Great pair of tailored trousers

It’s quite hard to find patterns for “classic” work trousers.  I wanted something straight rather than wide legged, but with pleats at the front, to copy my favourite shop bought work trousers, and couldn’t really find a pattern for what I wanted.  I was halfway through toiling the Adeline trousers as the nearest I’d seen when this pattern came out and I promptly abandoned the Adeline ones for this.

I did a proper toile and worked out everything fitted apart from a gap in the waistband at the back, a perennial problem for me.  Usually I solve this by taking more in at the back darts but this didn’t work as the waistband is lower than the natural waist, so this still left a gap. After some online research I discovered the solution is a curved waistband – the best instructions I found, and the ones I eventually relied on, were in a youtube video by jessica capalbo  on how to draft a curved waistband.  The front waistband pieces are already slightly curved in the pattern, but I re-drafted with a much greater curve in the back and that solved the issue.  I’m looking forward to making another pair.

I’m 5 ft 4.  I bought height size 2 and they were pretty much the right length based on the specified seam allowance.

The fabric is a fairly heavy woven cotton from New Craft House.  It’s slightly thicker than ideal when you get to the areas around the waistband where you have quite a few layers, so I’d look for something thinner next time.