completed: denim trousers

ahhh i’ve been looking for a pair of trousers like this – high-waisted, wide-legged denim trousers. you’d think this would be an easy thing to source at the thrift store – i recall many years of pushing past racks of high-waisted jeans – but i guess they’re back in style now, so they are getting snatched up at a rapid pace. meh.

anyway, i mentioned that i won a giveaway on molly‘s blog a couple of weeks ago… i got vogue 2925 and a really sweet vintage slip pattern. seriously, i made out like a bandit here. i mostly just wanted to make up that fabulous coat, but i didn’t realize until i received the pattern that there was also a pants pattern involved here. just the kind of pants i want, too!

i did have to make a few alterations to get the pattern to work for me – i folded out about 1″ of the crotch length (i am okay with my short crotch, and you should be too! huh, that came out all wrong) and eliminated the cuffs. the waist was a little too big, so i pulled that in on the sides (although, in retrospect, i may have pulled it in a little too much. they are kind of tight up there!). i ended up cutting quite a bit of the leg flare off the sides – something like 2″. they were dwarfing my poor little legs & making me look like a stump in 2 leg skirts.

i can’t really call these “jeans” because there’s not much about them that is like a traditional pair of jeans. there is minimal topstitching – and i went with denim colored thread because i wanted these to still be sleek – and no pockets. the seams are mock-flat felled. i did use a ~real~ jeans button & fly zipper (see my fly zipper tutorial if you’re like me & need hand-holding with this process!). the denim is… interesting. i picked it up at a yardsale over the summer… something insane like 4 yards for $2. and this is serious workman denim – it is very heavy and has no stretch. honestly, it’s probably as old as the pattern i used lol. this pants would probably benefit from a slight amount of stretch, especially considering how tight i made them. ah, live and learn!

obviously, i still need to work on my pattern fitting. there are smile lines & a little bit of bagginess at the bottom of the crotch.

the butt is a little tight, could have benefited from a small full butt adjustment.
(if you are wondering why my wall color keeps changing, blame the photo editing program i used :B)

they look good from the side, though!

the original pattern called for a folded over waistband… i felt like that was too much bulk with this denim, so i shaved an inch off the width & faced it with a bit of interfaced cotton. much more comfortable!

so, i feel pretty good about my trousers. there are definitely some fitting issues, but i approached these as a “wearable muslin” (hence the mock flat-felled seams), and i think i can get a better fit with the next pair. they are definitely wearable – and definitely perfect for those little boy’s sweaters i keep picking up that are too short to wear with regular-rise pants.

they would also probably look fabulous with a leopard print jacket. DAMMIT. i need to get cracking on that beast!

Tags: denim, pants, vintage, vogue