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.  

Pomona pants by Anna Allen (and by me!)

 I decided that despite last year's intensive work on the Free Range Slacks, and a recent foray into the Elizabeth Suzann Clyde pants, I really did need these in my life.  Because who can resist beautiful drafting and the excellent butt fit?  

I made a size 4, which has consistently been my size in Anna Allen patterns.  Based on previous experience, I shortened the rise by 1". I shortened the legs 1" as well.  I made all my adjustments on both patterns then determined I didn't currently own any fabric with enough yardage...except one.  So my first pair is this oatmeal white rayon linen blend from Otara, the cheap fabric neighborhood in Auckland.  This fabric has proven to be an excellent match to the pattern! 

My only beef - I had to make the narrow leg version due to said fabric restrictions, and it doesn't have markings for front pockets so I had to sew them on last, by eyeing where they belong.  I've since transferred those marks onto the pattern but it's on the wide leg version, why not on the tapered? 

Other than that these were a joy to make AND they took about 2 hours including both pattern modifications, fishing through my stash, and documenting the process as I went for a friend, AND even a fortifying coffee break.  Unfortunately I had only crappy elastic and it has already started to roll up.  I wore these right away, and I wore them to Auckland (where I bought more elastic but was foiled by covid and didn't get to do any fabric shopping) and then I sneakily took this fancy photo shoot in the morning before I left Auckland, just as they locked down.  

 

So then I decided to experiment. I used the tapered leg version, size 0, and a stretch satin fabric in this very pretty and very busy flower sort of print.  It was equally fast to make, and the final answer here is NO. It loses all the drape without becoming fitted enough to look good.  The pattern is also way too busy! 

 

I was going to buy some good practice fabric for the wide leg version.  But because I missed my chance in Auckland, I was limited to online shops and it seemed like I would have to spent $150 to get enough fabric...so I decided to just go for it and cut into some of the silks I've been hoarding.  It's a goal this year to actually make things out of my precious hoard.  I have about 5 of these silks from Thailand.  They are challenging to match to a project because they are very structured silks, and loomed, so they are narrow.  I don't wear many fancy dresses and I can't seem to find any jacket patterns I like...so here we are! 

I cut on the cross grain to use the loomed edge for my hems, and removed about 3" off the hem out of necessity due to my fabric width.  I used the other edge for the pockets to add some detail.  The silk is very easy to sew, so there's not much to add there.  Now the question is whether these structured pants will get used!  They are very pretty and I'm super pleased with the fit.  I do see that the butt fit is different in these compared to the tapered leg pants, and I wonder whether it's a difference in my fabric or if the pattern pieces are subtly different.  I think both look good, and once I have confirmation that the wide leg has a place in my wardrobe I will probably make more.  I still want to try some heavier weight ones when I find the right fabric!

 

Finally I got onto my tapered plans, made of some greenish yellow linen ("Celery") from The Fabric Store. I was able to get these out of 2m of the fabric. This is the first time I used the pattern piece with the pockets drawn on the front so I was a little worried that maybe I had transferred the markings from the first pair of pants wrong, but they seem to be ok.

It is very funny that although these linen tapered pants are great, the first version made of cheap stash rayon-linen absolutely hit the spot for this pattern - with a bit more weight and a lot of drape.  I'll probably buy more of that fabric now that I've seen it in action. 

I texted a friend, worried that I'll never make anything except Pomona pants from now on...