These were meant to be an exact copy of my much worn and loved track pants made last year. However my sewing tends to be a little unpredictable!
This is last year's version:
Its the same fabric - as in left over from the first pair so the exact same fabric. Different coloured zips but they were bought as a multi-pack from amazon so exact same zips ( though this time orange zips not pink), the same sewing pattern - but here I cocked up.
This second version are much tighter.You can really see it on the back where they are very leg hugging. I do not think on the photos its as obvious from the front but in fact they are tighter there as well.
Since I love the first pair I really wanted these to be identical. They are not!
And to be honest there is quite a lot of sewing and so "work" involved in making these though I do find they fulfil my feeling of having achived something creatively both times I made these.
They are not a fast sew though and took several sessions over a few weeks of spare moments to make these.
I tend to have a difficult-ish project on the go at the same times as copping out and making more simple items. The simple ones fulfil my "fast fashion" needs ( though many last me years) whereas the harder to make items fulfil the need to improve my sewing and to challenge my making. These trousers are certainly better made than my first attempt. Though both are wearable.
And because I need to really concentrate when doing things like adding the zips and then the mesh panels etc and so working out how to make these is something that I take time to think about how to construct them. I also had to unpick a few bits and thats hard with this fabric. The fabric is a good warm fleece with a shiny outer and fleecy back and once made it wears and washes well but does damage easily with seam rippers and scissors. It reminds me of the 90s sheen suits fabric though is warmer and the back is more fleecey.
Its taken me wearing them 3 times over several weeks to get into these but in fact they are not only wearable but also nice to wear once I got into them. They fit more tightly than the first pair, yes, but actually thats not all bad.
I also made these too long so cut half the bottom zip off to make them the right length. I just then overlocked the edges and hemmed which will hopefully stop me losing the zip end/ runners ( the pulley bits on zips) when I undo them.
I could have redone the zips but was unsure I would be able to unpick the fabric without damaging it when the mesh panels were also already attached - so loads of rows of stitching - all zigzagged or zip foot stitched - and really the bottom zips do not need to be as long as they were. They do now really need to be there to get these trousers on and off though, so now they are not just for decoration like on the first pair. They serve a needed purpose. These almost fit as tight as leggings especially if the bottm zips are completely done up. I actually like them with the mesh panels showing at the moment but I do have that choice.
Of course I eventually worked out what I had done wrong to make them much tighter, though I needed to go back to the book and work my way through the instructions. Then it was easy.
Having previously successfully made some trousers from the book ( Make Your Own Activewear by Melissa Feyr) I thought (wrongly) I knew what I was doing - but no I did not. I should have just double checked before I cut them out.
I know I cut the same size as before because the same cut lines were there and I changed nothing as far as I could see. But, the pattern for these is a basic block not an actual pattern. You are meant to use it to make several different designs and to eventually make your own designs if you want to.
I never added the seam allowances!
They are not included in basic blocks - ever - because its harder to alter them to get a good fit or change the pattern to make different designs so they never have a seam allowance on the blocks, but I forgot that.
So the moral here is read the instructions and refresh your memory before you cut!
Really I am lucky I cut out the baggy loose fit trousers not the tighter fit block used to make the leggings because they would not have fitted had I done that. I feel these fit more like old style ski trousers from the 70s ( I have a couple of old Burda pattern books from that time) and thats not necessarily a bad thing, it just took a while to get my head round the fact they are not quite what I had meant to make, but still the fabric is not ruined as I had originally thought when I first put these on. My mirror showed them as OK and wearable, which they are, and because the fabric contains lycra its OK for them to be tighter.
And this being my 3rd wearing I have now got into these because they fit nice actually and are warm and cosy for nasty rainy March days in the UK.
But I do still want to make second pair of last years baggier version so I need to find some suitable fabric for that at some point. Mind you for this year and this years planning I may just stick with these now and move on. These do work. They serve the purpose and really its probably nice to have a change. I learned something valuable as well here - check the instructions and do not just trust my own memory.
And after all I planned for lots of different projects this New Year and I would very much like for once to actually be able to get to next New Year in 2024 and tick a few off.
Thats something that does not often happen and usually I still have loads I never achieved, so this year I need to make an effort and move onto the next thing on the list.
Also its March and the daffs are in full bloom now and tulips are up and will soon also flower, and its officially the spring, so time to think of warmer weather and less mud and going out places and not just keeping warm and cozy.
It takes me quite a while to make things - that may not show on the blog because I try to post every week but often thats because, like now, I have loads of easy "unworn-so-far" TNT ( tried and tested patterns) makes that I can talk about while making the more difficult makes. I think there is a pile of 4 or 5 different things I have yet to even wear let alone think of taking photos of. Its all stuff that happens between the challenging makes. I just make the odd item here and there ad finish and then eventually wear it. Or I visit a shop and see something I can easily copy.
But it keeps me happy because its nice to feel you have managed to make something even if its a straight forward make you have made a hundred times before - ok a slight exageration there! I do not think I yet made 100 of any one thing. But those TNT patterns really do make me stay happy. I also virtually never waste fabric when using them. Like most people, I love a new top or pair of leggings, and its so tempting when you go shopping to buy something, and making easy fast makes, well it stops me spending hard earned cash on cheap rubbish from supermarkets or high street shops, when I know at home I have X number of unworn new pairs of this or that yet to be worn. Or I have this bit of fabric will make the same item and it will fit me better than that shop bought model and cost less than half as well - though usually I already have the fabric, but that fabric did cost and weirdly I often remember exactly what that bit of stashed fabric cost me. So by making the faster stuff I save money, and satisfy the need to create. And also the need for fast fashion I suppose. Though I live outside the normal fashion world and have done now for many many years. Thats one thing I achieved when I started this particular blog. I stopped buying clothes.
In fact so far since this blog began back in October 2015, I have bought oly a very small number of "new" items of clothing - just some underwear and one coat which is a winter ski jacket bought in a sale and was cheaper than I could have bought even the outside fabric for let alone the lining or zips and its unlikely had I attempted that make that even now, I could not have made it as well as the one I bought. There are limits to how much I can really make myself. But most every day clothing can be made easily, more cheaply, and better than that available in high street shops. And by making your own clothing you are in essence opting out of the status quo in a small way. I like to think that anyway.
But to do that, you do need a stash of fabric. Thats because to achieve this you buy when its cheap and when its available not when you probably want to use it. For example glittery, party fabrics are usually cheapest in summer, when you want to probably use that fabric at Christmas. Or swimwear fabric is often cheapest in winter. And so you get a stash. (So now I justify keeping my stash!) Its a much smaller stash than it was a year or so ago though, so I feel less guilty to own it. Though I am still aiming to reduce the more traditional cottons and wovens further this year. I think the knits are pretty much now under control.
But anyway, still I need a new challenge for the spring and to fulfil my New Years resolutions for 2023.
Take care and have a great weekend,
Bracken
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