Style 4424 Trousers

It has long been an ambition of mine to possess a pair of high waisted trousers.  However, it would seem high waisted trousers are hopelessly out of fashion and I haven't even seen any at work.  Quite by chance I happened to mention this to my mother, who said she had just the pattern.  I actually wanted fitted trousers but I figured that once I had tried these (flares) I could adjust the width on a second pair.  They are remarkably 70's, in fact the pattern is dated 1974.  Without further rambling I will present you with a photograph:

I am making them from a grey heavyish drapeish material.  The instructions gave me multiple headaches, as there is no instructions given for inserting the zip, it just says 'insert as per instructions on zip and zips (these days anyway) do not have insertion instructions on them.  I did a typical centred zip application, which unfortunately is not perfect.  I also managed to interface the waistband facing instead of the waistband itself, which was rather annoying!  Below are some pictures of the sewing process.

The zip, pinned and tacked.

Stitching the waistband facing over the seam.

The finished zip

When it came to taking them up I had a bit of a problem as there was no-one who could help me mark them up.  I ended up taking photos of them at various lengths and judging from that (there's no mirrors either).  Once I had done one leg, I folded the trousers in half and attempted to make the lags the same length.  They are not perfect but I think they will be fine.  I trimmed the excess (quite a lot, even though I shortened the pattern by 7.5cm when I cut it, I think they were designed for a giraffe) to an even length, then overlocked the raw edge and folded it under and stitched.  I then stitched the main hem by hand.  Although I say it myself, I think I did a good job of the hems.  All I need now is a couple of hooks and bars for fastening the waistband.

Trimming the excess

Completed hems

I used the Singer 201K mounted in the Singer 206K table for these.  I had to swap hand wheels to make the belt fit but other than that using the 201 is now a breeze!

The Singer 201K in the 206's stand

When I was (unsuccessfully) looking for some hooks and bars, I came across a card of buttons and some large snap fasteners that I had to share photos of.  They are both English made, something that one can only dream of now!

I love these, I'm not sure I will ever use them, they are too pretty!

I do not know if some snap fasteners still have holes for aligning but the ones I buy do not!

Hopefully I will have hooks and bars soon and then when the weather cools down can wear my new trousers!