Sew and Save

This week I've been having a bit of a sort out of my wardrobe and stumbled across a LOT of things that have been worn very little, if at all.  If there's one thing I hate when it comes to fashion it's waste, so I decided to do a spot of upcycling.  I've had these red wide leg trousers for quite a while but I honestly don't think they've ever left the house.  They were a bargain at £5 in the sales but they lacked that certain something (as well as being far too long for my legs!).
 So, this is how I transformed these boring trousers...

...into a wonderfully stylish pair of 1940s style swing trousers!  Now I am by no means a professional when it comes to sewing, so if I can manage this you definitely can too!

1. I started off by unpicking the original hem on both legs of the trousers.  You then need to establish how long you want the inside leg measurement to be - for this part I enlisted the help of my glamorous assistant (aka my husband).  Whilst wearing your trousers, with the correct shoes, mark with a pin the point at which the fabric reaches the ground.  Once you have removed your trousers you can measure from the crotch to the pin and minus 1/2" to get your inside leg measurement.  Make a note of this as you'll need it later on.

2. From your pin measure up the leg 1" (marked here with the pink pin).

3. Now, with your trousers the right way around, fold the leg up level with this pin.  You can check it is folded evenly by measuring at intervals around the leg.  Once you are certain it is straight press your fold with an iron.

4. Using a sewing machine, run a narrow seam all the way along your ironed fold.

5. With your trousers still the correct way around, fold them back down again, a couple of centimetres above the seam you have just sewn.  You can see the ridge of the seam just beneath the tip of my tape measure here.  Make sure your fold is even, pin in place and then press once more.

6. Turn the leg of your trousers inside out.  Using your inside leg measurement from earlier, measure from the crotch down the inside seam and mark the correct length with a pin.  This will be where your finished edge will be.  Fold the trouser leg up level with the pin and secure in place.

7.  Now is a good time to quickly try on your trousers to check the new length. If any slight alterations are needed it's better to realise now!

8.  If you are happy with the size of your turn up and the length of your leg, sew the fold in place using a slip stitch.  As you can see in the picture, with a slip stitch you only need to put your needle through one or two threads of the fabric rather than all the way through.  This way the stitch is not visible on the outside of the garment.

Once I had added the false turn ups to each leg I embellished my trousers with a few buttons along the edge of each pocket to give them more of an authentic vintage look.  I liked the contrast of the cream buttons on my red trousers as it gave them a bit of a nautical feel.  And that's it!  For just a few hours work I had a lovely new pair of swing trousers for next to nothing! Now I just need to learn how to swing dance...