Taa dah!

It was a momentous day yesterday, even though you might not have realised it. It was The Day I Finished The Grey Wool Lined Trousers. All in capitals. I've been working on them for weeks but also been diverted by other quicker sews. They are an almost exact replica of a pair I made in September...yes, they're also grey. The pattern is Burda 7250. I know some people don't like Burda but I'm fine with their patterns. So far!

The fabric is a lovely grey and black checked 100% wool from Edinburgh Fabrics. Here's a photo of my leg encased in said fabric-

There are also large checked lines of brown running through it too. I have the feeling it's suiting fabric. It has a lovely drape and feel to it and despite being wool, doesn't seem to be scratchy.

I'm becoming more of a convert to pre-washing fabrics. Well, except anything that's 100% polyester, if you know what I mean. When the fabric was dry I steam ironed it, to make the fibres shrink. I think it's best to start as you mean to carry on with fabric and if it gets used to bad treatment now, it won't be so bad in the future when I forget to put it on a wool wash or something potentially disastrous like that. Ask me how I know all this...!

So, fabric prepared. Then I started cutting. And cutting....and cutting. I decided because of the checked pattern it would be much better to cut from a single layer of fabric. Then I could match up the checks and make sure each piece was cut on the grain.

So I cut the fabric and then cut the lining. I folded the lining in half and then cut, with a plain polyester anti-static lining it wasn't worth cutting each piece from a single layer. No checks to match, thank goodness. I cut the pocket bags using one layer of the wool fabric and another layer of the polyester lining as I wanted to reduce bulk. As usual, I lengthened the legs but that was the only thing I altered.

The fabric was lovely to sew with but it didn't half fray! I zigzagged all seam finishes, again to avoid adding unnecessary bulk. I also zigzagged the seams of the lining. That stuff sure can fray when it gets the notion!

Here's a close-up of the waistband and lining and below, the pleats, zip and button. I finished the wool hems by trimming the length to about 1.5" then zigzagging and then hand stitching. I had some bias binding that I could have used but I was worried it might be too heavy. I know zigzagging isn't the neatest of hem finishes but I think it's right for these trousers. The lining hems I just trimmed then turned up twice and machine hemmed. And of course, everything looks much better after a good press!

So, all in all, I'm very pleased with these trousers and they're the first pair of lined wool trousers I've ever had or indeed, made. They did take a lot of time to make but that's because of the details like pleats at the waistband and the pockets. Without them, it would have been much quicker. The lining adds to the project time too. Just need some cold weather and I can wear them!

I've got the waistband fit much better this time but that could also be due to the fact there isn't any stretch in the fabric compared with the other pair of grey trousers I made. These are a much better fit and as I don't like belts and don't need to wear one with them, I didn't add any belt loops.

I finished these and started the next project yesterday afternoon. The fabric for that is bright! I'm making a top for going out at christmas. I'll be blogging about that soon!