These pants started with a trip to Ikea. During my last trip to buy bookshelves for my living room I had to grab this extra large herringbone pattern cotton curtain I found in the clearance section at my local Ikea. I immediately envisioned a pair of 70’s style slacks. This 1977 Vintage Butterick Pattern in my stash was a perfect match. This pattern was not in my size but that was easily remedied with my pant sloper.

All the Details

Fabric-

TIBAST curtain (1) IKEA, Beige Curtain 57″x 98″ 100% cotton . I had 1 curtain from the clearance section.

Pattern-

Vintage 1977 Rena Rowan Butterick 4707 in Size 12 (adjusted off my sloper)

Size 12- B 34/W 26 1/2/ H 36 ( I’m closer to the 14)

Butterick 4707; ca. 1977; Rena Rowen of Jones New York – Misses Jacket, T-shirt, Skirt & Pants. Semi-fitted jacket has partial lining, notched collar, princess seaming, full-length two piece sleeves with mock vents and button trim, pleated patch pockets with bands and center back vent. Close-fitting T-shirt has round neckline with cross-wise band and above-elbow length roll-up sleeves. Slightly-flared skirt, in below mid-knee length, has shaped front pockets and waistband with belt carriers. Straight-legged pants have waistband with belt carriers, front zipper and pockets in side seams. Topstitch trim. Optional shoulder pads.

Vintage patterns Wikia

…..and my favorite part of this pattern, the pockets!

I love the instructions for this pattern. You sew up the pants and leave the side seams open. Next you attach the pockets to each side and then sew them together with the pockets. I’ve never done it this way before and they came out so lovely. They’re set in a bit more than usual with this technique. One of my favorite parts about using vintage patterns is trying out new to me techniques of sewing.

To adapt this pattern to my size I compared it to my pant sloper by tracing the pattern and laying it over top. The crotch curves were pretty close and just needed a few tweaks and I just slashed and spread from center to get to my size. The sides were basted to check the fit and then I adjusted my pattern a bit more before sewing these up.

The only thing I’ll change is to do a true zipper fly next time and shorten the zipper depth. This pattern calls for just a simple set in zip and it does show a bit. Plus it’s really long. I’ll have to shorten it a tad next time. The waistband sits nicely and I added two metal snaps that I had leftover from my Kelly Anorak set from Closet Case. The finish matched perfectly with my zip and makes it look a little more purposeful.

So many great pieces in this pattern! Pants, a cool skirt, a 3/4 length tee ( made but not shown) and a princess seam jacket. I made the tee -a great basic- out of remnants and the sleeves are just a tad tight since the were cut on the cross grain which had less stretch. I’ll definitely be using this pattern again for the tee and pants. I have to give the jacket a try next winter and I love the look of the skirt. Can you believe it’s already reaching the 80’s here in the afternoon. Time to get ready for Spring sewing.

on the homefront….

We had such fun celebrating Valentine’s day this past week. I set up our living room for cuddles with extra kid mattresses on the floor and all the pillows. Vic and my bdays are two weeks apart we never celebrate Valentine’s day just the two of us, we make it a family love fest. I make a lovely meal- this year filets, mashed potatoes, and asparagus with a delicious Nigella Lawson Victoria Sponge cake filled with fresh whipped cream and berries and covered in a chocolate ganache. We ended the day with a family movie night. Sunday was Vic’s birthday so we celebrated again and finished off most of the cake.

My weekend was spent gardening and working on an early 90’s dress shirt pattern that’s looking great. I’m really into vintage patterns right now. I also found a beautiful swiss dot cotton that I’m making into a sweet little blouse with a nice full sleeve. Back soon with more makes plus some Spring sewing plans. Happy Sewing!