In this blog I want to show you how I made a pair of woollen trousers. The material used was originally a white blanket with a check / tartan pattern on it, but I dyed it some time back with nettles and as it didn’t go as dark as I wanted, it was left for another time.
Now before we start I have to admit that this has been the most difficult sewing project I have undertaken to date, the basics are quite simple but as you will see I went to some extra lengths to make these trousers a bit different and special to my requirements, the zipper fly was a real pain to work out, but I’m very happy with the results as I hope you will see.
So first of all I wanted these to be more than just a pair of standard woollen trousers, I have made plenty of basic gym style tracky bottom trousers before but nothing this complicated. I hope to be wearing them on some winter trips so I wanted them to be fully functional and have pockets I could use and be happy with, therefore I chose to copy the design of my Fjallraven trousers even down to the double leg pocket and saw pocket. Here’s how I went about it.
I firstly drew the pattern onto my wool blanket for the basic lay out of the legs both front and back sections, bear in mind these are not the same as each other, usually the back is slightly wider to accommodate your derriere. Once drawn on I cut out two of each of these ensuring I got two left and two rights not four all the same. I then pinned these all together and tried them on for size. At this stage it’s not an issue if they are too big as they need to be for now and we can take them in later. Happy with that I went about cutting out material for all the pockets I wanted. Importantly I also allocated material for the pocket flaps where required, a waistband and belt loops that would all be needed later on.
I then pinned the pockets that would be standard hand pockets at the hip, to the inside of the trousers and set about working out how to get these in place and have a nice natural opening to them. To do this would require me to sew part of the front leg to the front of the pocket and part of the back leg to the back of the pocket so that I didn’t simply sew up the pocket opening when sewing up the leg seams. It was a bit fiddly, but I got there. I then sewed up the pockets themselves and pinned them in place, then when happy I had it all correct I sewed them to the respective legs. This gave a very nice finish and a nice pocket opening on each leg / hip as you can see in the photo. With this done I could sew up the length of the legs to join the front and back sections of each leg together. So turning them inside out I sewed from the top down each leg paying close attention not to sew the pockets I had just fitted closed. I only sewed the outside seam so that this allowed me to lay each leg completely flat and open on the sewing machine to make sewing on the other pockets much easier.
I then set about making all the other pockets that I required, including the double leg pocket with bellow and saw pocket. Once I had these done I again first pinned them, then sewed them in place and added the closure flaps as required.
Now my Fjallravens have knee pads on and I wanted to add something similar, from the materials I had to hand, I chose some grey leather (old sofa leather thanks to a friend). I cut these to size and shape and pinned them in place. Now to hide the edge of the leather, I sewed these on inside out, so that the hem is hidden on the inside of the trouser leg, as you can see in the photo. I then made and attached the large bellow box pocket on the other leg and sewed this in place too.
Now that all the pockets were on there should be no need for me to flatten out the material for sewing, so I was able to sew up the inner leg seams but only to the crotch area, I didn’t want to sew up the fly section just yet. I pinned the fly and buttock sections and tried the trousers on again. Making some minor adjustments to the fit, I pinned the backside seam and then sewed it in place.
Now for the tricky part, designing and making a functioning zipper fly, after much looking, planning and messing, I think I had it sussed in my head, but transferring it onto the material was not as easy as it may at first look. I eventually worked out how to do it and set about sewing the fly section together and adding the zip too. I was constantly checking as I went along as I didn’t want to mess this up. After a few visits to the sewing machine the zipper was in place and the fly opening was sitting and working just as I wanted it to. I have to admit, I’m very pleased with it. Trying on the trousers again I realised that the waist was going to be too big so I would need the addition of a couple of pleats to bring it in slightly, which was fine as the Fjallravens have these too. So I pinned the pleats in place before starting to add the waist band. I purposely made the waistband longer than required so I could add a button fastening to it. I know, I hate sewing buttonholes but I thought it would be the best way to hold them.
With the waistband fitted and the buttonhole done and a button sewn on I needed to add belt loops, so I knocked up a length of material for these loops and then set about sewing them all in place at required intervals. Once these were done the only thing left to do was to adjust the length of the legs and hem up the trousers which was a quick and easy job, I left plenty of hem just in case I need to let them out a bit.
I tried them on after all this and I am absolutely blown away with the fit and feel, I really have exceeded my expectations here and I am extremely impressed with these trousers. Yes it was a fiddly, tricky task, but I’ll tell you what, these are great and I guarantee these will not be the only trousers I make myself. All I have to do is fit some poppers to the pockets, which I will pick up tomorrow at the market. I am so looking forward to giving these a proper run out in some winter environment and I reckon these will keep me nice and toasty and I will be able to have all my bits and bobs in all the pockets and feel right at home in my Tartan Trews!
So I hope you have enjoyed this blog, I know the details have been a bit vague but if I went into all the detail it would take up the whole of the internet. If you are thinking of having a go at these for yourself, please get in touch and I will be more than happy to help out wherever I can. But please note these are quite an advanced sewing project and I would highly recommend getting plenty of practice and some good sewing skills under your belt first. But as I said feel free to contact me if you want my help.