Revitalised or Style Blunder: Wrap and Go Butterick 6720

At the beginning of the month, I thought I would put aside some time to revisit one of those makes that has failed to live up to expectations. These were a pair of “Wrap and Go” wrap trousers using 70s vintage pattern Butterick 6720.

Interesting, I have seen two real people (i.e. whilst walking around in town) wearing wrap trousers just like these. I assume they bought theirs. Nice to see designers flick through 70s styles for inspiration too!

Anyway, back to the changes I made to the trousers. In the past, I have found that these trousers weren’t very comfortable to wear because they dug into my stomach too much. Here are the modifications I made:

1. Re-cut the elastic so that it wasn’t too tight
2. Inserted wider elastic
3. Used a button instead of a skirt hook
4. Converted the tie so that it also uses elastic for comfort, and is just finished with the fabric.
5. Created wider ties

I can say that this step has been very successful. They are much more comfortable to wear and unlike before, I don’t have to adjust the waist during the day.

Wrap and Go Trousers (Butterick 6720) with wrap top – too much wrapping?

The other problem was that I didn’t have a suitable top to wear with the trousers. I made this top. Does the new top work with the trousers? Here are some thoughts: colour-wise the top works well, style I’m not so sure. Is there too much “wrap-action” going on, with a wrap top and wrap trousers? The top also doesn’t tuck in at the back because of the tie.

Butterick 6720: Too many ties? And this top doesn’t tuck in properly.

I don’t think I have managed to find the right top yet. Plus, I’m still not sure whether the style of the trousers suits me. I am not used to wearing long and floating styles generally so I hope, dear readers, you may help me out with this. Have I made a style faux-pas?

Butterick 6720: Action shot! Looks good when I’m wafting along (Sorry, not sorry about the bra strap there!)

When I originally posted the make many people suggested I should wear a short/cropped top or a top which was tucked-in with these trousers. However, I just don’t have any short tops in my wardrobe and I’m not into tucking tops in; I have a very short body and this look often just seems to accentuate my somewhat odd proportions.

However, more recently I looked online I saw similar trousers from modern patterns Simplicity 4192 and Vogue 9191 paired and these were modelled with longer line tops. The big difference with the two modern patterns is that instead of gathers around the waist the trousers had darts. Would less bulk around the waist serve me better and could I then wear these with a longer top? Can I be jiggered to take these trousers apart again to add darts and lop off the excess fabric?

You may have noticed that in these photos I am wearing the trousers with the flaps at the front. This is the conventional way, but I have worn them backwards too.

Lastly, I reminded myself today of another reason why I don’t wear these trousers often. A toilet trip in which I don’t drape the trousers all over the floor requires considerable ingenuity and several extra limbs! Ah well, some makes work out brilliantly, others don’t.

Revitalising an old make: Wrap and Go Butterick 6720

I have noticed recently a frustrating thing with my wardrobe. I’ve now been sewing my me-made wardrobe for a while and I have lots of fantastic clothes, in colours and styles that I enjoy. But I still find that there are certain makes that I struggle to pair up with anything else in my wardrobe. It isn’t because of clashing colours. I’ve refined my colour choices more as time goes on and with a more limited palette it is so much easier to find good combinations. Plus, a little foray into more adventurous pairings earlier in the year (in #sewhappycolor2021) added a few more good combinations to the mix. No, my particular problem surrounds silhouette and style combinations. Sometimes I think two items from my wardrobe would work well together only to find that they look inexplicably awful in combination. Sometimes a voluminous top can look great with flares and then sometimes it can look overwhelming.

I made a pair of wrap trousers two years ago from a vintage 70s sewing pattern (Butterick 6720) and I have worn them only a handful of times and mostly on holiday because they happened to be in my suitcase.

This pair of trousers gives me quite a headache. The biggest problem is that I haven’t got a top that looks right with them. Looking back at the photos I took just after I made them, my preferred choice was the make-shift bandeau, although not really a look for out and about (only the beach). Clearly I need a fitted top with such a voluminous pair of trousers, but there aren’t many contenders in my wardrobe.

With a make-shirt bandeau top

I bought New Look 6252 specifically as a possible pairing with the trousers. At the time I bought it I had 1 metre of feather-print cotton lawn in my stash which I used as a trial. I loved the result; it was one of my favourite makes of last year. Sadly, I don’t think the two prints really work together, but I had always intended that first top as a trial run.

New Look 6252 Front View

Now it’s time for me to make a plain-coloured top to go with the trousers. I remembered that I still have a small left-over amount of this eri silk from Weaving Destination and I thought that the pale creamy-yellow hues of the silk would go well with the trousers. There isn’t much f the silk so I’m going to finish the ties with the spotted cotton lawn.

