Tatjana Trousers in green wool

Happy New Year!  At the end of 2023 I ended up with 2 different pieces of green wool due to a mixup and the wool crepe has become a dress for Heather (will blog soon). So I had a piece of another green wool that had a nice drape and seemed perfect for some pleated trousers. Which it was!

It's not the first time I have used this pattern and I will probably use it again in the spring as I want some black or blue lightweight shorts. Also I'm teaching an online class starting on Tues. Jan 16 so I thought I would brush up on my trouser making. 

The weather was really gloomy last week and so I decided to take some indoor shots, and also to crop my top half which still looked like I had just got out of bed :).  

I did do a few adjustments on this pattern and also I didn't really follow the instructions.

• Cut size 44 
• Used the back pattern piece I had previously adjusted, details on this blog post. 
• Raised the waist height 1"
• Cut 4 separate waistband pieces and sewed them on the separately so I could adjust center back and side seams all the way up
• adjusted the front pleats, made the near center pleat less wide and also straightened the angle of the pleat
• raised the bottom point of the zipper up 1"

Here's a look at the front after I had put in the zipper and pockets. I always use a too long zipper and then just cut it down after attaching the waistband. I also pinned the pleats and decided on the final amount of pleat once I was attaching the waistband. 

Back view of the trousers.

On the hanger, you can see that the back rise has extra length due to the adjustment I linked to above. Also the seam at the side of the waistband.

On Instagram I asked what color top would go with these pants and got some good responses. So if I find a nice plaid shirting I will try that, I don't think I have any plaid shirts in my wardrobe now. 

As I mentioned above, I do have an online class coming up in a couple of weeks. Here's a link to register for this class:  Trouser Techniques Class online with Hello Stitch.

I have some in-person classes coming up as well. Hello Stitch Studio has the option to hold some 2-day classes in the bay area so I am teaching a Chore Jacket 

class in late January. Sat 1/27 and Sun. 1/28. I'm really excited to do a 2-day class which will give people opportunity to get near the finish line on their jackets. 

Here is the link to register and see all the details: Chore Jacket Class.

One more in-person class on January 12 is a Simple Top class which I will be teaching in Lafayette. This is a great class for people who are new to making garments as I provide the pattern and also samples to try on to help choose your size.  Here's the link to register:   Cotton Patch Simple Top Class Jan 

So that's the latest on classes. I was all set to sew myself a two-color wool coat, and I had prepared the pattern, made a muslin etc. The beauty of this idea is that it uses some pieces of coat weight wool remaining from other projects. However I don't think we are going to have any coat weather here in N. California this year. It usually is coldest in late Nov and Dec and it was barely coat weather then. So not sure if I will do it. But I might. Although I was sorting through my fabric stash the other day and came across some summer fabrics I never got around to sewing this year. Maybe I should get a jump on spring instead?  Stay tuned. 

Happy New Year sewing,

Beth

Today's garden photo: I am just about to give my roses their big pruning in the next week so here's a picture from last summer. No idea of the variety, it didn't do much the first couple of years but now reliably puts out these bright coral blooms.