I’ve arrived at a halfway house to full on Stash-Org Nerdery. There are now lists. The lists have symbols next to the items to designate colour group and potential usefulness for quick quick or slow projects.
It took time, but balance that against the time wasted rooting through heaps of fabric in search of something surely bought a few years ago, only to find that the yardage was way too short, or the hand of the fabric was totally wrong.
DO you spend hours looking for stuff , or have you got it nailed?
Anyway, fully smugged up about my new found organisation skills I yanked out a piece left over from a previous project, knowing right off that a bit of pattern fandangling would be needed to get trousers out . How good that felt.
I only needed contrast fabric for pockets, waistband facing, turn up facing. The lists pointed me to the one and only choice. Yeah!
Ta Da! Keks in a zany cotton elastane print with black drill as contrast. Only a metre down in stash terms, but I’ll take that.
You will notice I go for a relaxed fit. I could have shaved off another inch, but nooooo. The grip quality of elastane gets a pass in the gym or dance studio, but should it cross into streetwear?
Cotton Trousers
Have you ever calculated how long a project has taken? Me neither. In the interests of getting a handle on stash-hours – Simple Trousers Time and Motion Study – feel free to skip.
- Stitch, turn, press and finish zip guard 7 minutes
Zip Guard
- Mark, stitchand press back darts 5 minutes
- Stitch zip to RS of right front,face down, lining up zip tape to centre line 3 minutes
RS ZIP
- Press a line 5 mm away from CF line on left front, 3 minutes
Left Front Prepared
- Stitch this to the other side of the zip 3 minutes
2nd Side of Zip Stitched
- Trim left side to 1 cm from zip edge, finish edge, attach zip guard 7 minutes
Zip Guard
- Press fold along CF line on right front, stitch part of crotch seam keeping zip guard free 5 minutes
Crotch Seam
- Bring CFs togehter, keep zipguard free, topstitch fly 7 minutes
Top Stitch Fly
- Face back pocket opening with pocket piece 5 minutes
Face with Pocket Piece
- With WS together stitch side piece to pocket piece along curved edge taking 7mm seam allowance, snip into curves, trim to 3mm, turn, press,
Stitch Pocket
and stitch round enclosing turnings in a french seam, 12 minutes
Snip Curves
French Seam Pockets
- Stitch across the waistline and side to hold pockets 3 minutes
Secure Pockets
- Finish edges of all main pieces 10 minutes
- Stitch side seams and press to the back 6 minutes
- Top stitch seam to heart’s content, or not 10 minutes (includes time for checking the stitch/thread ccombo looks ok)
Top Stitch Side Seams
- Stitch inseams, double stitch crotch seam, stitch down pockets for 25mm 10 minutes
Top Stitch Pocket Tops
- Stitch CB seam on waistband and waistband facing, interface, stitch top edge RS together and snip curves 15 minutes
- Stitch band to garment, grade turnings 10 Minutes
- Stitch waistband ends and turn, finish raw edge of band, stitch in the ditch to hold band facing in place, top stitch. 10 minutes
Stitch in Ditch
- Turn ups, join fronts and backs along side seams 3 minutes
- join inner and outer turn up pieces along top edge, turn and press, top stitch side seam to match garment side seam 7 minutes
- Finish lower edge, stitch turn ups to trouser legs, thread mark fold line 10 minutes
Attach Turn Ups
- Turn up hem and stitch, press turn ups and catch stitch between the turn up facing and garment at the side and inner seams 7 minutes
- Attach fastening to close waistband. 10 minutes
Comes out under 3 hours. That’s not too different from my best guess, two and a half hours for trousers not rushing, and confirms my feelings about sewing waistbands. Anyone else find these a pain? Just when everything is telling you you’ve almost finished, there’s a bunch of processes needing accurate stitching. Ugh!
You sew the zip in place before joining the fronts at the crotch? Seems so much easier than sewing the crotch seam first, but does it work?? Well, I’ll have to try it. You didn’t include time for laying out the fabric, positioning the pattern pieces and cutting. That always seems to take way too long.
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I like this order of construction because the hardest stuff is at the front end of business, and the tasks get more “oooh look pretty topstitching” towards the end. My exact level of brain power.
Loving the zany. Always love the zany.
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This way of putting in a zip is my favourite. You need a ‘grown on’ fly piece on the pattern. It works brilliantly. I agree cutting out time can be lengthy, as can toiles, alterations, fitting etc.
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I enjoyed reading this, its a bit nerdy of me, but it’s exactly why I read blogs. I can’t remember when I last did a fly front I switched to side openings and I totally eschew waistbands by doing a faced finish, lazy I know but quick. I did an inventory of fabric, honestly, it was one of the best things I did it saved loads of time and it does keep me mindful of what I have. Unlike you though I didn’t find my thread snippers, measuring tool, little scissors and more stuff than I can list, I think I must be a bit gung ho scooping stuff into the bin, unless I have family of borrowers nicking stuff.
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I’m pretty evil in defending boundaries round scissors, so when they go missing it’s either me or the caprices of the bad sewing fairy.
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I always laugh at those patterns that say 1 hour pants/trousers or 2 hour shirt…. sure. These look quite comfortable. I’d go for that!
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1 hour pants would have to be something like no side seam, overlock inseam, elastic waist, no pockets. I’ve maybe got close to this with pj pants, but this quite simple pair had 23 steps. I was surprised about that. Without listing them I thought zip, pockets, seams, waistband, hem.
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Yes. Definitely not 1 hour. It’s quite the education when you keep track of the time required. Then people complain when they get the bill I bet!
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That’s very interesting (and you sew faster than I do!) Waistbands are definitely a pain in the neck; I also find hems other than a very simple top stitched hem are surprisingly slow to do. I like to do my trouser pockets first and then make the fly front. I think the zip is too fiddly a place to start for me.
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I do the zip first because it’s fiddly! Once that’s in it’s plain sailing until the waistband.
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