Steampunk Pirate: Turkish Trouser Madness

These trousers are perhaps my favorite recent project. They went together amazingly quickly and turned out to be extremely comfortable. Indeed, I find myself wondering if it is entirely seemly for them to be so terribly comfortable. Initially, I had intended to find a boldly striped cotton fabric, perhaps in a red. I rather thought red stripes would be a smashing look for a piratical costume and also thought I might be able to wear the red with the sporting jacket I made last month.

However, during my journeys to the various fabric pushers vendors in town, I found that none of the offerings appealed to me. I returned to my trusty stash where I discovered this delightful striped brown linen. I had been saving it for a different project entirely but decided it would be perfect for piratical Turkish trousers. Moreover, I had it on hand with enough to make up the trousers. Clearly, the costume muse was busily at work!

The hard part of the project came next. I needed to pre-shrink and iron the fabric and then cut it out. Usually, this part of a project is merely tedious, though necessary, but because of the sheer volume of fabric needed for the rather flamboyantly full trousers, there was a great deal to iron. A very great deal. I believe at one point I may have begun to mutter vehemently against the wrinkly qualities of linen. Fortunately, pirates do not feel a need to iron their trousers on a regular basis so once made up into a garment, these trousers will likely never see an iron again. (At least, I assure you, gentle readers, that when I am dressing as a pirate, I feel no need to wear wrinkle free trousers.)

Because in the past I have been used to altering my patterns to fit, I was prepared to make some adjustments to these. However, because of the style of construction, there were no alterations necessary. I cannot recall the last time I simply sewed a pattern with the pieces as drafted. Oh the simplicity! I made two small changes in how I put things together but they required no change to the drafting. Rather than making the bottom casing a hidden affair with elastic, I left the that casing visible on the legs and ran a ribbon through each channel which I tied into a bow as a closure. (I cannot abide elastic around my joints unless it is too loose to be of any utility.) My other small change was to the side opening on the trousers. The pattern calls for a facing from the back half of the opening, ostensibly so that if there is any gap in the opening one will be modestly covered. However, I decided to bind off the front edge of the opening at the same time I did the facing.

Once the facing was in place, I faced the monumental task of gathering up the rather tent like garment into a distinct waist and legs. There were shenanigans involving Mr. Monte, the super dog, and even a feline assistant or two. There were also long stretches of Dr. Who while I diligently applied needle and thread to the task of gathering up the fabric. In truth, pinning the gathers so that the fabric was even across the waist and leg bands was rather time consuming, but all in and all, I felt it came out nicely. (And Monte, while he clearly questioned my sanity, was wonderfully patient as a model.)

The remaining steps flew by in a matter of moments at the sewing machine. Though I broke the work up across several days, I know that I could make these trousers again over the course of a single day. Quick, comfortable, and, I think, delightfully piratical, these trousers are a pleasure to wear. My only concern--a minor one born of my own old-fashioned style--is that the fabric is rather more sheer than I realized. Were I to make them again out of a similar fabric, I might try flat lining them. For now, I am throwing caution to the wind. I can't quite imagine a pirate wearing a slip under her trousers.

~La Cucitrice