Made Up Challenge Complete!

So...it's been a while. Like, a long while. I have been sewing, but just haven't been blogging. I have, however, been travelling (to NZ) and hosting almost all my family from NZ over the summer. It's been wonderful, but I've been properly lax on the communications. I've had curtain-making lessons from Mum, knitting lessons from Grandma, and have made a number of things. But finally I am blogging about something...my first ever pair of trousers, made in honour of the wonderful 'Made Up' initiative, by Karen at 'Did You Make That'. Such a wonderful cause, and a great motivator to push me to try something totally new.

Making trousers kind of scares the bejesus out of me. Having made a pair, it still does! But still...I did it. And while they are FAR from perfect, they do resemble trousers and when I wore them outside, no one pointed, laughed or stared at me, so I'm guessing that's a good indication that they do at least pass as trousers.

So. Here:

Apologies for the truly terrible pictures. I forgot this needed to be blogged about today, and so had to take pics indoors at night. Please excuse the poor lighting, unfinished floors and walls and the photo-bombing cat. Keepin' it Real. 

The pattern was Sew Over It's Ultimate Trousers, and in the pic I'm wearing them with yet another Emmeline Tee (yes, I admit it, I have a problem! But it's my fave tee, no question!) I made up a test version in calico first, made loads of size adjustments, and then went ahead (with time running out!) with these in a lightweight stretch black denim that I got on Goldhawk Road. I am bigger in the waist than the hips and arse, which frankly makes sizing a pain (it's so much more normal to grade up to a curvy hip/butt shape than to be fat in the stomach area and scrawny of arse). My practice run was miles too big, so I took it down a size, but I think I could have gone even smaller because I ended up taking out quite a bit in the side seams and legs. They look ok if I pull them up, and stand still. See:

Excuse the bum pic, but I think they actually look like they fit quite well in the behind.

But. Well. There are lots of issues with these, and to be honest, I'm not at all sure how to fix them! I think the next pair I might shorten the crotch? There's a lot of bagging/wrinkling, and if I move or walk (quite important in life, generally!), then they slide down and I get a saggy nappy situation. See:

It's actually even worse than it looks here. I reckon they hang below my crotch by a couple of inches.

But they also sit pretty low on my waist, and I'm not sure if that's normal? And the facing at the back, despite having understitched it, it flips out when I move.

So, yeah, not a wild success. I think I need a higher waist, a shorter crotch and probably a few other alterations in my next pair of trousers.

BUT. I have learned that I can make trousers in one form or another, and that's pretty cool! I'm so glad I gave it a shot, and that I did it for a great cause! It's a pretty amazing thing that the sewing community has managed to blow Karen's target out of the water! Great work all round chaps! x