts had everything to do with hoping for a day that was warm enough that I could stand outside in short sleeves and take a photo for the blog. Finally, I gave up - you get to see the background of my living room. (Which looks surprisingly clean in these pictures. It's really not. That's the only clean corner, cause it houses the not-so-often-used TV.)


I traced a Burda size 40. (That's what happens if you eat every bit of junk food in the universe, btw, under the guise of not-being-so-harsh-on-yourself. A therapist friend of mine agreed that that method doesn't actually work on all people.)

I shortened the pattern - both front and back pieces in 3 places - between the waist and hip by 1 inch (thereby shortening the crotch), right before the knee by 2 inches, and then, at the hem by another 2 inches, I think. It worked beautifully, I'm pretty happy with the way these pants fit.

Originally, I figured I'd do what Tany did and leave the elastic exposed, but my elastic was cream, and not wide enough, and it just looked weird and unfinished. So, I ripped that out (seriously, after 4-5 years of sewing, I'm still to sew a project without resorting to the seam ripper at some point!), and used the fabric as a waistband, creating a casing for the elastic to slip in, etc.

I didn't topstitch the elastic in place, as the instructions suggested, since my thread doesn't actually match my fabric, and I draw the line at that much sloppiness. For the same reason, I hand-hemmed.

And it has pockets!

You did want to see my butt, no?


Anyway, this is a pretty strong contender for the SWAP - yay!

(I'm wearing it with this shirt... the pants are linen-y, and there's a fair bit of contrast with the shine of the top. I'm not convinced it works entirely, but I was having one of those mornings where nothing looks ok, and half my wardrobe ended up thrown in annoyance on my bed.)

4 comments:

Carolyn said...

beautiful trousers, and this an outfit that definitely works beautifully, the contrasting textures with the shiny top. you look tres chic and very elegant! And don't feel bad about the unpicker; I've been sewing for 35 years and I still use it a bunch!

Carolyn said...

Thank you for your lovely comment on my Mum's kimono and I will be sure to pass your kind words along. She will be thrilled to have received so many compliments!

Clio said...

When I saw "easiest" and "BWOF" in the post title I thought you must be crazy. BUT you are totally right - these are seriously the easiest pants ever! LOL And they look great on you! Definitely include them in the SWAP!

Jon the Dentist said...

Thanks for posting this