Grey sort of stripey trousers

Well, I guess the title sort of says it all really! I've been spending some quality time with my sewing machine and overlocker recently and I'm loving it. Time to start blogging what I've made.

I bought the fabric for these trousers in the summer sale in John Lewis. It's a 100% wool and it lovely to work with, plus it was only £8 a metre (I bought 2 metres). I decided to add a half lining to make them less scratchy for all-day wearing. I found the 100% cupro lining somewhere in my stash. I've had to tidy up my sewing space (the dining table in the living room) as...well...we needed the dining table!

I sewed up as much as I could using the overlocker. Otherwise I used the sewing machine and then the overlocker to finish the seam edges. I made the inner yoke from the lining fabric to avoid scratchiness. I don't think I've used a heavy enough interfacing though, it doesn't look or feel sturdy enough but I'm fine with that. I added 1" in height to the rise but I think I could have got away without this change. I added 3" to the leg length and ended up cutting off 1" when hemming but that's the way I like to work. I'd rather add too much that later need to cut off. I hate trousers that are too short, even by a tiny amount!

The pattern is New Look 6035 that I got free with Sew magazine earlier this year. The line drawings are good and it looks like there are some really good basics to be made from it. This was the first time using this pattern and I just wanted to see how it would sew up. I like it and will be using it again!

It looks a simple trouser pattern but the devil's in the fitting. There's a side zip and a yoke. The zip is inserted up through this yoke. The seams of the yoke need to match too. A bit of a brain teaser to get the fit and all the seams matching but it's worked out fine.I finished the hems with black satin bias binding from my stash and hand stitched them.

I'm learning that the more time spent measuring the pattern pieces and adjusting before cutting out, and trying on to adjust the fit before final seam-sewing, are steps to take your time over. Time spent doing these steps really pays off. I'm getting better at slowing down!