As promised last week here is my fourth iteration of McCalls 7445 Wide leg cropped trousers/culottes.
If you’re new to my little corner of the blogoshpere I shared the other three versions of this pattern in my last post here and there are also posts here and here.
For this (I won’t say my last, because you never know 😉 version I’ve used a lovely mahogany/burgundy stretch viscose blend crepe from Sewisfaction. It’s a soft, slightly lightweight and very drapey fabric, and has a sort of woolly feel. At the time of writing this post there is still some of this colour left.
So, design-wise I chose to do the high waist version with a waistband. I have quite a flat bottom and high hip bones, AKA no waist definition. So anything less than a high waist just rides down constantly causing me to be very grumpy at having to constantly yank them back up. Nobody wants to feel that uncomfy in their clothes! I prefer to put something on and forget about it.
Fit tweaks that I did to the pattern whilst cutting out, involved scooping out and lowering the back crotch curve and widening the waistline.
Now, in my mind, I had planned on styling my culottes/trousers with thick opaque hold-ups and either knee-high or ankle boots. I immediately realised that the woolly nature of the fabric would mean that I’d have fabric sticking to my legs. Not fun! I thought that the best solution was to add a half lining to the inside of the front legs only. Read on for how I did it:
McCalls 7445 modified with a half lining
I decided that I would incorporate the lining into the pocket construction so that I could cut down on added bulk. With this in mind, I used the front pattern piece, minus the pocket back section and cut the lining out with a length that finished below the knee area.
Next, I reinforced the edge of the pocket opening with some strips of iron on interfacing.
I stitched the lining to the front trouser fabric around the square pocket opening seam, then I turned it through, understitched, pressed it well and topstitched.
Next, I overlocked around the pocket bag/hip section and after lining up the markings I simply stitched it in place onto the lining. Here’s a couple of photo details for you:
Once the pockets were finished I hemmed the lower edge of the lining with a simple row of overlocking and then basted the lining to the front legs all the way around within the seam allowances.
Construction for everything else after I’d done the pockets was pretty much the same as with any other trousers…front seam, zip, inside legs, crotch seam and side seams. By the ,
When I overlocked along the edges where I had a lining layer as well, unfortunately, it proved to be a bit shifty and the lining pushed along. I found that by machining the edges together first, using a straight stitch and my walking foot, it helped to hold the layers together and then when I overlocked everything stayed put nice and evenly.
I was in the mood to take my time on this project to get a nice finish on the inside as well as outside, so I made a nice little zip guard and I bound around the edges of it with some of the lining fabric. I also did a Hong Kong binding finish all along the edge of the inside waistband.
I sewed on a sturdy trouser hook and bar to fasten the band and then added my final finishing touch…my very own labels that came from The Dutch Label Shop 🙂
I already showed you my new labels in this post and if you hurry you can still order some custom labels for yourself and get 15% off by using code dreamcutsew15 at checkout. The offer runs until January 14th 2019.
I had originally meant to make and post about these trousers two weeks back but life got in the way. Better late than never though and they are proving to be insanely comfy. Here, I’ve styled them with the sweater I wrote about in this post and my burgundy Pikolinos boots. The fabric swishes and falls nicely and nothing pulls or constricts. They were worth the wait…I hope you agree too 😉
Okey dokey, well it’s getting perilously close to Christmas and I still have my December BurdaStyle Team project to complete. I might try and post it next week before I take a break but we’ll see. Stay tuned for side-stripe, ankle zippered trousers… 🙂
See you soon!
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Lovely outfit Diane and the coral colour sweater really suits you.
Author
Thank you, Caitriona!
I would never have thought of a half front lining. Brilliant idea. How far down your leg does the lining go? Just below the knee?
And thank you for figuring out a workaround for the Bloglovin problems.
Author
Thanks, Christine! Yes, I would say the lining probably finishes a couple of inches below the bottom of my knee cap.
And yes, I found out I can add links to a profile post on Bloglovin’ so it’s easy enough to just add a photo and a link to my posts 🙂
Beautiful pants. They must be a joy to wear. Thanks for all the detail about the half lining.
Author
Thank you so much, Christine!
That color combination has me reeling! Nice outfit!
Author
Thanks, Faye. I nearly styled the pants with a cream sweater and then I saw this sweater next to them and thought how unusual a combination it was.
Just to let you know that I’m also having problems with Bloglovin. It seems that my post didn’t appear so I reposted it, and now I can’t see it but others can! Anyway. Your culottes are brilliant. I always feel that half linings are a sign of expensive trousers, so love that you’ve added one to these trousers.
Author
Bloglovin is getting worse so it seems Sue and the customer support is diabolically bad. If you don’t actually follow your own blog on Bloglovin’ though, then you won’t actually see it in your feed. I decided to follow myself to keep tabs on things.
Thanks for the lovely comment on my trousers 🙂
Another lovely outfit Sue.
I am getting disillusioned with Bloglovin as I repeatedly get the message there is something wrong with my internet connection – ruins my morning sewing read and tea! That and the countless unsolicited quilting blogs mean I am increasingly downloading posts direct by email.
Whoops, apologies! Not Sue, Diane.
Author
Hehe, no worries Jane. Glad you like my outfit 🙂
You know it seems to me that Bloglovin’ must be way short on staff and also need more servers to cope with the workload and a better tech team!
Ah! These are so smooth and chic and the color is so rich! These will get worn to death, you can tell.
Author
Ooh, thank you Lia! They will get worn a lot I guarantee it 🙂
Thank you for the terrific half-lining tutorial, Diane. Lovely flared pant!
Author
Thanks, Joan! Glad you found it useful.