strixalba

I have a pair of men's capris that I bought in 2011-2012, which makes them well over a decade old. They're super comfortable, fit really well, and the waist is adjustable enough that I've bee able to keep wearing them even though I have less hip than I did when I bought them pre-T. My most recent sewing project has been to create a pattern based on them so that I can make a replacement pair (or three) that DOESN'T have holes in the waistband and the pockets from where the hardware has finally worn through the cotton canvas.

Below the cut are some construction notes - not the steps, just the post-mortem on what I'd do differently, what I made them out of, and what I'm going to do with the next round (will add as I go/alter things):

First-draft H&M Capris (brown rayon/linen blend from Sewfisticated with green linen belt and bottom hems, 5" zipper)

• Waistband does not work as a single long strip; I needed to cut out triangles at the back inside to make it conform to the back of the waist. I think making the casing for the waist tie and the interior reinforcement two separate pieces as they were originally is a better idea
• Back pockets were entirely the wrong size — too shallow and too wide by about an inch on each axis
• Back waistband doesn’t sit quite high enough — maybe extend the back half up by about an inch towards the middle?
• For the interior facing of the front pockets, on the proximal face, fold over and sew down only the proximal edge. Leave the distal edge raw and baste it to the pocket facing. The raw edge will get enclosed when sewing the front hip section onto the front main panel, and it’ll ensure that there’s no part where the pocket material is visible from the outside

Notes from H&M Capris: Shorts Edition (plum-colored Irish linen from the European Linen and Fabric store, 1 yard)

• Adding depth to the front pockets because they aren’t going to have flaps over them to stay closed
• Which then meant that the lining fabric doesn't quite match up at the bottom, so I had to fold that over and topstitch it to hide the raw edges, too.
• Instead of folding the linen over the edge of the zipper in the back to hide the raw edges, I used some bright turquoise double-folded bias tape that I acquired at a thrift store for $1 yesterday. It's less bulky. I also used some along the bottom of the zipper interior to reinforce the point where the zipper ends and the two front pieces come together.
• With the current location of the pocket edges, I was only able to use a ½" to 7/16"-ish seam allowance attaching the hip panel to the main front panel - otherwise it'd seal the pocket opening shut... this meant that the raw pocket edges ended up being too short to get sealed into the seam between the front and back panels. This happened last time, too. Next time, either move the pockets towards the center front by ⅜", or extend the distal edges of the pocket panel by about an inch.
• Bought some half-inch twill to use for the waist and cuff ties.