Me and Saga

 Owning a pair of leather trousers has been on my mind for a while  - part of my wish list of clothes to own. Well I now have my longed for checked hacking jacket already in the bag and thoughts turned to the leather pants.

I'm terrified! 

I know that you can't use pins, tack/baste for fit; you need a special slippy foot for sewing; you can't unpick a seam once it's sewn; etc etc etc. The only benefit I can see is that there's no pattern to match and it doesn't fray!

I chickened out on the genuine article and went for faux leather/pleather or otherwise known in this house as plastic as pair No. 1.

Same restrictions above apply with this fabric so it was a good testing ground. I have Kenneth D. King's Jeanius and have actually been cranking out pairs of jeans since before the summer. This is a sort of rub-off method from a pair of RTW jeans. Every time I make some there's a little tweaking with the pattern but the crotch fits, the hips fit - nearly perfect pattern I can sew with confidence.

End of last post I asked if you had ever sewn a zip without pinning. Sheila kindly replied suggesting masking tape to hold everything in place. For the back pockets I used sticky tape (which actually didn't stick that well) which help them in place long enough to sew onto the backs.

It's a bit Blue Peter looking but works. (Sorry, only oldies from UK will understand this reference)












Anyhow, one completed pair of faux leather pants now hangs in the wardrobe. Not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but presentable.

From the front they look fine, but check out the back of the thighs!

Horrible close up of back thighs. There is a good bit of stretch in this fabric and these wrinkles mean that the upper leg is too long - too much fabric between bum and knee. There's only one solution to this and that is recutting the backs taking out an inch or two just below the crotch. But that means remaking the whole pants and I'm not that much of a perfectionist - especially on a practice pair.

Way back in March or April I was reading about Sew Cinematic via Sew2Pro and being inspired by clothes from the movies or TV. I commented then to Marianna that I'd love to make leather trousers and she even found a shop that sold hides - we knocked around the idea of doing a sew-a-long.

My Sew Cinematic influence (abeit, five months late) is Saga. Saga Norens is the detective from The Bridge and only wears leather trousers. She also drives an old Porsche.

So, it's me and Saga. OK, her hair is longer, she's younger, smarter and slimmer than me; her pants are real leather but apart from that we could be twins!

I was ashamed the other day to discover thousands of balls of wool and knitting patterns that have been purchased over many years. I am not a good knitter. I only knit with really chunky yarns and extra thick needles and in the plainest K1, P1 style because I lack patience and lose track of rows and number of stitches. I have started so many jumpers, cardigans, scarves and all are left hanging limply on untold number of needles. I was determined to complete just one. You're looking at it! No sleeves - that's why it's completed.

Please help - if you know of any really good resources for sewing with leather I'd appreciate you sharing them.

Better still, if you have sewn leather and blogged - send your link in the comments.

Finally, how many hides do you need for a pair of trousers?

Thanks in advance.....Ruth