I have decided that 'Begin Again', starring Keira Knightly, is one of my favourite films. Her characters wardrobe is to die for. So simply chic, so elegantly nonchalant. I wanted some of her elegant nonchalance for myself so I set about making a version of her navy pleated high waisted trousers for myself. The pattern I used was New Look 6871, which I heavily suspect is from the 80s, although I can't find any solid proof to confirm that. It features a high waisted trouser, pleated at the waist with a slightly tapered leg. Bingo.
I sewed them up in some gorgeous navy blue linen, found at Goldhawk Road for around £12 per metre. I was running out of money at this point so I had to stop at 1 metre which wasn't quite enough for full length trousers. It's alright, I was going for the cropped look anyway. I do wish that I had enough for pockets and cuffs. They would have been the icing on the cake.
The sewing up went super smoothly until I got to the fly front. This was a nightmare. I attempted to understand the patterns instructions and then looked at Heathers Ginger Jeans fly insertion post and then got thoroughly confused and went back to the pattern instructions again. I think I ended up sewing some sort of fancy lapped zip by accident.
Next time I would add the fly onto the pattern pieces instead of cutting them separately like the pattern dictates. This way I could follow Heathers instructions properly. I'm still not happy with how it looks, as the metal part of the zip is really obvious so I think I'll rip it out, sew that seam up and insert an invisible zip down the side seam instead.
Lauren xx