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!

Zips and Linings

Finally my red dress is coming together.  Due to the material being very slippery there is a marked difference in the length of the bodice front and the lining front.  Unfortunately I did not realise this until after I had stitched the lining down on the inside.  The result was not overly pleasing.  Today I unpicked the stitching holding the lining down and the waistline seam and adjusted the fit.  Although rather time consuming I am much happier with it now.  I also stitched the press studs on the yoke and hand stitched the zip in.  Pictures below.

Zip pinned to dress from wrong side

The zip stitched in from the right side, the gathers are meant to be there!

The lining stitched over the zip tape on the wrong side.

Press studs on left yoke.

 I have been debating for a while which earrings to wear with this dress and I think I have settled for the earrings below, which I have borrowed from my Mother.

Tomorrow I will be tackling the hem on the dress.  I will also be working and going out to dinner so I may not get to post.  I will not post pictures of the finished dress until Thursday, as I will then be wearing and someone might remember to take some photos!

I noted with interest that Winston Churchill's birthday is today, along with Mark Twain and Jonathan Swift, what is it about authors birthdays and today???

Blue Dress

The blue dress is almost finished.  I will try and do a proper shoot of this dress to post.  I found the instructions slightly difficult to understand and ended up totally altering how I inserted the zip as I considered their method messy.  Unfortunately I forgot to take photos of the construction of the outer bodice and there are only limited pictures of the lining.

The facing stitched to the lining.

The outer bodice stitched to lining at the slit.

The collar stitched to bodice but not slip-stitched down.

Finished collar

Each sleeve had three darts at the elbow.

The sleeves were eased in and then double stitched.

I hand-stitched the hems on the sleeves.

I ended up folding the seam allowance of the lining to the inside and machine stitching the zip to it.  I then carefully folded the upper seam allowance inside and stab stitched over the zip.

Finished zip, I think it looks neater than it would have the other way which was to fold the seam allowance of both the lining and the upper to the right side of the lining and machine stitch, I did half and it looked awful so I unpicked it.  I've hemmed the skirt upper and only have the lining and a belt to make now.  I wasn't going to bother with a belt but when I tried it on my sister told me it looked like a nightdress so I thought a belt might improve it!