Too Cool for School

I hate bottle green. And that bright grass green. You know the ones, ah yes, the colours of school uniform. Maybe if I had colour therapy it would reveal my dislike of these colours is all rooted in those primary school gingham dresses and scratchy cardigans.

Amelie's nursery has recently introduced a uniform so she heads off in a T-shirt matching all the other little bods in class. Yes, it saves choosing an outfit in the morning, but I miss sending her to class in funky outfits. Fortunately they can wear whatever trousers/skirt they like so I've been making her trousers that no-one else will be wearing.

I'm back with one of my favourite patterns, Burda 9441. Very easy to sew, really easy to wear. I've lengthened the cut of the leg because it's winter and ditched the waist tie, but otherwise this pattern needs no alteration. These are cut in a lovely babycord that's lovely and soft. 

The pockets are great on this pattern. They're a piece of cake to do, just cut two in the outer fabric and two in the lining, right sides together, sew the curved sides, turn through and press. It would be easy to add this style of pocket to other patterns. I like to use a hand dye or a bright print on a fine cotton to add a peep of colour at the edge, but hardly any extra bulk.

Sew them to the front trouser piece with a neat bit of topstitching on the bottom curve, and then they'll get set into the top and side seams later on.

These trousers are perfect because there's no fiddly fly or button, they just pull on with an elasticated waistband. Apart from the top stitching, I do all the construction on my trusty overlocker. It speeds up the finishing and the seams end up looking really professional. It's no sweat to make these trousers in under an hour from cutting out to trying on.

Once the waistband is on I topstitch just under the waistband to secure those seam allowances down and stop them making a ridge. 

And there you go, homemade trousers as nice as any in the store and not a single bit of green gingham in sight.

Thanks for visiting the blog,

Laura

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