Several weeks ago I made a pair of striped breeches with the same cotton I used for my
striped waistcoat. I have many complaints about them.
They're lined in plain white cotton, because anything dark might show through the white stripes. The kneebands are lined in cotton twill, rather than being folded in half lengthwise, and I realize now that I should have been doing this on all my earlier kneebands.
The gap at the back has a small triangle of fine black cotton, and another one of those shoelaces.
The waistband is lined in the same off-white twill as the kneebands. The waistband buttons are some sort of white material with metal shanks, while the ones on the knee are 3/8"
bone molds covered in fine black cotton.
The buttonholes are by machine, as is most of the sewing, because the materials are neither good quality nor well-suited to breeches. They took a grand total of 20 hours and 39 minutes.
I wanted to try doing
ties on the knee instead of a buckle, but sadly the best thing I could find in my stash for this was terrible cheap satin ribbon, which very much needs to be replaced because it's slippery as hell and WILL NOT tie tightly enough. Next time I'm at the fabric store I'll look for grosgrain or cord or something.
The good news is that the crappy ties can be easily replaced! I attached them by poking two holes with an awl and threading the ribbon through, then secured them with some whipstitching on the backside between the two holes.
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| I can see by where the buttons ended up that I still need to taper my pattern more. |
Another big complaint is that the stripes don't go straight down, they bend. The outseam needs to be taken in a bit by the knee, and the inseam needs taking in a bit lower. I really should do this so I can make the appropriate adjustments to my pattern, but I'm not sure when I will as it's sure to be a big pain in the butt.
They look wonky from the back too.
At least they look okay from the side! Paired with the striped waistcoat they're a bit much, but I like the way they look with my
grey wool waistcoat.
I'll hopefully do the alterations on them sometime soonish...
Another great outfit. Too bad you don't have a form with the same size and shape as your body so you could pin your pattern on to make it fit the way you want it. It looks great with the different garments.
ReplyDeleteHugs, Mamoo
I do like the ditto look, but yes, with the grey wool waistcoat the effect is a little less overwhelming. :D
ReplyDeleteGood thing there's no striped coat to wear it with, because it would be quite blinding! Perhaps it would be better set off by a coat in a solid dark colour, like green or burgundy.
DeleteIndividually I think they'll go well with a lot of things though!