My Worker Trousers from Modern Sewing Co.

August 20, 2022

New season sewing – one of my favourite things. As our winter comes to an end I’ve been feeling hugely inspired by all of the new season fabrics that have been hitting the shop. One recent delivery included Giordano Denim, a divine 50% cotton 50% linen blend that led to me to a ‘what can I sew with it?’ quandary. A few month ago I was chatting with a customer who told about me about the pants pattern I’m here to blog about. She highly and hugely raved about The Worker Trousers from The Modern Sewing Co. and I figured that could be a pretty good pattern/fabric pairing and yes, yes, it was.

I’ve been seeing this pant/trouser style all over the place (some similar inspo here, here, here and here) and let me say the comfort factor of the both the high waist and looser style throughout was very appealing. The pattern website describes these trousers as ‘fitted on the hips with a slight balloon in the leg for volume & comfort’ and while it’s not a style that I’m used to wearing, it definitely ticked an ‘I’d-like-to-try-it’ box.

The instructions are filled with lovely hand-drawn illustrations accompanied by brief yet clear instructions. I can’t give you any feedback when it came to the fly insertion part because I did deviate from the instructions here. The pattern offers options for both a button or standard zip. I went with the latter but used this 100000% full proof and excellent Threads video tutorial method. It’s my go-to very time I meet a fly front step and never lets me down.

I made a Size 10 and sewed 1.5cm at the side seams instead of the recommended 1.2cm allowance. At one try-on stage, I felt/feared that the ‘balloon’ aspect of the style might be too balloon-y…but I doubt that extra 3mm either side makes much of a difference overall.

The pattern is drafted for 5′8″ height and has you shorten at the hem, which I did, chopping off 6cm. I’m 5′3″(160cm) so if I was to make these again, I’ll shorten them instead through the upper leg to preserve the shape.

I didn’t toile but, of course, should have because these great pants could be even better with a few adjustments. With a do-over, I’d lower the butt curve a little and try a straight waistband instead of the pattern’s curved one, which always seems to work better for me. That said, I do love the fit of these pants. They’re SUPER comfortable and sit nicely across the hips and belly without being overly and uncomfortably fitted. They’re also roomy without feeling baggy and that’s impressive in a pattern that uses ‘balloon’ in its description. For me and my height, they definitely work more as a cropped/cuffed style and I’m very much looking forward to exploring and tweaking this new-to-me style.

I’ll finish up this post by mentioning my top which was made late autumn and then winter hit and I really haven’t had a chance to wear it…until now. It’s a modified Myka Top made in our French Tag Carob, and was directly inspired by this. It’s cropped to my preferred length, with a deep enough back hem to fit a wide elastic that draws in the back a little. I just love this pattern and it perfectly fills my ‘basics’ cup and needs.