Linen Pants: Two Steps Forward and One Back

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This weekend, my mojo was nowhere to be found. I should have known better than to try to force myself to sew or knit. It was two steps forward and one step back with my jeans styled linen trousers.

Steps forward:  I sewed the zipper fly and finished the inseams. This is what the faux Hong Kong seam with underlining looks like once the seam is sewn.

Isn't this a great finish for a ravelly linen?

Then I sewed the CB seam, which I also did as a flat felled seam. So, the insides of these trousers could not look better - so neat and finished!

I also attached the waistband and started adding some decorative stitching. Here's the zipper fly and waistband. My crack stitching could not have been better, and I've been having fun using remnants to make fly shields lately. Doesn't it look great?

Zipper fly and waistband.

Right. Unfortunately, this is the point where things started to go not so perfectly.

Steps Backward: It was time to try the pants on to adjust the length of the elastic that I had threaded thru the waistband. But once on, I realized a major flaw in the trousers. One of the design features of jeans is less ease at the crotch compared to normal trousers. I had sewn these pants as trousers (ie: normal crotch length/ease) with jeans styling (ie. gold topstitching, even along the center/crotch seam). This made the crotch - which looks totally normal on my red linen trousers -  look long and droopy and sad on the jeans-style trousers.

No worries, I thought, I will just hike them up a little higher and they'll look fine, right? WRONG.

I had to hike them up to slightly above belly button level to get the crotch to look right. Now keep in mind that here is how the red ones fit - exactly where I like my trouser waist to be.

About 2" below the navel = perfect!

I know that rise is a generational issue and that some of you may think that waist-height is fine. We will just have to agree to disagree on this. Anything higher than 1" below my navel is just not comfy and looks, well, tragically un-hip to me.

Anyway, after some pouting and therapeutic cussing, I decided to un-crack stitch the waistband and start figuring out what to do. The current plan is to use the waistband, which is still attached, as a facing by folding it to the inside. I'll use it to create a channel for the elastic and then add topstitching to make it look like there is a waistband. So, essentially, it will be a cut on/faux  waistband. I actually had trousers with this treatment years ago and it was very flattering. So, my fingers are crossed that this will work out. Luckily, I had decided that I wanted a deep hem, so there is enough length in the legs that these won't end up too short.

And since I've decided to complicate this project - because that seems to be what I do best - I also made two decisions.

Patch pockets

First, if they are going to be jeans, they might as well have patch pockets, right?

Second, my SM isn't really doing a great job with the buttonhole. So, I've decided to hand stitch the buttonhole, which will be a new-to-me skill.

Anyway, back with more when I've worked out the rest. Oh, and I should add that I did finish my friend's diaper bag. Our meet up was postponed because of the torrential rains on Thursday. But I'll post some finished pictures when we get together this Wednesday!