Olive/Gray Chinos
Self-drafted pattern
Flat front, button fly
100% cotton twill
With the exception of a few minor changes, this pattern is identical to the first pair of chinos I made earlier this year. I’ve never been too wild about olive colored pants, but this fabric has just enough gray in it to make this color one of my new favorites.
While they appear to taper quite a bit, I think this is just my stance in this photo. For the most part, the pattern is cut fairly straight. Now I just need to make two or three more pairs in other colors.
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Those look great! I need to slow down when I sew so that everything that should line up does (line up). Have not tried drafting my own patterns (in a serious way) yet but one of these days….
What I want to know is, where on earth do you reliably get decent, all-cotton, *bottomweight* twills and canvases? I have such a hard time finding them–even when I order bottomweights, they’re rarely hefty enough to make me really happy, and certainly not comparable to my store-bought khakis.
Hi Scooter,
I am very lucky and have a great fabric store here in Nashville that actually sells apparel fabric. I bought this twill there and it is definitely a bottom-weight.
You might want to try this place: http://stores.ebay.com/SellFabric I’ve bought some decent bottom-weight twill there before. You can get a sample to make sure you like the weight.
With most fabric stores only catering to quilters these days, finding acceptable fabric to make clothing is definitely tough, especially if you are picky like me.
Taylor
Oh, I am definitely picky, too. Thanks for the tip, I’ll definintely check it out!
My local store has a little apparel stuff, but I just don’t really want giant-paisley polyester-jersey. I think I’m not their market, so much. 🙂 So I’m in mail-order territory for fabric.
Next time I’m through Nashville, I’m doing a little fabric shopping.
how do you deal with pockets. I mean guys have so much stuff in them these days; keys, phones, wallets, lip balm and business cards scoffed from some function…
Pockets for me are a deal breaker on new pants/shorts. They have to be deep and roomy.
I love the pants and I like the tapered look, even if it is not intentional.
I would definitely buy those on a rack…
Good choice of fabric again!
Hey Taylor,
Can you tell me which fabric store you’re talking about? I really only go one place (think big chain store with a lot of other stuff besides fabric) and I’ve always been sort of disappointed, brought home something I wasn’t wild about just for a lack of better choices.
Thanks,
Kevin
Hi Kevin,
I was referring to Textile Fabrics on 8th Avenue South. http://www.textilefabricstore.com/public_html. They have everything from great shirtings to really nice wools.
Taylor
They look great. Your skills always blow me away, and I love the contrasting fabrics you use. Really makes me want to give it a try. I’ve never made pants before.
Oh. my. God. Your attention to detail is out of this world. Everything about these pants is amazing. The fit is spectacular. I agree that the colour is really good — not too crazy about olive green either, but this is almost grey. Congratulations.
Look great. You have them down pat. Do you time yourself?
I’ve thought about timing myself, but always forget. I never sit down and make something all at once. It is usually over the course of several weeks, just working a little bit each day. That’s all I have time for. What about you, do you time how long it takes to finish a project?
I always time myself!
Wow! Excellent workmanship!! The welt pockets are beautiful…….I’m going to follow your lead and practice making them. Your pants are better made than a lot of designers! Thanks so much for inspiring me to start sewing again!
The back jetted pocket is particularly good, this is one thing I had to have quite a few attempts at to get right. Is yours straight though? Following the Cabrera book on men’s tailoring,and old manual on pocket-making, I’ve been making them slightly curved.
Excellent work though, you seem to have really mastered the pattern drafting, and it’s particularly hard cutting and fitting yourself. At least I think it is.
Ferdinand,
Thanks! The pockets are straight (or they should be). There is less separation between the welts than what appears in the image, but this is an area I need to spend some more time on. I just got a copy of the Cabrera book and will be using it more as I learn how to make jackets.
Taylor
wow those look amazing, how can i get the pattern? i’m just starting sewing and need a lot of practice.
Thanks Arthur! I drafted the pattern myself, and it isn’t really in a form where I could easily send it to someone else. Plus, without instructions, it would be really hard for anyone but me to use the pattern (I have different seam allowances in different places depending on how I finish each seam.) I may develop some of my patterns in the future to have instructions and different sizes, and offer them for sale.
I’ve just stumbled across your blog and I must say that you have gorgeous attention to detail – those welt pockets are fantastic! As an apprentice seamstress myself I know the skill and patience involved – keep up the great work! 🙂
Hello there!
just gave a look on your blog and i am amazed!
I have been thinking in learning to sew, just to tailor some of my clothes, but these posts make me want to try to make some stuff from scratch! 😀
But at this point i cant draw any patterns yet, and i can’t fine good ones either.
So I was wondering if you could post some of the patterns that you use and specially from these pants or just tell me a nice site with patterns :)!
Rick,
Thanks! I’m not aware of any sites that sell patterns I would recommend for menswear, which is why I make my own patterns. Right now my patterns are not really in a form where I can post them on the blog for people to use. At some point, I may offer some of the patterns for sale, but it will take a while to perfect the patterns, write instructions, etc.
I would recommend trying to learn how to draft your own patterns, or create a pattern from existing pants that already fit you well. Let me know if you have any questions as you get going.
Taylor