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  • Home
  • About
    • Policies
    • Sustainability
    • privacy
  • Shop
    • Trousers
    • Polo shirts
    • Waistcoats
    • Shirts
    • Haberdashery
    • Size chart
    • Personal shopper
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Events
  • Links
  • wholesale
    • Wholesale ex VAT
    • private listings

How to lengthen or shorten trousers with turn ups.

13/4/2018

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Not a very difficult task. Anyone with a bit of sewing skills and a hot iron could do this. I thought it might be helpfull to show how to do this with the trousers in my collection. I shortened a pair today and made some pictures of the process.
Step 1. Put on the trousers and ask somebody to help. Easiest is if you can stand on a chair or little step. Fold the trousers upward and pin to what length you want them to be.
Another option is compare a well fitting pair of trousers (not jeans) and measure the inseam.
The next steps I will explain with pictures.
Picture
Unpick the stitches at top of the turn up. They are attached to the leg of the trouser at four points.
Picture
When you need to lengthen or shorten one inch, you can slide the turnup up or down and restitch at the four points you unpicked. Press and ready.
Picture
For more than one inch changes: Unpick the stitches that hold where the bottom 2 inches is folded to the inside. Very quickly done, they are loose stitches.
Picture
Another view of the inside and where to unpick
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You will see there is a strip,of interfacing on the inside. Next step is to remove the interfacing
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Use steam to melt the glue. Don’t put the iron down but hoover close above it and use a lot of steam
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Now you can pull off the interfacing but be careful not to burn yourself!
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Turn trousers back as normal, and start pinning. These trousers have be 76 cm’s when they are finished. I have pit the red pin there. Now measure 6 cm to the left (up) and two times 6 to the right (down. Pin to mark.
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You can use some chalk or what ever you like to use to mark a straight line just under the bottom pin. Cut there. Turn trousers inside out.
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Cut new strips of interfacing. I have cut them 6 cm (about 2 inches) and iron on between the second and third pin from the top. (76 and 82 cm’s in precious picture)
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Fold the bottom 6 cm’s up and press. Use the interfacing as a guide.
Picture
Finish the hem either with a serger or use a zig zag stitch on a conventional machine. Hand stitch the turn under to the trousers. Use loose stitches. They can be quite wide as well. Preferably attach to the interfacing alone, but if you go through the fabric make it a small stitch and you won’t see it on the outside.
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Turn trousers back to the right side. This is what you should see with the bottom 6 cm’s turned under.
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Move the red pin over the blue pin, creating a fold on the inside. Pin in place. Do this all around the trouser leg.
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Pin the fold of the turn up on the inside. Pin on the inseam, outer seam, front fold an back fold. Check the length now with a measuring tape or by trying on. You can adjust the turn up up or down if needed.
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Use a few stitches, pivot back and forth two or three times on the four places you have pinned.
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Same as before, different view
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Instead of horizontal stitches you can choose vertical as well.
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Fold back and press. The whole process takes me about an hour when I work calmly.
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Why I design vintage style menswear

4/4/2018

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Scrolling through some websites today to shop for my almost adult son it hit me again: The menswear in the regular stores looks sad, badly made, ill fitted, not stylish, and no fun. What choices have you when looking for a good shirt? Wide spread collar, ultra wide spread, floppy collar, frumpy collar in the colours white, blue, light blue and maybe a little stripe or understated print. For trousers you can find chino's that are not too bad, personally i very much dislike slim fit jeans, or god forbid skinny fit. The latter is also the fashion for suits, men all look like they will burst out of their jackets any time (the incredible Hulk springs to mind)way too short trousers (with no socks) which is fine when you are an Italian, they somehow get away with it, but please not for too white hairy ankles. It's not flattering. The legs look shorter, the torso looks heavier.
Something has gone wrong here. Don't we all (men and women and transgenders alike) want to look taller and slimmer? Enhance what we like, or what is typical needs style. Not fashion.

A already tall and slim person has two options: try to look shorter and bigger or enhance what you have got. I would go for the last option. What does help is make the shoulders look wider and a good dress shirt already does that for you, especially when combined with a good waistcoat (well fitted, that means snug) and jacket shoulders look wider, waist looks slimmer thus creating the V shape that makes men look like men instead of little boys. Embrace your length, add a nice pin stripe to even enhance it more. try various collar types to find what suits you best. Look at the lapels of the jacket, very narrow, wide, peaked they all look different. single breasted or double breasted makes a world of a difference in image. Watch the button placement: too high or too low will make it look out of balance.
For a bigger person, enhancing the length is always a good idea. Pleated front high waist trousers with inward pleats create a smooth line when seen from the side when matched with a waistcoat in the same fabric. Horizontal lines will cut the silhouette and leads the eye to areas where you don't want the attention to.

All this styling needs choice. I haven't even touched the topic colour (for the next blog) Menswear should be a joy to try and experiment with. For women there is quite a lot of choice. For men, except a few designer brands, it is dull, not inspiring, and mostly comfort. The Netherlands has a particular sad culture when it comes to style and clothing. "Be normal, that is strange enough" is much heard saying. Please don't be normal. Be strange! Be colourful, inspiring, joyful, stylish, stand out, get noticed!

I hope my designs will bring back a bit of style, fun and possess. And for all the ideas that float around in my head and in my sketchbook I feel the need to make them. I do hope what I have made so far is the beginning and I will get the chance to execute more of what is screaming for being made, worn and loved.
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The English drape suit is a typical V shaped style that was the basis also for the American drape suit. The American style is even more V shaped, the English style is a bit more fitted. Notice the double brested on the left with peaked lapes, and the single breasted with nothed lapels on the right. Found on Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/april-mo/8290734222/
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Cary Grant an iconic symbol of style. No wide spread floppy collar here. Picture as found on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/62100938@N02/8282166997
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    Sunny van  Zijst

    I am maker of vintage inspired couture. I was trained as a designer for theater costumes. Now I enjoy making vintage inspired clothing for men and women.

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