DIY: Blue Velvet Harem Pants

My inspiration came from these Charlotte Ronson AW10 beauties:


Read the post here.

First off, I want to make it clear that I am no seamstress, I have never attended any kind of sewing class (not even in highschool) and I don't sew often or anything. So I've made this a very easy (20 minute project), learners way of sewing, I know it isn't done properly, But I'm happy with the result anyway.

Also, I chose blue velvet because they caught my eye in the Charlotte Ronson collection and I knew I could never find a pair like them and so I'd have to DIY it, but really you can use any kind of material for this...I'm starting to think completely sheer harems worn over awesomely patterned/coloured/embellished/cut out leggings...hmmm

You will need:
Blue velvet (or any material of your choice)
material scissors
chalk/any kind of non permanent material marker
pins
sewing machine (unless you wanna sit there and hand stich this whole thing together and take 20 days as opposed to the 20 minutes I took using an overlocker)

Method:
I bought one and a half metres of blue velvet (I wanted mine really long so that it scrunched at the bottom and I still had alot left over so if you wanted to make a shorter pair or have short legs, then you can get away with buying one metre).







I folded the sheet in half (with the velvet furry bit on the inside)


Then I simply drew a pair of really big harem pants :D You can make it any shape you prefer like make the crotch drop super low if you like but I didn't want mine too low. I also made mine so that it goes tighter and longer at the ankles so that it would scrunch at the bottom.

It doesn't have to be measured as long as the waist is bigger than your actual waist (so that it will be baggy)

Cut out the pattern you've drawn leaving about half an inch to an inch outside the lines.


Fold it in half to make sure both sides are approximately symmetrical, trim to even them out.




Unfold to how it was and pin along the inside of the lines every three inches or so.




Then sew along the lines! If you don't have an overlocker you can still use a simple sewing machine (but if the material is thick like my velvet then you're better off using an overlocker)




Okay now try them on..not for size (it will still be extremely baggy around the waist), but to make sure the crotch is as low or high as you want it and that the bottom is as tight as you want. Adjust if needed.



Mine were perfect first go!

Hmm now's the hard part...I can't really explain how I did the next bit because I made it up as I was going along through trial and error.
If you are a beginner sew-er then I recommend just buying pretty elastic and sewing it straight on to the pants as the waistband and ankle bands.

If  you wanna give the harder stuff a go, and you have ample material to play with, then here's what I did:

I folded and measured strips to go around my ankle.


I folded them with the velvet side in and  sewed the sides so that they became two "tubes".


I turned them the right side out-so that the velvet was on the outside.

And sewed them onto the outside of my harems which were turned with velvet on the outside as well.
I then turned the pants inside out again and sewed along the lower part of the side seam again to sew up the remainder of the ankle cuff which lined up. (see I have no photo of this bit because I made it up on the machine as I went)
But it should look something like this:




I made the waistband in the same way but measure your waist/hips (depends on how you want to wear your pants).

It will need to be about twice the width of the ankle bands:
And remember to constantly and evenly fold pleats into the pants against the band so that they fit to your waist and so you don't run out of your measured waistband -from not pleating enough.

I tried pinning my pleats down at first before sewing the waistband on, but I had nowhere near enough pleats and the pins fell straight out:

So I found that pushing folds under the needle in the sewing machine as it sews was the easiest way. (you could probably hand stich each pleat individually before sewing on the waist band which would have made it turn out evenly, but would have taken four times as long).

It is hard and my seams on the waistband ended in a crooked spot because its kind of trial and error.

But once you've gotten over that obstacle they will be finished and look something like this:
you can vote for this on Lookbook here



worn with:
sheer vintage top
Dollhouse heels
Wayne Cooper Skull necklace

for make up in these photos I used inglot colour pigment in pink gold dust, and Avon coloured liners in blue and green:

Style With Sarah