Sunday, September 18, 2016

The slippery slope...baggy pants!



Persistence pays off - I love my new baggy pants!

And the path was anything but straight and level. Pants are hard. I was thinking about it last week, sitting on the floor in the loft, culling my pattern stash. House cleaning. I was tossing pants patterns left and right. It seemed like every other pattern in my stash had some variation of loose leg or wide leg, pleated waist, drawstring waist, elastic waist...I had a bunch of these things.

The house cleaning moment was brought on by completing my muslin of the Style Arc Daisy Pants. They just didn't work. I put a lot of effort into them - redrafting, fitting, ripping, sewing - but I felt like I ended up with a butchered pattern that didn't really work magic for me.

And then I got to the Vogue section of my stash. There it was - Kathryn Brenne's pants, the ones with the upside-down pocket on the leg. Those pants fit me better than any I've ever sewn. I've done them 3 times and wear them constantly. How about just modifying the lower leg?

Vogue 9114

Easy, and I love them.


They fit me so well through the waist, bum, crotch, and hip that I could wear them with a cropped top. The waist is fairly narrow, actually an inch or so less than my hips. But I just do that little wiggle thing when I pull them on, and it's wonderful not to have a ton of gathered fabric around my middle. 

Front view,


Back,


And side. No pulling at the pockets.


Just a couple sewing notes:
  • My fabric is Robert Kaufman yarn-dyed Essex linen, purchased from Craftsy. This is a fantastic linen/cotton blend, a perfect weight for pants at 5.3 oz. After prepping it with 3 passes through the washer and dryer, it has a lovely soft, pebbly-textured hand.
  • I used cotton broadcloth for the pocket facing, to keep the weight down in the side and waist seams.
  • A couple pics of the waistband detail:

    Inside and outside. The space on the inside center back is for insertion of the elastic. The seam allowances are basted down so that my elastic insertion gadget won't catch on them.
         Outside, with the elastic inserted and topped with triple-stitch zig-zag - no rolling allowed!


I'm making more of these for sure :-)

Tunic: Butterick 6024

Parting shot: I've been making glass seed bead necklaces, 32" - 34" long. I can't wear most jewelry findings, so I knot mine and use E6000 to secure the knots forever. Here they're hung over my work tray while the glue cures. These are fun. 


Ciao! Coco 

13 comments:

  1. These pants look great, and that fabric sounds like the cat's meow.

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  2. Pants are hard! Yours look great - the fit & style really work for you. And the fabric sounds comfy.

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  3. I swear you a jazzy Diva! I really like those pants and how the turned out.

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  4. Glad you found your "perfect" pants. Sometimes it takes time and frustration to get to perfection. Good job!

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  5. These are lovely, and I so admire your neat interior of the pants.

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  6. Those look so comfortable and beautifully sewn.

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  7. Great baggy pants! I agree, the Essex linen and Kaufman Brussel's Washer is some of my favorite pant materials and the prices are quite good too. Lovely beads!

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  8. Your pants look great and oh how nice they fit you. Nice necklaces.

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  9. What a wonderful combination of comfortably chic fabric with this pattern. Pants have so many little variations that it is a joy when you find a pattern that you love and can modify from there. Love the details that make these so upscale inside and out.

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  10. Beautiful details. Great pants, pretty necklaces - you've got it all Coco!

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  11. You look so happy in those pants! I am wondering about the cotton/linen blend. I have found it is scratchy against the skin---is that the case with the Essex that you are using? Thank you for all your posts!
    Lisa in SF Bay Area

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  12. I have that pattern too, yet to make it though. Yours look very nice indeed, especially in linen. Did you put the upside down pocket near the bottom on yours?! I like the idea of some different design element, but that was a bit odd, I thought. Why didn't they just make it functional, for instance.

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  13. Its so fun to have the perfect pattern and fabric match up, your pants look great. I made 3 elastic waist pant this summer and the RK Essex yarn dyed linen are my favorites by far.

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I love it that you came by...and thank you for your comments! Coco