I see you shiver with pantici...

...pation.

(I'm sorry. I don't even call them 'pants'. I just couldn't not.)

Behold my first ever pair of me-made trousers:

These are made from Sew Over It's Ultimate Trousers pattern, and I went to a class to make them. I'm really glad I did, because I never would have got a pair of trousers that fit from this pattern otherwise. Not to disparage the pattern at all; it's just not designed for people with as much hip as I have, and if I'd gone through and followed the instructions diligently, I would have ended up with a pair of trousers that looked perfectly fine until I tried to put them on and expose everyone to the tight hip/loose waist/baggy crotch/odd length extravaganza.

After trying on a couple of pre-made toiles and doing a LOT of in-progress fitting, I made the following changes:

- added 1cm to the hips on the pattern
- added 5cm to the legs on the patten
- omitted the front darts
- swapped out the long, thin back darts for a couple of huge squat chunky things half the length and two and a half times the width
- pinched about 1cm out of the crotch seam
- added a slight tapering to the legs
- taken another 1.5cm or so off the waist once I got them finished and home in true slapdash fashion (no, it's not proper tailoring, but the waist fits, so I don't care).

These trousers have a concealed zip down the side. I put mine in, put the trousers on, did the zip up, and the zip immediately split. Note to self: shoddy market zips maybe not the best idea. They also have a faced waistline, which I'm not especially keen on, so if I make this pattern again I'll probably stick a waistband on.

I think for my first attempt at pattern-matching checks, it's pretty good. I know quite a few people thought it was a bit rash of me to use this kind of pattern for my first ever pair of trousers, but once we'd got past the 'have I cut it out right?' bit I was actually really glad to have it. You've got built-in guides all over your fabric! It's great! It is entirely possible that I'll take all of this back the first time I have to cut something out with no assistance from Julie the Magical Sewing Fairy, but for now I say, Yay Tartan! More tartan trousers!

These are by no means perfect trousers. The waistline isn't completely even (particularly around the zip), and despite understitching the facing and sewing it down to all the seams it still likes to bubble out of the top. I may make this pattern again, but not without a waistband of some sort.

However, another pair of these is not what is next for my trouser-constructing journey. Oh, no. My next trouser project will be a pair of Jen Trousers made from a completely accidental self-drafted pattern. Yes, accidental self-drafting. Story coming very soon...