Saturday 19 July 2014

Self Drafted Linen Dresspants

So I'll break this sewing post hiatus with a bang. This week I finished a pair of dresspants for a customer who I'll name Mr.Suit. And the pants were....wait for it..from linen. Yes, I sewed something from linen. Even though I've had years of dislike towards linen, I think it's starting to pass and I think it has a lot to do with having a few victorious projects with linen.


So the pants. The pattern is drafted by me. The pants has slant side pockets, invisible button fastening and classical men's waistband with belt loops and a ribbon on the inside to  have a clean finish, classical look and good fit(I really have no idea what it's called in English. Even here a lot of the stores don't have it anymore and it's hard to find but it really takes the pants to another level)



Back view
Inside shot. The white is the ribbon thingy
I encountered a problem when I was cutting out the pants. The pattern didn't fit the fabric. And this is one of the reasons why you should always contact your seamstress/tailor before you go and buy the fabric. But luckily there's a method how I was able to fit all the pieces on the fabric. When sewing trousers, you're allowed to cut the back piece in two pieces if needed. On the inside leg seam(if you look REALLY closely), you can see a little triangle. That's the back piece and the extra seam I created to be able to get the pants out of the fabric. If you're ever in the same situation, remember, if you start to measure from the inside leg/crotch seam and measure a triangle that's up to 7cm wide and 14cm long(after sewing, so remember to add seam allowance according to your pattern), you can save a lot of fabric and time. And when done right, you won't even notice it there.

Can you find the extra piece?
I serged all the seams and hand stitched the hem with invisible stitched. I also sewed the pocket seam twice for security.

Pattern: Self drafted
Fabric: Linen (and cotton for pocket fabric)
Time spent: About 4 hours (3 for sewing + 1 for pattern drafting)

And the best part it that Mr.Suit was so happy with the pants that he ordered a suit jacket as well(hence the name Mr.Suit). So if all goes according to plan, there should be a post about a classical men's jacket popping up sometime next month. And it's also from linen(same fabric as these pants), so it's going to be one good looking summer suit(and major linen therapy for me).

Stay tuned!

This post has been linked up at Sewing Saturdays where you can see other this week's awesome projects from all around the sewing community.

2 comments:

  1. Be sure to take lots of pictures of the construction process while you are working on the jacket. You know all of us seeing geeks love to see what goes on inside :)

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    1. I will do my best. :) It'll be a bit of learning process for myself as well as I have to do some changes as it turns out it won't be a 100% classical jacket(due to pockets) but I can't wait to start to challenge myself with the pattern drafting :)

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