Hello. I thought I’d share a slightly less intense make with you than my last one … this was a welcome break from my three piece suit.
In February I made Burda 6791 jogging shorts, I thought I’d tweak them a bit for this pair. Firstly I made the long length. I only cut one pocket facing (the back one) so I could leave out a bit of bulk. I left the fly open and applied snaps (we’ll see how user-friendly this is after a couple of litres of water…) and I added a welt pocket to the back.
I’d picked up some fleece backed jersey last time I was at Goldhawk Road, only 1.5m (2.20m is recommended) but made them fit by turning the back leg upside down.
I made the same size as last time. They’ll be a close-ish fit but plenty of room to move in. And I cut to the longest length (adding about 3-4 cm) because I wasn’t planning on cuffing the hems. As I was cutting, I noticed how narrow the legs were, I tried tapering out a little on each, but my cutting layout didn’t leave me much room… I only ended up with about a 1/2 cm extra on the fronts and 1cm on the backs.
If you check out the pattern picture they are pretty narrow at the ankle. Now, I’m a child of the 70’s and although I know I can’t go running around in bell-bottoms aged 45, I do lean toward a straight leg rather than tapered. That said, I’m pretty happy with the overall shape of these. But now I’m getting ahead of myself.
I won’t repeat the whole process here – check the link to the shorts if you want more of a step by step – I’ll just explain the alterations I made.
- Back pocket.
I cut a long rectangle out of the last scrap of fabric (only 1.5m, remember…) interfaced one end and positioned the pocket using another pattern.
Mark the pocket opening and stitch parallel lines (of exact length). The right sides of the fabric should be facing each other.
Cut through the centre of the stitching and out to the corners. Cut right up to, but not into the stitches.
Push everything through the hole, give it a wiggle to make it square then a good press.
Fold the bottom up, then back down to form the welt and press it again. From the front, lift the leg out of the way and sew down the little triangles to hold the welt in place.
Line up the top and bottom edges of the pocket piece and sew them together. Press the seams open.
Finish the edges of the pocket (& the welt if you can reach it) and give it all a good press.
- Front pocket.
I used the same technique as my ‘grown up baby‘ outfit from new year…!
Just cut the back pocket facing and leave out the facing with the curved pocket opening (this also helped with fitting into less fabric).
Overlock, zigzag or just leave the pocket opening raw (as jersey doesn’t fray). Press the seam allowance over and stitch down.
Finish the curved edge of the pocket facing if you want to, then pin and sew it in place on the trouser fronts… (#rainbowseams all the way!)…
I used a heat erasable pen to mark the edge of the pocket on the front, then lined this up with the edge of the sewing foot.
Ta-dah!
- Fly opening.
After overlocking the fly & crotch edge of both front pieces, I put a strip of interfacing on both sides of the fly facing (I would have interfaced it first but hadn’t decided on the opening then). I drew two dots to mark the snaps and used a pin to line them up on the other side.
I used a hole punch to make the holes, then put the snaps on. If you’ve never done them before, the only really tricky bit is lining them up, so don’t be afraid of them! A good squeeze with the whatever-it’s-called and they’re all done.
Next I sewed up the crotch seam, stopping at the dot.
Fold everything away and sew down the left fly facing…
Then baste the facings together at the waist and run a few stitches at the bottom corner to keep it in place…
As this is, like, my third elasticated waistband now, I’m starting to feel a bit more confident with them! I did it the same way as the last time, following the instructions to the letter, except I did stitch the seam allowance at the ‘open’ side… the last one was only about 1mm apart (and on the inside…) but I’m much happier with this one!
(Here I will confess: I haven’t actually stitched the gap closed on either pair yet… I could blame it on all sorts of life/ time constraints, but honestly, I did enough hand sewing recently with that suit! And anyway, they’re holding together so far!)
I have put a cord in since taking these photos, but I’ve left the hems unfinished again, for some reason I prefer it…? They’re really snug on my ankles (& I always thought I had skinny ankles… maybe not…?) which I thought I wouldn’t like, but since they’re not too full on top – like most shop bought joggers – the slim leg is more in keeping, to my eye at least.
Now, they may indeed be jogging pants, but please don’t think for a second that I’m going to start running around the streets of london in them; I’m no jogger. I’ve never had a pair of joggers that I’ve really liked before, and so am still unsure of how to treat them… so in lieu of a run, I took them out for a pint instead…
Happy Sewing!
Notes to self:
- Maybe just add another centimetre to the ankles on the next pair.
- Lower the back pocket about 2-3cm, I forgot the pattern I traced it off also had a yoke 🤦♂️
- Get some thinner jersey for a summer pair (these are fantastically warm!)
These are great, casual & comfy so much more versatile with out the ribbed cuffs. The ribbing always reminds me of children pajamas.
You look quite handsome lounging at the pub.
Thank you!
Yes, like lion pj’s or something 😂 (… although I wouldn’t mind a pair of lion pj’s!) 👍🙏
Those look very respectable in the pub. The first photo confused me for a second because it looked to me like trousers worn below abs of wood, and then I figured that it was indeed wood, the floor, and not some unlikely physical asset! You had me going for a minute there.
Haha, yes, it’s been a long time since my abs felt like wood! 💪😅👍
I was quite impressed for that moment and thought that once a week teaching dancing was doing wonders for you!
But seriously …. nice pocket details and a lot less bulky for sure. Never been a fan of ribbed cuffs on ANY sort of trousers joggers or whatever and if you can get away without messing about with a hem the I’m all for that too! Nice job Sir!
Lainey x
Thanks! I might just turn into a jogger-convert! … I always used to cut off those ankle cuffs back when I was a dancer! 👍🙏😊
I was so hoping you’d recreate the left hand pose on that pattern envelope then :’D
Haha 😂 I still might! 👍😂
I have made joggers but Kwik sew pattern, looks good and now more welt pockets. Can I ask just bought a Burda trouser pattern can you tell me how their sizes go. I now need about 38 or so waist (put on weight) Burda size go 40,42 and 44 but comparing pattern pieces to Kwik sew appear smaller, did you find that with your suit trousers. Trying to decide which to cut out. Burda appear not to answer my emails. I have wasted material cutting wrong sizes.
Thanks for any suggestions.
Bill
Hi, yeah, Burda sizes are different, they all are really… when I used to buy trousers I’d get a size 30” or 32” waist. My actual measurement is 34” and in Burda I’m a 38… I think it’s a size rather than a measurement…?
So, my advice is, check your measurements against those on the pattern rather than the sizes. In my (limited) experience Burda don’t tend to overdo the ‘ease’ like kwiksew do.
Hope that helps!
Thanks for that appreciate your help, glad the wedding all went well.
First your joggers look terrific. As far as Burda patterns, you need to look at the sizing chart either printed on the tissue paper or on the instructions. The most important measurement for pants is the hips. If you can’t get the pants or joggers over your butt, then its too small. Burda is also good at publishing the finished garment (hip measurement) on the pattern piece, this will give you a good indication of the wearing ease for your size. Therefore if you like something with no ease and fits more like tights then choose a finished hip measurement the same as your actual hip size. As far as the waist, you can alway easily increase or decrease, but you can’t do that with your hips. The same applies to shirts, jackets and jumpers.
That’s great advice 👍 thank you. It’s frustrating when the finished measurements aren’t given, because the variety in ease is tremendous!
👍🙏