In our next ambassador post we welcome Abigail who has made the new Named Aina Trousers out of our lovely lightweight stretch denim. Over to Abigail:

Hey everyone, I am Abigail and I am delighted to bring my first ambassador make and blog for Backstitch.

I had SO many ideas for what I wanted to make (dresses, tops, maybe a jacket), but right when I was making my final decision Named Clothing released their new patterns and I could not resist snapping up the Aina trousers!

The Aina trousers are described as “Classic trousers with a slightly tapered ankle length leg or trendy culottes”. The trousers feature a fly zipper, patch pockets at the back, and has an elasticated back for comfort. The trousers come in UK size 4-28 which is a waist size of 23 5/8” - 46 ½”, and a hip size of 33 1/8” - 55 7/8”.

Personally, I struggle with finding the trendy ‘mum jeans’ that fit my curves, so those were my inspiration. I picked a light blue, lightweight stretch denim to emulate the ‘mum jeans’ look, and the fabric is beautifully soft and smooth with an ideal amount of stretch while still being able to hold its structure.

I normally don’t make a toile (practice garment), but as a relative newbie in trouser sewing I knew it was a good idea and thank goodness I did. The size measurements put me as a size 48 (UK 20) for both the waist and the hips, but the toile showed that I needed to do quite a few adjustments.

The pattern is drafted for a much taller figure than myself, so unsurprisingly I needed to reduce the rise (I did this by 1.5”). This then meant changing all the pattern pieces, but also meant the zip needed to be a 15cm zip, rather than the original 20cm one. My toile sat nicely over my bum, so to compensate for reducing the rise I ended up doing a large seat adjustment (in reality I did that adjustment backwards – instead of reducing the rise at the back, then adding length at the centre back, I instead did not reduce the back rise and just took a wedge out of the side seam). I then reduced the waist to a size 16, grading it to a size 20 at the hips. I also did a large thigh adjustment to help with movability in the legs.

I personally think I should have made the legs a little wider still, or even used the culotte style instead, as they are still a little tight on the thighs. Unfortunately Named Clothing do not list the thigh measurements in the pattern, which would have been helpful. I also forgot to reduce my elastic after grading down at the waist, so the elastic isn’t pulling the back in very well. This is something I will change when I get time and will be noting it if large capital writing for the next time I make the trousers, so I don’t make the same mistake again.

A lovely sewing friend did mention to me that we should actually use our lovely labels on the outside of garments too, not just always hidden inside. So I took this advise and put my label on the side of the patch pockets, and I adore having “cutie” written on my bum giving me a little confidence boost. (Label is a Kylie and the Machine design)

The pattern gives options throughout including adding top stitching. I opted to do this to give the more traditional jeans look, and therefore used a lovely yellow topstitch thread from Backstitch. The only thing I found was it was a bit of a faff to keep changing my thread over, and it significantly slowed down the project. However, I don’t think there would have been a way to change the order of sewing, as the instructions are all in a very sensible order anyway.

Overall, I am very happy with the pattern though, and they are very wearable, even if they are little snug on my legs. This was the first time I had done a fly zip with a waist band like this, so I am very happy with how they turned out. I do believe that the pattern could work very well for a confident beginner as the instructions are very clear and easy to follow. I have also seen that Named have also now done a sew-a-long (wasn’t available when I was making them), but this would definitely help if anyone is feeling less confident with some of the components of this pattern.

The fabric is so soft and comfortable to wear, so they are perfect for running around with the kids, getting on the floor playing with them, but also would definitely wear these to work with a nice blouse.

Pattern: Named Aina Trousers
Fabric: Lightweight Stretch denim in pale blue
Size: For this pattern a size UK 16-20
Adjustments: Size 16 at the waist, graded to a size 20 at the hips. Reduced the rise by 1.5”. Large seat adjustment. Large thigh adjustment.
Notes on construction: The instructions and construction were clear and in a sensible order. To do the top stitching did mean swapping my thread over a lot, so that did slow me down a lot.
Notes on future makes: I would definitely make them again, but would reduce the length of elastic at the back, and increase the thigh width. I would also consider making them with a fabric is a bit more stretch to compensate for the sizing.

About Abigail:
Abigail is a sewing blogger living in London.  She has been obsessed with sewing since 2014 and when not actually sewing, she is dreaming about doing so!
Instagram: www.instagram.com/SewAbigail/
Website: https://sewabigail.co.uk/