Short trousers means cold ankles

So here I am in the coldest March in the UK in a very long time, making cropped tousers again!  Instalment number two for the Burda Challenge is the cropped trousers from this year’s March issue of the magazine, number 111.  I’d dug out a piece of caramel stretch twill from the stash, probably bought from Croft Mill Fabrics, but it could have come from Clothspot.  I think I’ve had it around 2 years, so it’s nice to get it used up!

I’d decided early on not to have all the extra zips on the front.  There is a very useable side zip for access, and these others are just for decoration, so I wasn’t about to waste time faffing putting in exposed zips I’d never use.  I might put some pretty buttons on the tabs eventually, but as for the most part, they will not be seen, I’m really not fussed.

I removed 5cm from the length of the trouser between the crotch line and the knee line to get the correct length at the ankle.  I also changed the crotch curved in the back, dipping it by max 5mm in certain spots.  This made the usual creases under my butt magically decrease!  The facings were cut from left over bits of the gingham linen used for the Japanese inspired top, and I used that fabric for the pocket bag too.

If there’s one negative about this pattern, it’s that there aren’t enough pockets.  So if I made the pattern again, I’d want to add pockets in the front somewhere, possibly using that pointy insert as a “welt” hiding the acces to the pockets there.  We’ll see.  But the pocket in the back went very easily.  The instructions in the magazine are the illustrated, elaborated kind, as opposed the the usual brief bullet points.  So if you’re afraid of welts, these instructions will see you right.  I love the shape, and it’s really not hard to have those points instead of the normal square edges.

I like these pants, I wore them to the sewing show at the NEC all day and the stretch fabric behaved fairly well, not going baggy with all the sitting while driving, which was good.  They’ll be a great addition the the spring and early summer wardrobe (when it atually arrives), and I might be on the look out for a stretch poplin or cotton to make another pair, because this twill is too thick for wearing in the middle of summer.

So thumbs up for this one!  I’ve got another Japanese inspired top for your inspection soon, and I’ll go through some of the books I’ve been buying to give you an idea of  the goodness inside!  But that’s me for March BurdaChallenge 2018, I thought I might make another pair of trousers, and perhaps a couple of tops, but it was not to be.  Just two pairs of cropped pants will do the job!

Author: Anne W

I love fabric, and sewing. And I could do nothing else but sew, all day, every day, if I could! View all posts by Anne W