It’s rare that I choose to make the same pattern twice in quick succession. The Sidewinders by The Sewing Revival are one of those rarities. The fabric I used for the first pair turned out to be quite itchy when worn for any length of time, which is disappointing because it means I don’t wear them as much as I thought I would, but obviously that’s not a fault of the pattern.
I had some fairly thick blue/black fabric in my stash which I knew would be perfect for a second pair. I also knew it had a little bit of stretch so realised I would need to size down. Having toiled the size 10 on my first attempt, I thought the waist would be too small so I only sized down to size 10 from the high hip downwards.
I also shortened the leg 4cm above the knee as it’s here where my leg length deviates from the pattern. I had read reviews which said that shortening the Sidewinders was tricky but, apart from the instructions not mentioning that the shorten line needs to be perpendicular to the grain line, shortening them was straightforward, but then I’m used to drafting my own patterns. I made another toile (without pockets) & was happy with the length & fit of the leg.
At this point I decided to go the whole hog so I also scooped out back crotch curve to match that of my trousers block. The black line in the first image is my change, the second image shows the pattern alteration.
The fabric I used turned out to be much stretchier than I had realised (25% along the grainline, 10% across) so I decided to cut the pieces perpendicular to the grainline. At this point I belatedly realised that the stretch meant I could have just cut a straight size 10!
As before, the trousers came together very quickly. To avoid the pocket edges being visible when the trousers are worn, which is a minor problem with the first pair, I used lining fabric. Looks good, frays like mad! You can see the inside view of the pockets in the first picture below – I like to have the “good” side of the pocket fabric where I can see it. But the pockets gaped really badly as you can see in the second picture. I would never have been happy with them the way they were so I spent 2 hours unpicking them!
At this point I wasn’t sure what to do because the fashion fabric was too thick to use for pockets but eventually I realised I could just do facings. In addition I shortened the pockets but could shorten them even more, they’re still plenty big enough. The picture below shows them before they’re stitched up; the finished pockets are still a bit gappy but because I’m using self fabric for the facings, it’s really not a problem now.
I’m even more pleased with this pair than I was with the first; they’re smart without being overdressed, the thicker fabric means they’re good for colder days, and the fit of the shortened size 10 is better, although I’m not unhappy with the fit of my first pair. I wear them a lot.
The photos below don’t really do them justice, one of my sewing goals for 2024 is to improve my photography!
I learnt a lot making these – for instance, I’ve never done a partial elastic waistband before and that proved to be easier than I thought, I’ll definitely use this technique again.
I probably shortened them about a centimetre too much but no-one else would notice, to be honest.
Will I make them again? Yes, expect to see a summer pair – maybe 7/8 length – in a few months’ time.
P.S. The top is the Jennifer Lauren Afternoon top – my fourth, made from a really cheap fabric from Abakhan and also worn a lot.
Fabric Engineering 