I like the look of this outfit in the January Burda style magazine:
I originally intended to make the jacket from brocade and the trousers in red coated cotton for Christmas /New Year. Anyway if you read any of my posts around that time you will already know I was ill so did not do any sewing. I planned quite a few projects but have just about caught up only now with where I was hoping to be by New Year. Possibly I was just being a bit too ambitious! Either way I need to get round to making something for spring now. I am thinking spring is green, Maybe aim for a kind of city version of a Robin Hood look?
Well last summer I bought several different colours in a stretch coated cotton fabric that looks like faux leather. I saw the Burda patterns and thought I could use some of this for the trousers. When I came to have a closer look at the fabric though I realise that the green at least is very very stretchy despite being woven. I mean more stretchy than most cotton lycra wovens are, so I reckon I can get a similar look from just making the trousers up using a normal leggings pattern. The stretch gauge on the top of the envelope says my fabric is far more stretchy than this pattern needs so I went ahead and cut the trousers/leggings out. Well why sew a zip if you do not need to? I mean zips cost money and I am not the best sewist around so simpler is probably better for me. Maybe I will sew the zip version later when I have made a few more successful garments because I have had a few distasters recently.
Assuming this works I intend to make a few more pairs in different colours too. I am using the same leggings pattern as I did for the 10: Tartan leggings. The alteration is simply to cut a waistband because I found the pattern to be somewhat low waisted and I did not want that. The waistband is simply cut from the jeggings view of the same pattern. I cut it in a larger size but found I didn't need to so next time will cut the same size as my leggings pattern. Also I am intending to lower the front at the waist on my next pair since I like higher back waist but do not really want a high front waist. Basically this pattern does not fit my body so I intend to adapt it. Will have to trace it of course and make a muslin but then at least it should fit better.
Again I cut view C of Mcalls M6173. I did like the very long legs on that view so I am sticking with them for these trousers as well. Then I just serged everything and sewed hems with a twin needle.
I know they are leggings but for some reason I think of wovens as trousers. Or should I be calling them Jeggings? Jeggings never existed when I was a kid. When I first wore leggings I was 14-15 in the 70s and they were called Long Johns. Then we had leggings the next time around which was probably early 80s and into the 90s. I am not sure when Jeggings first happened. Anyway back to this sewing...............
And here they are:
I am quite pleased with this project. I have this fabric in 3 other colours as well so I think probably I shall make at least 3 more pairs of these and maybe also a jacket.
Somehow I think leather leggings should be tighter than I have made these. So maybe the next pair should be a smaller size. On the other hand having them slightly bigger means they are less likely to get "knees" in them or rip. Also although these are stretch ( in fact very stretchy) they are still woven so not quite the same as a spandex fabric.
What do you think?
All comments welcome.
Thanks for reading to the end of the post.
Bracken
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