I wear the trousers – Pauline Alice Port Trousers

My love for my Sew Over It Ultimate trousers is well known – if you follow me on Instagram they have been a regular fixture in my Me Made May posts for the last two years and I wear them pretty much every week.

This year I wanted to try something different. One of the things I miss on the Ultimates is a waistband to hold them in place,  mine are in a stretch fabric and the waist tends to bag out over the course of a day.I bought Pauline Alice’s Port trousers not long after they were released – they have a waistband and fly front but they are a bit more relaxed through the leg than the Ultimates. I was really happy with my Rosari skirts, so I decided to spend part of my Easter break facing the hardest sewing challenge of all – trouser fitting…

There are a lot of really useful trouser fitting posts out there – the ones I referred to this time were

Closet Case Patterns post on common fitting adjustments for jeans and pants

Post by Artesane on Pauline Alice’s blog on how to alter the crotch and another post on adjusting the leg.Both of these are really comprehensive and easy to follow. If you have struggled with trouser fitting you will know that usually there are a combination of fitting issues and there is a certain amount of trial and error in getting a reasonable fit (and it varies every time depending on the fabric you use..)

My personal fitting issues are many and varied – my hips are at least one size (and often two) above my waist size, the widest point of my hips is relatively low and I have a lot of fullness at the back (is one way of putting it..), and rather generously proportioned thighs.I hoped to streamline the fitting process by using the size that corresponded to my measurements but comparing the crotch curve and hips sizes to the final altered pattern piece that I ended up with for the Ultimates and making some changes upfront.

My meaurements put me at a 44 waist and a 48 hip – but you can see from my back pattern piece – below – that I increased the raise, adding a wedge of about an inch from the crotch seam narrowing to nothing at the hip as well as using the cutting line for size 46. I lengthened the crotch – adding in slightly more than half an inch and added a little bit extra on the very end of the seam (full seat adjustment).I scooped out the crotch curve a bit more – taking it to the line for size 42 rather than 48. I had to add a bit more onto the hip edge – partly compensating for this adjustment and partly because I need a lot of fabric there!

At the waist I actually reduced the size – cutting down closer to a size 40. I cut more generous seam allowances on the legs so that I had scope for further adjustment. I didn’t need much of the extra allowance but its always easier to have it rather then not!

I think for next time I need to add a slight wide calf adjustment – I can see the fabric pulling to the back below the knee.

This fabric is black stretch cotton sateen from Clothspot – also used for my very favourite Ultimate trousers. I think it is this one – or very similar and they usually have one or two different colours of this type of fabric. I had completely forgotten about buying this fabric – so this is a complete bonus!I’m not claiming the finished version is perfect by any means – when I look at the pictures I see various lines which probably indicate that there are more adjustments I need to consider – but they are comfortable, don’t gape at the waist when I sit down, fit my waist and my hips and I don’t have to squeeze into them!

I’m so pleased to have another trouser option now – I will definitely be making more soon, so I have lot of choices to wear with my Melilot shirts!

Back again soon to tell you more about the tops I am wearing here…