The next garments in my post-coat sewing plans are two pairs of KnipMode trousers to fill a quite serious hole in my wardrobe as a bunch of my trousers and jeans all seem to be wearing out at once!
One pair is KnipMode 01/2011 #5 made in wool/acrylic flannel (bought from Fabric.com ages ago) and entirely underlined in black silk/cotton voile with a sort of satin weave to it.
The other is KnipMode 08/2010 #13 made in steel corduroy which I bought at Goldhawk Road yonks ago!
I initially tried to make the latter in my navy uncut corduroy but, even with my fabric Tetris prowess, there was no way these were going to fit into 1.5 yards of rather narrow width (1.5 metres? maybe.). So I went through my stash searching for something to make these in, and this steel corduroy was the only suitable bottomweight that wasn’t denim or in a summer colour, so here we are. I’m not entirely certain the corduroy won’t be too heavy for the deep pleating, but the fabric cost me well under a tenner and has been in my stash for two years, so if it turns out to be a dud, I’m okay with that.
I did something unusual for me here and cut out both trouser fabrics at same time. I think my rationale was to do my cutting work (in the unheated hold. Wearing gloves, seriously.) at the weekend so I could stay warm in the evenings in my sewing room… But I’ve had a crappy cold for the past two weeks (plus an upset stomach, the first of my childhood re-vaccinations, and my boss being away at work thrown into the mix), so progress was slower than usual on these. But I feel it’s perfectly okay to take it slow sometimes, and I only sew when I want to. I mean, it is my hobby afterall. You don’t have to have a finished garment every week, Melissa.
So I’ve been mostly doing lots of hand basting to get the underlining onto the wool flannel in a nice, unbubbled way. After taking the PR Underlining online class last year, I am totally won over to the side of hand basting underlinings. The thought of doing it by machine just seems wrong to me on so many levels. I’m underlining this pair mostly to make a barrier between the wool and my legs, but also to prevent the knees from bagging out when I sit down then stand up again.
Here’s the steel cords and some more of that batik quilting cotton from Sharon to use in the waistband facings and pockets:
The clothesline in my tiny sewing room is rather full right now! But Friday and Saturday should mean some progress on one of these… I’m kinda leaning towards doing the cords first.
On Sunday I’m teaching a (very) beginning sewing lesson to three friends, so I needed to make up our project before I show them how to make it (but only after they pass The Sewing Machine Driver’s Test like I had to!). I selected BurdaStyle’s (free!) Charlie bag, but the instructions are unforgivably awful. Seriously confusing, sparse, and written in moon language. I consider myself an advanced sewer but I had to get out the seam ripper at least 4-5 times to correct what should’ve been made clear in their instructions. Grrr.
My girls won’t know how good they’ve got it, with someone to show them how to actually construct it, and with a nicer facing, too…
Edit: I should probably add in that “trews” is English slang for “trousers”…