A while ago I looked at all of my trousers that I had made and considered which ones I liked the best (see Trouser Fitting post here). None of them fit me perfectly but I found that the Strides were one of the better ones. The only issue with them was that the waistband was a little bit tight, and as they were a stretch fabric I couldn’t be sure whether the pattern was a good fit or that the fabric was just more forgiving. So I decided that I would make another pair and try to improve the fit so I could get a perfect pair of trousers for work. Here’s how I got on:
1. The fabric
I decided to use a navy blue cotton twill for this pattern which I had bought from New Craft House. I really like the feel of the fabric, it’s very soft and I liked the colour because I felt like it would go with lots of things in my wardrobe. Because the fabric was reasonably thin I decided to do French seams. There are a couple of seams which you need to overlock according to the pattern, these include around the inside of the pocket edge, and the zip fly; for these seams I used bias binding to finish the edges.
2. The pattern
This is a pattern from the Merchant & Mills workbook, which I have made before. It’s a classic trouser pattern with a zip fly, it’s fitted at the waist and has straight trouser legs. I used the pattern exactly as I did before, but I made the waist 1 inch larger.
3. The challenges
I had made this pattern before but I was pleasantly pleased with how well it came together and how much I remembered (as it was a while ago!). I took my time and enjoyed process; I wouldn’t recommend making this pattern in a hurry. So I had no real challenges with this pattern, the fabric was a joy to sew with and the pattern was easy to follow.
4. The final result
When I made these trousers before they were made from a denim with a small amount of lycra, and I think that helped the fit. Although these trousers fit fairly well, the cotton fabric has revealed some fit issues with the pattern that I wasn’t aware of before. The fit at the front is really good, but at the back I have quite a lot of bagging. So although these are perfectly good to wear, my quest for the perfect trousers continues!
The sewing resolution 