melle_chantilly

I was pretty pumped after my drop crotch trousers and decided to tackle the Guise pants (with welt pockets, eep!) and with the extra difficulty of adding a lining. I had bought a beautiful thin wool fabric (the suit kind) and I wanted to be WARM, so after a lot of pondering, I decided to go with silk for lining.



I read a few blog entries by people who made the trousers, which was reassuring and provided extra insight. I'm overall pretty pleased with my stitching. I'm getting more precise, although I'm far from sewing as straight as I'd like. :) The Papercut pattern is super clear and detailed. The zipper fly instructions were way better than those from the drop crotch from the book, same goes for the side pockets. And the welt pockets turned out to be actually quite easy to make!



I made many photos and even a video of the welt pocket process, so you can stalk me on twitter to find them. I was complimented several times on how professional they look. I think it's the welt pocket effect. It's just such a neat feature.

I have nothing against the elasticated back. It gives a more relaxed feel to the design but I don't mind (some bloggers had more reservations about it). And it was a blessing in disguise because the trousers turned out a bit too big, which I could help by snipping a good 5 cm off the elastic band. A few bloggers said the pattern ran a bit large and advised to size down one size, but I am so terrified to sew something too small (my first sewing project from a pattern, 15 years ago, turned out too small and unwearable).



Here's the turquoise bias from the inside. I also hand stitched the lining around the zipper (I have to say I had no idea how I'd do it until it was sewn in place at the waist and I could fiddle with the fabric) and it turned out pretty neat!

I could use my new hemming foot to sew a minuscule rolled hem on the silk lining. It's so cute. Difficult to get the hang of it, but no one is going to inspect the finishing of the lining inside my pants, so I figured I'd give it a go.



The actual longest bit was hemming. So difficult to get it even! Math helped me for a solid hour until we finally got it. Doesn't help that I have scoliosis and a leg longer than the other! Also, the tapered legs make it fiddly to hem without distorting the fabric.

Anyway, I'm proud as a peacock. They're the best tailored trousers I've ever owned, I think (albeit a bit big. I need a belt).

 

So, these jersey pants from I Love Pants/J'Adore Les Pantalons. The sewing itself was rather straightforward, except the pleating part which left me scratching my head for a long half an hour. I think there's a mistake in the pattern? Anyway, I'm happy with the way I did my pleats.

The finishings aren't too great, especially the overstitching of the side seam. This is when jersey truly becomes fiddly and annoying (and I probably didn't swatch enough to find the perfect tension). But that seam ends up under a big fat pleat! So WHO CARES. :D

The issue is that the pants ended up HUGE. I trusted the size chart and so I graded the pattern to a size over the largest in the book but they're very big! I had an inkling I could get away with a too small size for a pleated stretchy pair of pants but I wanted to try grading and see. Well.

They're also too long, which I could have foreseen (since the tunic by the same designer is a knee length dress for me! at least it's consistent). I'd rather have them it me right under the knee. I still like them!

The waist is elasticated, the fabric bunches up a lot, and I'm not fond of the look (it screams lazy tailoring to me. The pleats could have been a wee deeper and the waist reduced by a good 20 cm imho). But I never tuck my tops into my pants, and it is fairly smooth under a t-shirt.

(Yep, there's a horizontal line on the front, it's... dirt. ><)

I'm a bit nervous now because I'd like to make more complicated pants from the same book and it might end up a disaster. Time to measure my inseam and do some calculations? They're carrot pants and the fabric is slightly stretchy so I think I can get away with a less than perfect fit. I'd like to try a non-stretchy project beforehand, with a basic and easy fabric, just to practice some more. *thinking*

I did buy some cheap sheets though and I will... make a toile!