Diego-ish

I made a new pair of trousers yesterday, and they sort of represent a Venn diagram of everything I’m into wearing right now: black & ecru, linen, good pockets, a little quirky detailing and a comfy mid-rise faced waistline.

My target was an approximation of these lovely Paloma Wool pants and I used the Republique du Chiffon Diego trouser pattern as a base. I have had this pattern a while but it was seeing Jasika’s amazing printed pair that showed me the potential of making them in a more breezy fabric than the denim they’re photographed in.

I’m really happy with the basic draft of the pattern and just had to make minor tweaks as I went: I cut a straight 42 and took in the back waist darts and lower leg a bit, that’s all. I added 3/4″ to the rise when cutting because I knew I wanted to try adding a waistline facing instead of the contoured waistband in the pattern, much like my beloved M7445 trousers which are just so damn comfortable.

Converting any waistbanded pattern to a faced waistline is really pretty simple – you just need to trace off 2-3″ deep facing pieces from the front and back main pieces, sew to the top raw seam and anchor into place along the vertical seamlines. I always sew twill tape into the top seam to make sure they don’t bag out. I think this pattern is supposed to have a side seam zip but I moved it to the centre-back, and I also extended the pocket bags into the front seam to act like a stay; little tweaks I make based on preferences I’ve picked up along the way.

I also decided to add hem splits inspired by the Paloma Wool pair and my other favourite trousers, the Trend TPC12. To make these I cut a little rectangular facing piece which I sewed a narrow channel up the middle of, then carefully snipped into it, turned the facing to the inside and topstitched. Perhaps a bit of a silly choice given we’re tumbling rapidly towards autumnal weather, but I do like how they turned out.

I got the fabric a while ago as part of a treat-myself haul from Stonemountain & Daughter; it seems to be out of stock but they have the reverse colourway. It’s 100% linen and I gave it a hot pre-wash to get all the shrinkage out. It’s a little loosely woven but hopefully they will hold up to wear and not sag out too much. I had fun (really!) fussy-cutting to get nice pattern placement and mirroring; even the pocket facings match and I like how the back darts create a V shape in the striped sections.

In retrospect I might make the waistline a tiny bit higher if I was to sew these waistbandless again, though next time I might try using the waistband and cute pointed belt loop detail per the pattern. Hopefully I’ll be able to wear these a bit before truly chilly autumn weather kicks in.

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