My sewing friend Tessa went crazy over Hudson pants. I tried to talk her into making Anima pants since I am basically a specialist in them (see here, here and here) but something about the Hudsons had stuck in her brain. So of course like the lemming I am, I decided that I had to do a comparison test and see why Hudsons have gained a cult following.
Size 4. (I'm 5'4" and 27-37)
Fabric is Charley Harper organic cotton from Ugh Spotlight, and the bands are a merino wool ribbing blend by Helmut Lang which I bought at The Fabric Store last year, snagging the last 30 cm piece. That's why I went with such a dull main colour - I wanted something to go with these bands, and the organic cotton is so soft and snuggly.
Well, making the pants is nothing special.
I skipped the drawstring.
Overall, I found the fit very different from the Anima pants.
The Anima: is very long; I remove 10 cm usually. It has a fake fly (wtf?) and the pockets are the usual fold over types which can bag out. They are pretty high waisted and are otherwise loose around the bum and hips. In the Anima I've been making the XXS though it took a few tries to settle on that and stick with it. I have permanently removed a 1 cm wedge from the front waist which makes them slope down so the waist isn't quite so high, but I'd call the fit easy - they go pretty close to the natural waist.
The Hudson: has a modern, low waistband which is thicker than the Anima. It sits low. I would be tempted to add an inch of raise to the back to accommodate my amazingly muscular bum. In fact I could add that inch all the way around. The pockets are lovely and I like the addition of the bands on the pockets, which adds heft. The pocket construction means they won't flap out. The fit through the bum and hips is snug. These are short. I didn't modify the length at all, and I think I'd prefer another inch of raise...because they are so short that if I bend my knee I feel it pulling down the waistband.
I think the Anima pants are awesome loungepants. But the Hudson pants actually if you made them in the right material, you could wear out of the house. I guess that's why they've become so popular. I like them despite my dedication to Papercut patterns.
Size 4. (I'm 5'4" and 27-37)
Fabric is Charley Harper organic cotton from Ugh Spotlight, and the bands are a merino wool ribbing blend by Helmut Lang which I bought at The Fabric Store last year, snagging the last 30 cm piece. That's why I went with such a dull main colour - I wanted something to go with these bands, and the organic cotton is so soft and snuggly.
Well, making the pants is nothing special.
I skipped the drawstring.
Overall, I found the fit very different from the Anima pants.
The Anima: is very long; I remove 10 cm usually. It has a fake fly (wtf?) and the pockets are the usual fold over types which can bag out. They are pretty high waisted and are otherwise loose around the bum and hips. In the Anima I've been making the XXS though it took a few tries to settle on that and stick with it. I have permanently removed a 1 cm wedge from the front waist which makes them slope down so the waist isn't quite so high, but I'd call the fit easy - they go pretty close to the natural waist.
The Hudson: has a modern, low waistband which is thicker than the Anima. It sits low. I would be tempted to add an inch of raise to the back to accommodate my amazingly muscular bum. In fact I could add that inch all the way around. The pockets are lovely and I like the addition of the bands on the pockets, which adds heft. The pocket construction means they won't flap out. The fit through the bum and hips is snug. These are short. I didn't modify the length at all, and I think I'd prefer another inch of raise...because they are so short that if I bend my knee I feel it pulling down the waistband.
I think the Anima pants are awesome loungepants. But the Hudson pants actually if you made them in the right material, you could wear out of the house. I guess that's why they've become so popular. I like them despite my dedication to Papercut patterns.
Hey, thank you for this (Very old) post - I have the Anima pattern and wanted to make a pair of pants for my mum but she didn't like the bagginess of mine. Hudson looked better but it was hard to work out whether to buy a new pattern when I already have one so similar. Your comparison was super helpful, especially the last paragraph!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad it helped! I have made both *so many times* and I love them but for very different reasons : )
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