51: pattern hacked yellow african block printed baggy Bowie trousers

I made these trousers while ago now from a slim leg trousers pattern. Probably I should have worn them for #MMMay16 but I never got round to it. The fabric is African wax block printed batiqued cotton fabric which is I think just lovely. If I could have found more of this fabric I would have bought it. I have seen similar on Ebay but usually it is quite expensive. I bought this from a hairdressers in Coventry, UK. Sadly the hair dresser closed down shortly after when I went back to buy more.

Its the same fabric I used for my cullottes here: http://www.burdastyle.com/projects/circular-shorts-or-cullottes

I was actually inspired to make these by David Bowie pants from the 1970's. I owned a pair as a teenager similar to these though these probably are more MC Hammer than how I actually intended. I cannot right now find a photo of what I was trying to achieve.

To make them I used a Burdastyle pattern for narrow leg trousers. I cannot remember which one since I actually made these in 2013 according to my camera photo dates. My hacks are certainly far from professional but this did work.

Here is how I hacked the original pattern ( pretty inaccurately!):

 Then I drew round the bits:

 

I then did the same for the front but kept the front pocket identical to the original pattern. Unfortunately, I never took a photo of the front of the pattern when I hacked it but its pretty similar to the back but with the pocket bits cut out. This is the one thing that doesn't quite work because the pockets kind of stick out at the side. Also, if I repeated this I would make the ankles wider since Bowie trousers were more of a gradual taper but its not a bad job really and they are nice colourful unusual summer trousers to say the least.

I pleated round the front waist and added a flat waistband, but elasticated the back waist and I added two ties as a belt ( this bit is not usual for Bowie trousers but just seemed a good idea). The two ties are thin strips which I tie round the front. They are attached at centre back. They were made from scraps and are a bit bodged so have a raw edge which is starting to fray. I am better at making this kind of thing these days! Possibly I should also have added some belt loops to hold the ties in position but they do work reasonably well without and I have no more scraps of this fabric left.

This is the front of the trousers with pleats at the waist and a flat waistband. If you click on the picture you can see where I had to unpick and re-stitch but have yet to pull all the loose threads out!

This is the back with three rows of thin elastic in three seperate casings and the ties sewn on centre back:

This is how the trousers look with the ties done up:

 

I am not too sure how well you can see in the photo above so here is another showing how the ties go:

 
 The elasticated back:

Close-up of the side pocket:

 Anyway here are the photos:

My MC Hammer pose!

Thanks for visiting my blog,

Bracken