Helen's Closet and the Falconer pants of my jean dreams

 Ok so I had made a pair of Helene jeans and they were great.  Right?  Great?!  I was somehow sad and not satisfied and had to re-evaluate what I really want in a pair of jeans right now.  And I realised that my brain has been snapping up trendy ideas without telling me, and what I really want is some oversized sort of banana shaped jeans like a very expensive pair of L'Agence jeans I tried on not long before.  (They are the Cody Rodeo crop, currently $729 in NZD, how is that for ridiculous?)

 

What to do about this?  Obviously I need to find a new and very different sort of pattern.  I put the idea to my friend Tessa who had just made the Falconer pants, about the day after they came out.  I chewed on the idea.  And I realised with some pocket modifications, and possibly the addition of knee darts, I could largely copy the cool bits of those L'Agence jeans, although I do not have access to pale or heavily stonewashed denim, I could make do.  

I got to work, prepped a size 6, shortened the rise 1" and the length 1" to account for being a short human. 

Increased the size of the pockets quite a bit (I don't now recall just how much) and split them in half for a vertical seam, a la Design Feature.  The pocket is still sewn into the back seam as per the pattern, but the front overlaps the front seam to create something closer to my Vision. 

Got scared off the idea of adding knee darts.  Too much was already happening.  A new pattern, jeans topstitching, the Pockets...in retrospect I do wish for them to break up the expanse of denim, but there's always a next time.  

As I was sewing I applied my pockets in the recommended location to start - about 1" from the waistband.  I wasn't quite sure where I wanted them, other than knowing they would overlap the front seam.  But once I had done one side, including so much beautiful topstitching, I realised that was way too high.  Some deep sighs were made and the seam ripper engaged.  I ended up placing them lower, hoping that's a good spot for me to reach and put lots of things into. 

I have to also specifically comment on the instructions in this pattern.  They were pristine.  This is one of the best created patterns I have used in a long time.  The fit is perfect - exactly as anticipated by the pattern measurements.  I have not used heaps of Helen's Closet patterns, just the Blackwood cardigan, which is great but very narrow in the arms, and the Orchard dress which did in fact fit really stunningly well despite being simple - in those easy patterns I haven't really paid much attention to the greatness of her pattern detailing before.  I might keep a closer eye on her other patterns - I know the Winslow culottes have gotten heaps of love, so something to consider as we get closer to summer.  I am also just now noticing the Ukee shorts might fit all my pattern desires for a pair of Patagonia-like summer shorts...something to think about. 

Anyway here we are: 

 

I had told my Thursday knitting club all about my desire to make these pants, including the L'Agence photos etc.  The ladies in Thursday knit group are older (it meets at 10 am) and we had gotten into an argument about whether one could make jeans that look as good as store bought.  They are a demographic who are largely pretty familiar with their sewing machines even if they no longer sew much.  I had already worn in my new Helene jeans to win this argument, and I followed the discussions by wearing in my new Falconer jeans the following week.  

Not only have I won, but a lady is totally converted and has dusted off her sewing machine and made multiple pairs of her own Helene jeans and Falconer pants since then.  What a great win!! 

I love these pants.  I like the super high waist, the loose fit, the length. The pockets are massive and fit everything.  I don't love my stiff denim and we will see, maybe I'll pumice it up a bit to see if I can get it to soften.  Otherwise I am happy in all ways, for once.  (Except now I want a pair that is full length, and in some pale blue denim....)

Helen's Closet Orchard dress - Free pattern review

 I've been thinking of finally making the Sadie slip dress, so naturally I resisted (I have a whole plan including double layers of silk charmeuse, will for sure involve swearing.) and started looking for other slip dress patterns. I was eyeing up the Saltwater slip, but it required actually paying money, and to a company I have really been grumpy with lately for their lackadaisical but over-advertised offerings in the form of the Ilford and Arlo.  Thus I came across this free download!  Wahoo!

The sizing chart of Helen's Closet doesn't match me perfectly. 33-26-35 is the size 4, good in the chest but a bit concerning at the hips, and I wanted to make sure there wouldn't be pooling in my back from my swayback.  I have decided in general to ignore the high bust measure, or to use the larger of the two when in doubt, since a high bust measure is useless on those with back muscles.  The waist measure is not as important, there's quite a bit of ease, but I went up to a size 6 below the waist.  I also cut the back in two pieces because I was too lazy to consider arranging my (tiny piece of) fabric with two folds.  In doing that I added 1" to the centre of the back.  There's enough bias tape extra that this didn't change how much bias tape I needed to cut.  Probably I could have done only one of these adjustments, as it has plenty of easy and is very swooshy. 

The fabric is a skimpy metre of See you at 6 viscose, nice and weighty with an interestingly kaleidoscopic fine print.  It's very opaque and the weight means it drapes perfectly for this style.  I used the shortest dress cut line and I shortened the dress at the lines by 1".    

I didn't have any problems with the bias taping, and this pattern has you put interfacing at the top of the strap bias tape, which is genius - and very good for a free pattern!  I can definitely feel the difference in how substantial the straps are.  The pattern comes with pockets too.  I stuck the straps on with pins and then put the dress on so I could adjust the straps to fit me. I recommend doing this, especially if you are like me and dress straps are always too long. 

After making it I was a bit meh, didn't look like much, to be honest. 

 

Then I got photos and I was wowed actually by how great the fit is. It's precise at the bust (that extra inch in the back was smart). The pockets are too low - maybe they weren't adjusted when I shortened the dress? Anyway they need to be higher by about 1-2".  I can still access them with straight arms.  The length is perfect.  It's very spacious, a good summer item, will see how often I turn to it.  I'd probably make a straight size 4 if I did this again rather than widening below the hips. Obvs the pockets need to come up. Otherwise I really like this shape!  Might even be fun to turn it on the bias and slim it down a bit below the bust to make a linen version.