Experimenting with trouser widths and toiling.

Experimenting

My sample of the trouser works well being three times the usual width of the trousers as of how baggy it has made the leg. This makes the trousers look more like a skirt which is what I want to achieve. I think the pleated fabric looks interesting being pleating further down the waist than the other sample. This would work nicely slightly peaking out the bottom of the bodice, making a feature. To ensure this would stay in place I think it would be a good idea to stitch it at the top and further down in the pleats so that they don’t completely un-pleat but I will allow the thrower legs to un-pleat so that they becoming baggy to disguise the shape. 

This trouser sample is successful as it does make the leg baggier, being double the usual width, but I do feel that it could be baggier to disguise the shape of the trouser further to make it look even more like a skirt. I think this could work better as I want to make sure that this look more like a skirt than trousers, especially when it is still until this is revealed when walking. I like the width of the pleats and this will be translated to the scale of the trousers so that the pleats aren’t too small or big but relate to the width of the trouser. I will ensure the pleats are not too big when making the fit to the original size of the waist so smaller gathers hide the shape of the trouser better, as if it fabric is pulled too far into a big pleats the trouser shape will be seen more. 

I think that this gathering sample has not worked as effectively as the pleating as of the length that needs to be brought it. It also only creates volume in the waist and then leaves the trouser legs looking flat. I also like the feature of the pleats being seen under the bodice and how it guides the trousers into the shape of lines. I found it challenging to gather the fabrics as of the thread snapping, a problem I have come across before, so I made the length of thread longer so it would gather easier and snap less. I feel as though this could be challenging with the large full scale trousers as of how wide the trousers are with gathering it down to the usual waist measurements. I will sew the pleats down 10cm down from the top so they still in place this far down and at the top so that you can see this feature under the bodice.

Toiling

I started by cutting out my trousers pieces, not being able to cut with the fabric folded as of the patterned fabric which will not be a problem for my final as of its a plain coloured fabric but I thought that it would look best with the fabric right sides up. I made sure to transfer the markings from patterns onto my fabric so that the pleats would be even and work to fit the waist in the end. 

I pressed these and used the cold air foot to make sure that these staying in place and were precise. I did this for each leg panel and then sewd 0.5cm from the top of the fabric so that the pleats would be sewn down with the stitches hidden in the seam allowance. I then constructing the trousers making sure to put RST so that the fabric would be the right way up with the pleats going in the correct directions towards the middle. 

Once the trousers were made, the width of the waist looked a lot larger than I thought it would be so I knew that making the waistband elastic would be necessary. 

For the waist band I found the process confusing with how to apply it to the trousers. On my first attempt I sewed the waistband like a tube sewing the rectangle into a loop and then threading the elastic through this loop before stitching the elastic together to be continuous. This didn’t work as it would not allow the fabric of the waistband to stretch meaning that it wouldn’t work as a waistband allowing the wearer to take it off and on and get past the hips with stretching without adding a zip or other fixing. As this happened, I talked to colleagues for advice and I rethought the way that I would apply the waistband. 

For this attempt I sewd the rectangle of fabric RST on the top of the trousers and then folded it towards the back and stitched in the ditched the seam catching the bottom of the fabric at the back of the trousers so that it created a tunnel shape, the waistband. It was slightly challenging to catch all the fabric in this when sewing the stitch in the ditch as the fabric twisted. I’m not sure how this happened but for my final garment I will take extra time in making sure that the fabric lays flat. Once adding the elastic in you can no longer tell that the fabric is twisted as of the gathering the elastic has added. It was hard to add the elastic in as of the difference in length compared to the elastic and waistband. I will make sure to measure twice and cut once for my final. Using the safety pin helped my ease the elastic into the waistband as of the very oversized waistband compared to the final measurement. I like the way that this waistband has turned out as it pulls the waist in to fit but still shows the shape and pleats below it clearly. 

Sewing the line 10cm down from the top to hold the pleats has worked well as otherwise, now that its on someone, you could tell that it would unfold and just add to the baggier trouser rather than staying in place.This trouser toile has worked successfully as when my colleague tried it on and moved around the trousers are concealed and look like a skirt until further movement is made which is what I wanted to achieve so I am happy with the result.