Velvet Pomona pants, a new sewing room, requisite disasters

 Not much to say here that I didn't summarise on Instagram: Don't Forget the Nap! 

So I finally organised my new and very messy sewing room.  Having moved from a spacious three bedroom house to a tiny postage stamp house, there is just STUFF everywhere which I find exasperating.  It made it hard to have the spacious thinking that inspires me to sew.  But I was getting itchy to make some things before I have to wear scrubs at work because it's quite a bit more fun to make a thing and then wear it the next day.  Rather than making it and not wearing it for 18 months, which is what often happened in Gisborne.  So.  

I made the tactical error of making these while listening to an audiobook.  I don't really multitask when I sew.  For good reason. 

My Pomonas are like a sewing rut. I do them the same all the time. Size 4, 1" taken out of the upper pelvis area below the waistband.  I have marked front pockets on the pattern after getting tired of doing them last and poking myself in the thighs 56 times while trying to get the pockets straight.  (Nonetheless, they are not quite even.)

This is the narrow leg version, the wide leg version I think I like less.  I did however lengthen the legs of these back to normal, I had shortened them an inch previously and that's just the right length to get hung up on bike pedals (which is worse with the wider leg cut).  I think I'm over cropped pants now.  It's too cold in Dunedin.  Even in midsummer.  I cleverly (not cleverly) used less fabric by *totally forgetting about the nap and putting my leg pieces in opposite directions.*  Otherwise the sewing was great! It took about 3 hours or whatever, because my audiobook and the velvet made things a bit slow, or because my sewing room mess, etc.  The velvet was its usual obnoxious self but velvet is so drapey that the end result is beautiful, if you don't, you know, try to catch me in the light.  

I finally paid attention to previous pain and made the waistband elastic 2" longer than I think I need, and I finally have a waistband that isn't too tight.  I'm not sure why it took me so long to figure out.  Part of it is that elastic shrinks when you put it in the wash!  Who knew?  So it's best to be a bit too loose initially rather than too tight as I have always tended to go. 

 (Photos: me, pensive, wondering if you can see how ridiculous this nap problem is.)

There were opinions on Insta that I should flip the same side pocket so it looks like a Design Feature but I think I'll just try to wear these so much that all the nap goes crazy and no one can tell which side is up.  They feel great.  Pants just like these by some New Zealand designer, probably made from the exact same fabric, and in the same colour are selling for $300 (though it probably goes without saying they have done the nap properly...) so I'm now a fashion maven.