Okay, these pants were probably one of the most challenging things I have made. Sewing pants in general is tricky. If you don’t get the fit right they won’t look good. They are more difficult to make than a skirt or a dress. That’s why up until now you have only seen dresses and skirts on the blog.
The only other pair of pants I have ever made was for a sewing class I took a few years ago. I picked out a cute capri pants pattern and some navy fabric. The class only met once a week for two hours and because I was a beginning sewer, it took me almost 6 weeks to make these pants. SIX WEEKS! They turned out fine, but they weren’t very flattering on, so I never wore them. After spending so much time on them, and ultimately not liking them I decided no more pants…not for me…too hard.
I also don’t were a lot of pants. I mostly wear jeans and yoga pants #momclothes, and I don’t really have any interest in sewing pants like that. They are too readily available. I much prefer making something you don’t typically find in store.
However, the one style of pants I do really like is trousers. The very first suit I ever owned was a navy blue wool Ralph Lauren pant suit. I bought on sale after I graduated from college. It was my interview suit and it had the most beautiful cuffed trousers. It fit perfectly and the pants looked amazing. I had that suit for years. It never went out of style and I basically wore it out. That is the great thing about trousers. They are stylish and timeless and look good on everyone. So with that in mind I decided it was time to try making another pair of pants.
Patterns
It took me FOREVER to find a pattern for these. I knew exactly what I was looking for: a pair of wide leg trousers with the option for a cuff, and side or back zipper. This must be the unicorn of patterns, because it does not exist. I am partial to the more popular mainstream sewing patterns like Vogue, McCalls, Simplicity, Butterick, etc. Do you think I could find a simple trouser pattern from any of these pattern companies? NO! Over the course of a month or so I bought 3 or 4 patterns and nothing worked. I made a bunch of muslins and most of them had an exaggerated pant leg or others had some design detail I didn’t like and thought I could omit, but nothing seemed to work.
In the end I combined two patterns to get what I wanted, and let me tell you it was a huge pain! I used Vogue 1572 which I love, but the pant legs are way too wide for my taste, and Simplicity 8056 trouser pattern. The trouser leg was slimmer but I didn’t like the waistband, pockets or zipper on the pattern. After figuring out what size I needed I cut out both patterns. Next, I laid the Simplicity pattern on top of the Vogue pattern. I cut the top of the Vogue pattern and the bottom of the Simplicity pattern and created exactly what I was looking for. Phew! That was a lot of time and work! But I love how they turned out.
Fabric
I purchased this fabric last year on Etsy. It’s a navy and white hounds tooth wool. Hounds tooth fabric has a checked pattern with notched corners that look like dog’s teeth. It’s typically used for jackets and suits and is also sometimes called gun check or dogs tooth.
Once I sewed the pants together, I decided it needed more color so I trimmed the hem with some red piping. It was just enough to make the pants stand out.
I also did something else with these pants that I don’t always do. I lined them. Since the fabric was wool and itchy, I needed something on the inside. I had some white flannel backed satin left over from another project which was perfect. Not only are they not itchy, but they have an added layer, perfect for the winter months.
Shirt and Bag
I made the shirt and the over sized clutch in the photos as well. I’ll get into the details of how and why in another post so keep an eye out for that. You’ll be seeing a lot more “outfits” here on the blog so I hope you like what you’ve seen in today’s post. There will be more posts like this coming soon. In the meantime you can check out some of my other bag posts: how to make a simple clutch, pink bouclé bag and green leather crocodile tote bag.
If sewing is not your thing,you can always shop similar looks below.
Thanks for reading! Hope you are off to a great week!
Photos by – Chloejane Photo + Film