Purple Reign Trousers

Wow! It’s a fantastic week for being Sew Grateful, dontcha think?! I was definitely surprised to see my Purple Reign Clovers featured over at the Sew Weekly on Tuesday. Thanks, Mena! And all the fab contributors! I’m wearing them as I type, and I have to say they are danged comfortable. For all the self-deprecation on that post, they are close to being a perfect fit and I’ll continue to work on this pattern. Once I’d abandoned the non-stretch muslin, progress changed drastically. Steph, you warned stubborn ol’ me! I’d like to make them a tad more snug, but don’t want the horizontal lines under my butt. Even my favorite jeans have those. My quads are definitely more muscular than my hammies, so fabric tends to bag back there. Maybe it needs to be pinched out a la a sway back adjustment, then length added back near the hem?

 

Oh, and all that talk about the color purple. I LOVE purple. And it’s one of a few colors that really flatters me. My parents were on to something when they named me. But after a childhood of everything purple, and people to this day saying silly things like “Lavender is wearing lavender”… well, we took some time off. Last year the slow embrace began, with my JJ/Carl shirt. Y’all are too sophisticated for such obvious observations. And know the difference between violet and lavender :)

The stretch orange interlining I used adds the perfect amount of substance, and feels so nice against my skin. As does the petersham waistband. I picked it up from Sunni for use in a circle skirt. Then thought twice about circle skirts and my figure. I have enough left (and another color!) in case I think thrice. And if not, this might be my new favorite waistband facing anyway. It’s sooo comfortable! I pre-shrunk the petersham, then gently stretched one edge while running the iron over it. This is the ingenious method I used to bind the interlining to the fashion fabric seam allowances. For the crotch, I simply serged and pressed to one side. Although I’d miscalculated the yardage for the red stretch sateen, these trousers still incorporate two colors from my fall/winter palette. My item list was a bit malleable, yet I still have one blouse, a dress and possibly another pencil skirt to go before I call it a wrap. The trench coat is ongoing, as usual… distractions abound.

Invaluable in getting this UFO wrapped up were two books that came just in the nick of time. The Perfect Fit (Creative Publishing Group) and Making Trousers (David Coffin) are my latest library additions. The second book doesn’t concern fit, but goes into great detail on construction. While this pattern will be an ongoing area for improvement, I was psyched to take down the Clover Sewalong widget. I replaced it with a Pattern Review widget, as I entered my Negroni in a little contest :) To top it all off, this class popped up in my inbox today. Serendipity? Market research genius? Who cares! Sign me up.

Oh, and check out the cake Mary posted! Earl grey chocolate with lavender ganache. Mmmm!!! I’ve always wanted to replicate the lavender crème brûlée once made for me, but I don’t have a torch. I think this will be on the V-day menu next week!