Sunday 26 September 2010

Cranberry Cords: SUNDAY UPDATE!



Good morning, sticker-outers, blender-inners, and assorted unlabelables, and sorry about those sweat stains; it was hot here yesterday.

I am close, so close to having these pants completed.

Basically, there's just the waistband left to do, but since this requires attaching hook and eyes and belt loops, it can't be rushed.  But things are looking good.

Yesterday, except to go running, I didn't leave the house.

I ended up using my self-drafted pants pattern, as many of you recommended, and adding all the various parts from the McCall's pants pattern I'd considered using.  Not so easy.  After cutting my fabric, I pin fit the pants.



Then I got to work on the side "slant" pockets.  Time consuming. 



The result, however, is worth it.



Then the fly had to be sewn in and that messy little area where fly, fly facing, and bottom of zipper fabric tape all come together, securely stitched.



The real challenge was the back welt pocket, my first.



Not perfect but good enough.  I shouldn't have had to topstitch along the top but I forgot to stitch the seam allowance closed from underneath.   I may fiddle with that a bit yet. 

Friends, corduroy is challenging.  It's thick and pillowy and if it's over-handled, starts to look it.  It can only be minimally pressed.  In making these pants I never ironed once, not so far.  It's been all about finger pressing and handling things gently.

After serging all the seam edges, I prepared to sew the pants closed and then tried them on.



I pulled them on, zipped up the front fly...



...and pulled the slider clear off the now-fully-zipped zipper!  (I had cut off the top to shorten it.)   The slider could not be put back on.  I had to rip the zipper out and install a new one.  A lost hour I will not get back.



The pants themselves are looking good and fitting well.  And I love the color.





I will finish these today; I must. So much more cranberry corduroy awaits.

Please get out of the house and enjoy the day on my behalf.  Why should we both have to suffer?

Happy Sunday, everybody!

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