I was noodling around online, looking for a tracksuit pants pattern for the Fashion Critic, when I clicked a link on Pinterest and ended up here.
This led me to a mystery pdf download, all in German with no instructions. Since I don’t speak German, but like a challenge (and a free pattern), I decided to print it out and have a look.
This is what happened:
Eh? What kind of German jigsaw puzzle is this?
I went back to the original link, and googled “geschickt eingefädelt”, the heading at the top of the page… and was delighted to discover the German version of the Great British Sewing Bee! This was one of the challenges.
Geschickt eingefädelt auto-translates as “Cleverly Threaded”, and is clearly a close cousin of GBSB. It has presumably been sold to Germany by the BBC (or the other way around) because the format and even the soundtrack are identical.
Luckily there is a tutorial for sewing these bad boys here, which auto-translates well enough to work out how to construct them. (Mostly translates, anyway. I’m pretty sure “bügle” means “iron”. I was very happy to announce “I’m off to bugle my jogginghose!”).
There is also a video of the segment when all the jogginghose were judged… it’s nail-biting stuff, even when you don’t understand the language.
As you can tell I was tickled pink to discover all of this. I’m a huge fan of the GBSB, and glad to see that it’s been a winning formula elsewhere as well.
So – no doubt you want to know if the Fashion Critic got his trackies? Well yes, he did.
I used a navy sweatshirting from the recent Fabric Warehouse pop-up sale. I added an inch to the length, otherwise they’re a size L.
There are a couple of things I’d change next time, and they’re both about the crotch (sorry, Fashion Critic). First, it’s a bit low and I think I’d raise it an inch next time. Second, I’d deepen the front crotch curve. You can see on the pattern that it’s very shallow (almost straight in fact).
When combined with the way the pattern is pieced at the front, the (um) groinal area is really baggy. In the line drawing it looks a bit like a nappy. It’s better in real life but still not ideal.
Otherwise they’re ace. The wrap-around pockets are interesting and functional. They’re a relaxed fit, and for a slim fit I’d probably take 2cm off each side seam, rather than sizing down (the smaller sizes aren’t that much narrower in the leg). The TV show website suggests using leather or sequins to turn them into eveningwear, but I don’t have any immediate plans for that. That said, at least one sewer has made them with contrast pockets, and they do look pretty cool.
Please let me know if you end up making these! I’d love to see how they go.
sixty six stitches 