Hello and welcome to another little update to my "Make-Not-Buy" Challenge! Today it's the turn of the trousers to be planned and organised.
Trousers are a real gap in my present wardrobe. I have always found it difficult to find a store bought pair that fit properly because there is over a 10 inch difference between my waist and hip measurements, something that modern jeans just don't seem to cater for! Also my love of vintage fashions has seen my wardrobe taken over by a plethora of pretty skirts and dresses, for me skinny jeans are something I just don't feel comfortable in anymore so out they went. I wouldn't say that this is necessarily a bad thing - I love my girlie skirts and dresses - but I'm missing the variety that a nice pair of well fitted trousers can bring. The obvious solution would be to make some lovely vintage inspired trouser-y things to plump up my wardrobe (no skinny jeans here!), so here's what I've got planned on the trouser project front:
The only trouser challenge that I set myself in my original post was a pair of 1930s style wide legged trousers, and they are still most definitely on the menu. I went with this beautiful pattern from Wearing History:
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| Aren't they gorgeous! Oh I want... |
I have seen these sewn up beautifully by Casey, so I know they are just what I'm after :) I'm also planning to use the Cupcake Goddess' trouser sew along as a guideline for my first ever trouser venture, I am a little bit nervous! But one of the things that I really love about this pattern (apparent from its gorgeous shape and high waisted goodness!) is that you can also make it up as shorts. Shorts some a little less nerve wracking than trousers, so maybe shorts will be my first trouser-esque venture... I already have ideas for the colour scheme, I would just love some candy coloured striped shorts, something like this perhaps:
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| Pretty stripes :) |
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| Or maybe yellow stripes? |
For the trousers I mentioned previously that I was considering either pale blue or pale pink linen style fabric, and to be honest I think the practicality of blue may be winning over the whimsical nature of pink, but I'm still open for discussion. What do you think?
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| Is pink too much?? |
The next project in the trousers section of my challenge is an expression of my desire to look like this fabulous character:
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| Yes, we can do it Rosie! |
Yes, I want to be Rosie the Riveter, and there's only one way to achieve that in my mind: dungarees! I have always loved dungarees, as a child I would always steer my mum towards them when we were shopping, I'm sure I owned about 5 pairs at one time, all in different colours and lengths. Sadly, when I hit puberty I no longer felt the love for the dungarees and so my present wardrobe is dungaree free. I think it's about time they made a come back in my life, and so when I found this pattern for a mere £3 at the Fleetville Vintage Emporium I knew it was fate!
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Don't these make your heart flutter?
Plus I love her hair and her red scarf :) |
I'm just in love with the details of these pattern: the high waist, the straps at the back, the wide legs and the deep pockets on the front. It's everything that a pair of dungarees should be :) This project will be much more challenging for me than the high waisted trousers above for various reasons (pattern scaling is needed, there are a lot more tricky details, I've never sewn with denim - stretch or otherwise - before...) so this will definitely be a step-up-challenge after completing the trousers and/or shorts. It might be a while before I tackle these bad boys, but I'm determined to give them a go. Just think of all the advanced sewing techniques I'll learn when I make them, how exciting!
My final project in the trousers section of my challenge doesn't really fit in any of the groups because it has so much going on with it, but I decided to include it here because the first thing that attracted me to it were the shorts! Here, take a look:
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| Summer sports ensemble anyone? |
Isn't this pattern just dreamy? I love how perfect it would be for a holiday, you literally have about three different outfits here all in one! When recently reading out 1940s fashion I became fascinated with the new idea of beach and sports wear being acceptable as everyday wear too, and this style of a blouse and skirt with hidden shorts really attracted me. After all it means you can head outside on a summer's day looking fabulous but still be suitably dressed for a run around or a play if the mood takes you! Just whip off the skirt and voila! A matching shorts and blouse ensemble! I love how whimsical yet practical the whole thing is.
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| A closer look at those yummy shorts |
Strictly speaking this outfits falls under three of my titles - tops, skirts and trousers - but it fills gaps in all of those places so it's really win win from every angle :) Plus I think matching outfits are utterly adorable, so I'd love to have one of my own! I've yet to think about what colour combinations I would use of this pattern, any suggestions? As always I love to hear your thoughts about these things! Another really lovely thing about this pattern is that I do think it could work for autumn/winter wear too, because it includes a long sleeved version of the blouse and just look how cute it looks with gloves and a hat:
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| Very chic :) |
So that's it for the trousers part of my challenge, 4 projects in the pipeline: a pair of shorts, some trousers, some dungarees and a whole matching ensemble planned. I've definitely got my work cut out for me! Who knows how many of these things I'll have gotten done by the end of the challenge, but I'm going to try my best, because I want them all!
I must say that all this organisation is really getting my creative juices flowing, I cannot wait to get home and make a start on these new projects! Next up I need to sort out fabrics and then I can get to work, exciting times :)
Bye for now!
