Hey June Handmade: Seaforth Pants review

I planned to make these last November, when I actually really needed them for a work trip.  I bought the fabric...and made a Demeter dress instead (and fell down a Demeter rabbit hole, have not yet escaped.)  I was really curious about the pockets on these, and whether these are more epically rad than all the other elastic waist pants...

I finally made them a priority on a trip to Dunedin, which was quite neat as it gave me a chance to try out the Stitch Kitchen.  It is a sewing and crafting repository of supplies, and you can rent time at a sewing machine.  They have a fabulously equipped studio with things like cutting tables (not the kitchen floor, for once.)  I made these over 3 days in 2-3 hour chunks.  They were easy and fun to make.  

I made size 4 which matches my measurements (27-37) exactly. I didn't shorten or adjust them at all. 

The fabric is a kind of rayon which I've bought before, it's from The Fabric Shop in Otara in Auckland.  It's easy to work with, drapey, and pretty much opaque.  

The instructions were fine, I had no disagreements with anything and followed them pretty much exactly.  The fabric was easy to work with.  Pants like this are quite satisfying to see come together and there were no major surprises.  I haven't stitched down through the elastic, but I probably should as it's already trying to twist in the casing, especially at the ankles.  

 Initially I thought the butt was kind of flat but I think it looks fine and works with this drapey style.

Sadly despite the great fit of these, they are totally unseasonable in the middle of winter.  It's too cold for these so they are waiting in the closet for warmer times.  I am inspired to make more, I had thought a pair in some coating fabric would be oddly amazing, and I do have a habit of trying to make pants out of coating so it's likely to happen plus then I can wear them right away and try out the zipper pockets.  I'm not sure about the zipper pockets actually, they are secure and cute as a design feature, but maybe kind of annoying?  Need to wear them more and see what I think.

Petite Stitchery Adult Drew joggers review

I really didn't need more lounge pants, but I was so taken in by the slender fit of these and the cool lower leg gathers that I bought the pattern without much debate.  

I went with size small. 

The debate came about when it was time to choose fabric. How heavy? The instructions don't really give you much help.  I perused the tester photos for help.  I suspected in a sweatshirt fabric the gathers might be too thick, but I didn't really want my pants to be tshirt weight.  I had a perfect drapey midweight cupro knit, but for some reason it felt too special to use on this, since I don't know much about this pattern company.  Also, the gathered legs take a lot of fabric!  This is not your 1-meter loungewear special.  I finally compromised on a midweight jersey without much stretch - it was a remnant at Nick's Fabrics in Auckland and was 1.6m.

The instructions are a bit sparse and can be confusing as the different views are intermixed - but really you don't need too many instructions for these pants.  The pattern pieces come together fine.  I found it irritating that there's no top ribbing pocket piece - you have to make it yourself.  This is the kind of small thing that bothers me.  I noticed that it was hard to tell where to stop gathering on the lower leg.  I lined up my pieces and marked the spot, and I've adjusted my pattern pieces now so that I make a notch at that spot.  It would speed up the process a lot to do that in the beginning.  

In the end I like the pants.  I made my waistband too tight.  The cuffs are a bit tight.  This is due to my fabric not really stretching enough.  The fit was great but loungewear is not really very flattering so here are my scruffy hallway-loitering photographs:

The feature of the gathered lower legs does mean the grain goes a bit strange, but really I noticed that when pulling these on, and never again.  I think in stretchy fabric you can size down for a more legging-like look and that weird pull would be even less of an issue.

I think these pants deserve a second go in something cuddly and very stretchy.  I have lightweight sweatshirting with a bit of cashmere in it so I'm debating using that.  I'm happy with the size chart, and pretty happy with this pattern.  It has a lot of options - include a version sans gathers, and a version that rips all the way up the side like those Adidas trackies from the 90s.  (I wanted those so bad. In the 90s.)  However the set up reminds me of Patterns for Pirates and the cousin company Made for Mermaids - in that I would be hesitant to make anything complicated from them.  Simple things like this, fine, because you can really do anything with knits.  However now I'm contradicting myself because I'm in love with the Elliot romper pattern, so watch this space... 

Jalie 3248 - Drop pocket Cardigan

This pattern was totally a spontaneous make.  My sewing friend Tessa has just Discovered Jalie, as one does.  So I have Rediscovered Jalie!  I was browsing something and this pattern totally caught my eye because of the crazy pocket action.  I bought it pretty much that minute, printed it within the day at the print shop, and started sewing with a piece of fabric that I had been planning to use for a tshirt.

This was a much better idea than yet another merino tshirt!  The fabric is from Merino Heaven - my name for a cluster of shops in Otara in south Auckland.  Merino in this little cul-de-sac goes for about 8 dollars/meter, making it worth the helldrive to Auckland.

I cut a size R based on my measurements.  I am happy with this size. I am a bust 32 and waist 27, but with wide shoulders and a muscular back and upper arms.

I read through a few reviews, but there are a LOT of reviews, and most of them are the annoying type that just say they love the pattern and it's so cool and they want to make 5 more.  So I didn't read too many and I didn't think too far ahead and I didn't consider shortening the pattern.

The instructions are sufficient but not wordy.  Construction is ingenious.  I do not recommend sewing this on a normal machine, as I did.  I think too many of the seams need to stretch well, and of course I used a straight stitch.  I have indeed discovered the uses of a zig zag but I still don't always feel like it's as strong.  Since in the front you functionally have 4 layers of fabric, a lot of weight hangs on your stitching.

I lost the very first piece - the neck binding, and made another one from whatever was handy, and now I really like the contrast.

This took two separate sewing episodes, but mainly because on night shift I sometimes sew when I should be sleeping and I was smart enough to stop before I made any mistakes.  I wore it to work right after finishing it.

What people didn't bother to mention in those reviews: this cardigan covers your back very fully.  It does have slim fitted sleeves that will go well over a tank top but not a tshirt.  And the front goes to about the nipple line.  You could certainly pull the front more closely together, but that's not how it hangs - it's made to hang open and the pockets are quite far away from center.  My instinct is that it should be lots shorter so that I can easily access and put things in the pockets.  However I see that the line of the cardigan looks good long.  If I made it again I'd be tempted to shorten it.  As it is, I wouldn't put heavy things in the pockets because they seem far away, like the entire cardi half would then pull away from my body and things would fall out of the pockets.  But they are spacious.

Everyone else really likes it on me.  I have been on the fence about it.  But I do like the look and I think it will go with a lot of my wardrobe.