Anna Allen Philippa pants, take 2

So although the idea of making more Philippa pants has been on my radar for a few months, it felt like an afterthought project.  Like, I have some fabric that would suit, and I should quickly just pop these out one day!  I like the corduroy of my first pair but I really was dissatisfied with the way the waistband was too short and I had to ease it like mad, and along with that the pants are super snug at my waist. My real waist.  And that's after removing 1" of the rise.  So I decided I should try to remove 1" from the top of the waist, which felt like a rebel thing to do.  I reckoned I would have a wider waist and it would be a bit lower.  To ensure I didn't have to ease the waistband I cut it much longer than I needed as well.

Here was version 1. 

Version 2 is lightweight slubby wool blend, Japanese in origin, from The Fabric Store, with some stretch.  Suiting weight.  I started sewing and wondered if it might be too light for this pattern.  It was ok.  But.

I made size 4 again, cut off the top of the pattern, didn't change the dart, and cut about 1 cm off the back pockets all the way around because they had looked excessive in version 1. I used a zip fly. This time around, possibly as I have actually sewn heaps of flies in the past year, I did not find the instructions annoying.  They were fine.  All the instructions were fine.  I was using a slightly contrasting caramel coloured thread and topstitched everything with that.  And somewhere in this project I realised it was not really an afterthought project, it was a Big Deal!  These are amazing!  I added front pockets last so that I could put them in the right spot, suffering the indignity of poking myself in the thighs with a bunch of pins and then pinning the pants to my undies...and I even put a special little tag on the pocket too - from the artist collection from Kylie and the Machine.  

 

I have noticed a tendency not to check that my front waistbands line up, and that was a problem here (they don't quite) but oh well.  Note for next time.  

 

And...these pants are not at all snug.  It seems almost like I overdid the fix, I have lots of room in the waist now.  However they are totally the most comfortable pants ever so I think I don't care, and really it kind of suits the slouchy look I go for...and now I think I need a pair in firm velvet too!  Basically my love for these pants has been revitalised!  And Anna Allen has the best instructions.  I lose a bit of the nice butt fit since these are loose, but I'm still really happy.

Anna Allen Philippa pants in corduroy

These have been on my radar for ages and I finally had a vision that was this very outfit:

I was thinking of it as my old man winter outfit but I think I misjudged and it's way too stylish for that title. 

The corduroy is from Miss Maude (here), I am not sure why I thought this fabric wouldn't be good for these pants months ago, when I had it in the beautiful caramel colour and made a jacket for a friend instead...so I had to get more. 

I used my intel from the Persephone pants and cut a size 4. I inspected the rise and with some horror that it's even higher than the Persephones, I took an inch out all the way around, a few inches from the top.  Doing that made the Persephone pants fit me perfectly.  I didn't change the crotch curve at all.  And similarly - the fit through the crotch is great here.

I didn't do any special ironing for corduroy.  Sometimes I ironed it on a double layer but more often I just flattened down the fur. 

I had a vague idea involving front patch pockets but I just stuck them on the back like the pattern said.  Maybe in a future version I'll go crazy. (Also I think make the back pockets smaller.)  I did, however, do the zip fly.  And I have high expectations because the button fly is *so good* for the Persephones - I didn't really like the fly instructions. They made me grumpy.  The results are fine.  I had to use pliers to remove a lot of zipper teeth and so I have tiny zipper teeth all over the place now. 

The other thing that made me grumpy was interfacing the waistband.  It ends up that you need a HUGE amount of easing that waistband in.  I know sometimes she instructs you to only interface up to the SA and that might have helped - I ended up cutting my interfacing and there were huge gaps in it from areas that had to stretch to ease in.  My back waistband thus has a bit of a gathered look up super close from the dramas that ensued to get it in place.  There was drama.  I had tried on the pants at that point and the drama was only worth it because I realised they were a perfect fit. 

Perfect fit!  They don't look very flattering in the pictures but the amount of ease through the thighs makes them really comfortable. 

My sweater is the Shifty Sweater by Andrea Mowry, made in Spincycle Yarns.  It took me about 4 months to make and is the first sweater I'm proud of like it's my first child.  More info on ravelry, where I am soelimano.