Stock Treasures: handmade men's pants
Today's post is one I'm overly excited about. You know, jumping up and down a bit after taking the pictures and so on. Pictured above is a pair of really old pants, beautifully stitched together. It's a heavy wool pair of pants and it's been hiding in my stock for way to long. I had to share it. While I was taking the pictures, I saw the beautiful stitches and the attention to detail even better so I have a lot to say about today's Stock Treasure! I must warn you, this post is picture heavy.
I received this pants together with the dress suit and the waistcoats, so I assume they are also from the fifties. If anyone has a better eye for this (I know my costume history, but dating without any clue is hard for me! I'd say these are maybe even older than fifties? I'm sure they aren't mass produced, so it's hard to say. You'll see what I mean when we get to the pictures!
The outside Stripe matching at the center back. The front pockets aren't slash pockets. They are worked in into the sideseam and reinforced on the inside with a piece of ribbon.
The fly is a button-fly. The waisband is fastened with a hook. It's too bad that the waistband has ripped at the hook.
A close-up of the buttons used to attach the suspenders. I also love the different use of stripe directions on the pants legs, the waistband and the tabs.
An overview of the outside back of the pants. Including a welt pocket, and a set of tabs to tighten the pants. A detail of the welt pocket on the pants back and the handsewn buttonhole. The button is missing... The waistband splits at the center back allowing adjustment of the pants at the waist. Another view of the side tabs which help adjusting the pants for different sizes.
P.S.: looking for a made to your measure pattern for trousers? Joost has some pretty epic stuff that does just that on his makemypattern website!
Let's get inside these pants!
Pictured here: front pocket bag and the pocket stay with some handsewing. Curious detail: the back of the pants leg has a ribbon for extra support, but the front hasn't. Modern dress pants usually have a full length of ribbon along the pants' hem. You can already see how the edges of the seams and hems are overcasted by hand. Imagine the amount of time this took to finish! Overview of the full front including pocket stay and fly. Back view of the pants turned inside out. The inside of the waistband is made from a sturdy but soft cotton. This is a really funny part: a crotch lining. You know how your jeans or other pants always rip at the crotch? This helps preventing it! Back pocket lining and a little label; I wonder what it means, this '104B' I love looking at the inside of garments to see how they are made and this one really made my day. I hope you enjoyed checking out this Stock Treasure! If you have any ideas on how old this garment might be, please let me know in the comments!P.S.: looking for a made to your measure pattern for trousers? Joost has some pretty epic stuff that does just that on his makemypattern website!