Tuesday, January 31, 2012

A SEWING project

At last!  The Sewing Lawyer has again sewn something.  A pair of very nice pleated pants, if I do say so myself.


Burda would undoubtedly call these "Marlene Dietrich trousers", but they're not made from a Burda pattern.

These are made from Simplicity 4044, a 1940s retro re-release that I have had in stash for quite a few years, but it's still on the Simplicity website.  Go and buy it now if you want a simple, high waisted, flowy pair of pants.  I highly recommend this pattern!



There are only four pieces - front, back and facings.  However, my recent infatuation with knitting got in the way of finishing these.  I improved the hang of the pants, which are constructed in a very soft but drapy pure wool fabric, by underlining with Bemberg.  This gives all the advantages of lining, but reduces any chance that pressing would reveal seam allowances, facing edges, etc.

The front pleats and little dip at CF are the subtle details that make these really nice, IMO.

I cut the legs slightly longer than the pattern calls for and made a deeper hem, which also increases the overall weight and therefore the nice drape of these pants.

I also moved the zipper to CB since I hate sewing zippers into a curved seam and would prefer to leave the side seams accessible for fine tuning the fit as needed.  These needed very little.  I predict these will be a great addition to my wardrobe, and that I'll make this pattern again.

In other news, I have most of a sock knitted.  Humor me.  It's my first.



13 comments:

  1. Kay, the pants are beautiful! And the socks? Ditto!

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  2. The pants are beautiful! I particularly like the detail at the waist.

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  3. Very cool trousers and I too think the waist detail is very nice. Very interesting how you changed the drape with weightier hems - I've filed that away for future reference as needed.

    Socks - don't need to humour you as anyone who knits is cool in my book. I keep forgetting to count rows so have given up knitting until I re-learn.

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  4. The pants look so much better on you than they do on the pattern envelope. Maybe they should use you as the model.

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  5. Narrow hems are a curse of many commercial patterns! Fantastic work

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  6. The pants look wonderful on you! I like the waistband with that lovely detail :)
    Definitely, a very good job!

    http://alicecloset-sewing.blogspot.com/

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  7. Impressive work on the sock. I'm still working on my first two at once, toe up, magic loop. The heel is (the heels are) next--it's so hard to knit with one's fingers crossed.

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  8. Great pants! And I am in awe of anything knitted, not being a knitting person myself.

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  9. Nice pants! I, too, like the waistline detail. And the socks look very good!

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  10. Nice - to both - a very good job on your first sock !

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  11. Love the pants, and that sock looks great! What yarn are you using?

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  12. Gorgeous pants! What a great shape.
    Nice work on the sock - I've knitted only rectangles thus far (:

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  13. Great pants! Nice work on the sock -- the trick is to finish the second one so you have a pair!

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