Burda Summer “Pants”

In case you’re worried, I actually made these in July so my resolution to sew an item of clothing once a month is still intact! These trousers are such a great pattern, but sadly I don’t think I have done it justice this time. Poor fabric choice led to a cascade of problems. However, I loved doing a sew-along and I’m quite proud that I’ve managed to make some trousers that actually fit.

The fabric:

I recently went to visit my parents and my mum had a lovely pair of summer trousers on, I asked her what the fabric was and she said it was needlecord. So I thought needlecord would be perfect for this sewalong, and I found some white needlecord which was quite cheap online (£5 a metre) from Croft Mill. However, when it arrived it was much heavier than I was expecting. Nevertheless I decided to go ahead and make them, as the fabric was cheap and I was keen to get going (mistake #1).

The pattern:

These trousers are three-quarter length and have an invisible zip at the side (my first invisible zip!) – I really love the design. So I downloaded the pattern from the sew-along site, printed it out and stuck the pages together (much to our cat Momo’s delight). I selected my size and cut out the fabric. I then realised that I had cut out the full length design not the cropped one so I had to chop off the end of the legs, wasting quite a lot of fabric (mistake #2). I also made two changes to the pattern:

1. Even at the 3/4 length the pattern was still far too long for me, I ended up shortening them by 4 inches (wasting even more fabric)
2. Near the end I realised that the trousers were too big in the waist, so I ended up taking them in by about 1 inch.

The challenges:

The fabric caused me so many challenges! Here are the main ones:

• These trousers have lovely pockets, which I duly made as per the sewalong, but when I was trying the trousers on I realised there was a lot of bulk at the front which was uncomfortable and looked strange. I ended up cutting off the pockets, and doing some hand stitching to neaten it up. So making and then removing the pockets wasted fabric and time (mistake #3), plus my trousers don’t have pockets which isn’t very practical.
• The weight of the fabric made sewing the invisible zip tricky. When finishing off the waistband I stitched too close to the teeth and had to unpick it all and start again (mistake #4)., I still succeeded in getting it to work eventually but the zip requires quite a lot of force to close past the waistband seam, and the seam pulls the zip a little so it isn’t perfectly invisible. I think I also sewed it on the wrong side…
• Somehow I managed to get oil from my machine onto the lovely white fabric. I then use a stain remover to get it out which changed the colour from ivory white to brilliant white in a patch on the leg (mistake #5).
• Even though the fabric is heavy, it is also slightly see-through! I certainly don’t want to add a lining and increase the bulk even more, so I think I have to go and get myself some nude knickers

 

The final result:

The trousers fit beautifully, which is pure luck because I wouldn’t have known how to make adjustments if I needed to.  I really enjoyed taking part in the sew-along and it’s wonderful that Burda have given out this free pattern and video instructions. Sadly the weight of the fabric makes my trousers feel quite chunky to wear, and for that reason these trousers don’t really work for summer but may do for autumn. They are wearable (when I get some new knickers) but I don’t LOVE them. However, I do love the pattern, so when I find a more suitable fabric I will definitely be making these again.