New Look 6252 pattern with eri silk and spotted cotton lawn

My second problem with the trousers is that I just don’t find them comfortable. So, you may ask, why am I bothering to put so much effort into trying to get a top to work with them? Well, I think the problem will be relatively easy to resolve. The elastic is too tight; I inserted it in a hurry just before I went on holiday and it was simply just the wrong length. Also, I wonder whether I would be happier with wider elastic at the waist. If I copy the elastic width and length from my pyjamas (which are very comfortable) I think that will resolve the issue. I think that converting the tie so that it is also elastic, with fabric ends for extra comfort, will complete the necessary amendments.

Given these problems I’m now working on resurrecting the trousers and creating another New Look 6252 to go with them. I have a few other ideas both for the trousers and another top if I don’t quite manage to reach the top/trouser combination zenith that I am aiming for.

I have a dilemma! Vintage 70s Wrap and Go “PantSkirt”

This make was taken to California a couple of months ago, but I still hadn’t got round to blogging about it. I suppose, it was a bit of a rushed make that only just got included in my suitcase, but I haven’t got many hot weather clothes and I wanted to pack another pair of “trousers”.

I found this pattern, Butterick 6720 on Etsy. There are quite a series of these; they’re called “Wrap and Go” by Butterick, although the other pattern companies have done similar designs. I really wanted to try one of these seventies wrap patterns and was inspired by this version by Kelly at Seam Racer. This Wrap and Go pattern comes either as shorts or maxi length.

The weirdest thing about the pattern envelope is that includes instructions on how to wear the item! I did my own version of this, as I actually prefer wearing them back to front so that the elasticated waist joins at the front. I think this makes more sense, as this way, both closures are at the front and easier to manage.

I found a light-weight viscose for this pattern with a border print from Fabric Land. Obviously, the pattern is a complete fabric hog, so I decided to go for something relatively cheap. That said, I do like the colour combination on this fabric. Cutting out was a pain as you need a lot of space too.

The sewing is simple and not very exciting; mostly just a load of hems and a casing for the elastic. However, being a seventies pattern, the hem is hand-sewn, which takes a long time. In fact I gave up on the last bit of the hemming as I was running out of time and took my trousers as they were on holiday. It wasn’t exactly a problem, but I think they were a little too long, so I’ve had to adjust the hem since I’ve got back.

Do I like these trousers? I think I’m still unsure. They are quite voluminous and most of my clothes are not. It may take time to get used to this. But this isn’t my main problem with my make. I haven’t found the ideal top to go with them at all. A tight top would look best to balance out the volume in the silhouette. As Naomi of Spare Room Style pointed out, when she saw this photo on Instagram, this top would look much better tucked in.

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#mmm19 #mmmay19 Day 22 Today is a bit of a colour mish-mash and I'm not sure it has really worked. There's my #grainlinestudio #driftlesscardigan and the bottoms are a new garment, which are actually wrap trousers made from a vintage 70s pattern (Butterick 6720) #70ssewing

A post shared by Nicola (@steelyseamstress) on May 22, 2019 at 9:56am PDT

So here it is tucked in, and you can see my dilemma. My lack of waist! This combination of top and trousers is just not flattering.

Anyway, I decided to try out my Wrap and Go trousers with a variety of different tops, to see if I could improve the look.

…..actually pretty awful…..you can see every bulge…..so, no!

Wrap and Go Pant Skirt with light blue t-shirt – not a flattering t-shirt

….this one is black so not an ideal colour with the trousers, but does the silhouette work better now?

Any better with this style of top?

…and here’s a woven top (again try to ignore strange combination of colours), does this work? I chose to include a belt too. Does this help me achieve waist definition?

With a woven top and belt

…and here’s a make-shift bandeau top. So, I’m now bravely modelling as per the pattern envelope. Too much belly on display and it would only be possible for the beach. But does it work? There’s enough left-over fabric to make this up properly.

With a make-shirt bandeau top

In short, I don’t think I have nailed wearing this garment at all and any suggestions would be appreciated. Does anyone know of a top pattern that would work well with this pair of trousers? Bearing in mind that I need it to flatter in the waist department.

And what colour should this top be? Any ideas here? Would a t-shirt be best or could a woven top work too? There are so many different colours in this fabric, that any of these colours may work – moss green, dark blue, terracotta?

Of course, now that I’ve actually make something for the summer, the summer has stubbornly refused to arrive! I’ve only worn this once here in the UK, but apparently, this week is going to be hot……