Simple Sew Shannon trousers: a work in progress

Hi everyone! It’s the first day of Sew My Stash September and I’m here today to show you the last of my August makes. I’m gonna include it in SMSS, though, because this fabric has been in my stash for at least a year. I bought it in Balham with the intention of using it on the Simple Sew Shannon trousers and I’ve finally got round to making them up.

I got the pattern free with an issue of Love Sewing a year or two ago and liked the look of them immediately. In a world of skinny jeans, wide-legged trousers are a breath of fresh air when you have chunky legs like mine. I thought I could also see myself in the shorts, which isn’t something you’ll often hear me say. It must have been love. It’s not quite over now, but this relationship needs work.

The wrinkles across the front look worse than they actually are – think that’s mostly because I’m pulling on the pockets with my thumbs.

Now, I’ve never fitted a pair of trousers without help before. My last pair were the Sew Over It Ultimate Trousers which I made a couple of years ago (and then promptly shrank in the wash). With this in mind I figured that these could be a wearable muslin at least. Based on my measurements (note that the pattern envelope only gives finished measurements) I cut a 12 at the waist and graded to a 16 at the hips. The fit is perfect round the waist but I need at least a size up around the hips – I could barely get the zip up. I let them out a bit, meaning a bunch of tedious unpicking, and minuscule seam allowances. You can see in the photos that the zip is still pulling so I think they still need extra work for me to be happy.

Yep, there’s a little bit of pulling there, and I’m not entirely happy with the way the pockets lie.

Part of the problem was due to the construction which I found downright odd. I sewed them up as per the instructions but I wish I’d read them through properly and made the decision to do something a bit more sensible. Instead of assembling the legs before attaching the waistband, you stitch the crotch seams and one side seam first, so the waistband can go on flat. You then put the zip in, without sewing up the inside legs first. This means that if you follow the instructions to the letter, you can’t do any fitting until they’re just about finished. I’d have preferred to try the pants on, sans waistband, and then adjust as appropriate. Oh well, lesson learned.

Yeah, bit odd. 

So, yeah, the fitting was a ballache, and if/when I make these again I’ll need to make some significant changes to the pattern. But that’s not my only beef with the Shannon trousers. The envelope is marked as being for “adventurous beginners” and there’s nothing too difficult in terms of actual sewing, but the instructions are very brief, missing out important details that I think would be useful for beginners. For example, when you sew the waistband and facing, it would be good to grade the seams, and I’d want to keep it lying flat with something more secure than understitching. It also assumes that you know how to insert an invisible zip properly, because the instructions are basically inadequate. This kind of thing is fine if you’ve got a few projects under your belt, but if this is your first foray into zips you’re probably going to want your hand held a bit more. Hell, I need a reminder about invisible zips every time and I’ve put loads in!

We’re going away this weekend so these photos were taken really quickly this morning, hence the wet hair. Kevin Keegan perm is not usually the look I go for. 

It’s funny what a difference a wash and press can do for your makes. When I tried these on fresh off the machine I was convinced they were destined for the bin. But now I’ve tried them on again I’m feeling a bit better about them. Because of the tiny seam allowance I’m not sure they’ll get a lot of wear (something about it makes me nervous), but it shouldn’t take too much to alter the fit on the pattern. I’ll have another go, but it may be next month before I revisit them.