Wool Trousers, Part 1

I work part-time as a bank teller. The bank has a pretty tight dress code (but not uniforms) and the town where I live and work is pretty conservative. While my position doesn't have much (if any?) authority, I think it's important to look professional and I would prefer to be overdressed rather than underdressed. I also walk to work and during the winter that means I need my legs covered. All that to say, it was time to revisit making pants. Not faux-leather leggings, not pajama pants, but real trousers.

The last pair of great trousers I made are too small for me now. Truth be told, they were always a little small. They were fine when I was standing, but were uncomfortable when sitting. The pants I copied for the pattern had just the slightest bit of stretch. I thought it was slight enough that I could make it work with a non-stretch fabric, but that little bit of stretch did matter.

So, then I debated about starting from the beginning with a new pattern or revisiting this one. Since I know I like the proportions and style of this pattern, I decided to continue on with it. Using this article from Threads Magazine, I graded it up and made a quick muslin. It was too big, so I graded it down a little and made another quick muslin. After a couple of adjustments to the pattern based on the fit of the second muslin, I felt ready to cut into some "real" fabric.

I used a gray polyester twill that someone handed down to me at some point. I didn't love this fabric, but figured it could be wearable in the end. I wanted to make them completely and wear them a few times before deciding what other changes needed to be made.

I was thinking I'd give them a C-. Then I saw the pictures and now I'm thinking a D+. The legs look better when I have shoes on, but there are still a lot of problems. There is some buckling in the back under the waistband. It is less of an issue when I wear a belt, but it still doesn't look good. The welt pockets aren't actually pockets and the layers of self fabric there add some unfortunate bulk.

When I pinned out the extra in the seat under the waistband, that seemed to really help with the folds under the seat, so that was the only change to the pattern that I made for the next pair. (When I started this, I was expecting it to take at least four tries. I'll be rewarding myself with progressively nicer fabric as I go).

Actually, I did also change the size of the pocket bags. These felt really small and I added both length and depth to them.  This pair is unlined and the waistband is finished with contrast bias binding.

On to Version 2!