Steel grey cords

I had a bit of a photoshoot backlog, but I think you’ll be pleased to hear that I’ve got lots to show off this week, and you’ll only have to forgive the GALE FORCE WINDS whipping everything around while I tried to pose and smile sweetly (hence the headband keeping my hair out of my eyes!).

First up are my pleated corduroys! You’ll remember seeing these in their “in progress” state, hanging on my sewing room clothesline, and also that this steel grey corduroy wasn’t my first fabric choice, but was the only suitable fabric in my stash. I’d bought this stuff back in May 2009 on Goldhawk Road for a total of £5, so if it didn’t work with the deep pleating on these trousers, well, then I wasn’t too fussed.

The pattern for these is KnipMode 08/2010 #13, modelled by a mother/daughter pair and looking fabulous on both of them!

And here they are on me!

I had a bit of a photoshoot backlog, but I think you’ll be pleased to hear that I’ve got lots to show off this week, and you’ll only have to forgive the GALE FORCE WINDS whipping everything around while I tried to pose and smile sweetly (hence the headband keeping my hair out of my eyes!).

First up are my pleated corduroys! You’ll remember seeing these in their “in progress” state, hanging on my sewing room clothesline, and also that this steel grey corduroy wasn’t my first fabric choice, but was the only suitable fabric in my stash. I’d bought this stuff back in May 2009 on Goldhawk Road for a total of £5, so if it didn’t work with the deep pleating on these trousers, well, then I wasn’t too fussed.

The pattern for these is KnipMode 08/2010 #13, modelled by a mother/daughter pair and looking fabulous on both of them!

And here they are on me!

(The top is from ASOS.com, and you may remember the neighbour’s cat, Boatswain, from last June!)

This pleated, tapered style is out of my comfort zone – I haven’t worn pleated trousers since the mid-90s (high school!), and I certainly haven’t worn trousers this roomy in that long, either! The waistband tends to sit a bit low – by no means “low rise”, but somewhere between that and standard trouser rise these days.

I wasn’t so sure about these when I first tried them on, but I’m warming to them more as I wear them to the office and out and about more. It helps that they’re super-warm, too!

Construction-wise, these were very simple the pockets, darts, pleats, and a waistband construction are very much like a million other trousers you can sew (and nick their English instructions from if you wanted to)! In general, I hate the “unfinished” look of turn-ups though (it’s like you miscalculated the length), so I hemmed these at the second fold line and cut off the rest. I really like the diagonal seams on the lower front legs, but I think it’d stand out a bit more in a different fabric.

I used the last of Sharon’s batik quilting cotton for the waistband facings and pocket lining (as seen in my navy riding trousers, too). I think these pockets could be a tad deeper for the opening, though – I don’t think I’d trust them to not lose my spare change when I sit down!

The waistband has a nice, triangular tab which contains the buttonhole for the jeans button, but there’s a trouser hook hidden inside that’s inline with the zipper. KnipMode have you cut the tab separately from the waistband, which is what I did here, but in the future I’d tape the two paper pattern pieces together for the exterior waistband, and only cut the tab facing in the fashion fabric to avoid having a seam on the outside.

All in all, these are a good everyday pair of trousers that are comfortable and easy to pair with just about anything. The corduroy means they’re not really summer appropriate, but I could definitely get away with wearing these across the other three seasons!

(Totally offtopic PS: Is anyone else on DailyMile.com? My favourite running GPS iPhone app just started integration with it and I’m totally lonely over there. Please comment with your username if you are!)

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