These are actually my third Calyer pants

 I was taking seriously my plan to actually use my fancy stash fabrics this year. 

At some point I decided this luscious wool from Geneva should be a pair of Calyer pants. I have an odd relationship with the Calyer pants.  My first pair, I didn't entirely love them...but I sort of did.  The pockets weren't perfect and they are a bit shallow, so not very satisfying to put things in. Yet I wore the first Calyer pants...literally until the butt split open sideways because I had worn the fabric out.  It was a weird fabric too, a wool blend that shrunk and shrunk so the fit was no longer the original fit. 

When I made my second Calyer pants I was sort of disconcerted by the loose fit. I made them from a stretchy fabric and I lengthened the pockets.  The issue with that is that the pocket kind of interferes with my actual thigh, so the extra room in it is still not useful to put things.  I ended up giving them to a friend who uses them for hiking.  I even forgot to blog about them. 

I had kind of forgotten all of this.  So I made Calyer pants (size XS, same as before) from one of my favourite fabrics of all time.  I'm not sure why I rate it so highly.  It was expensive because it was a fabric store in the centre of Geneva, I was there to have my interview with MSF, so maybe it's because of those memories. It's a nice sort of loose weave, not transparent, but hinting at transparency.  I really do love it so much, but I didn't buy enough to really play with, since it was expensive.  (I wanted some patterned silks but they were hundreds of dollars per metre so luckily I held back...) 

And they are too tight. 

 

Luckily one of the friends on my current recipient list is smaller than me by quite a bit. So they went off to her.  I look at the photos and they aren't that bad though the butt is obviously snug, but wearing them, I felt like I might damage them at any moment.  I never expected to have such a long relationship with this pattern, since I disparagingly called it "fancy loungewear" but truthfully I would be tempted to try again at some point, keeping in mind something along the lines of maybe drapey (though that didn't work out super well) and maybe a bit stretchy (but not too stretchy, as those were too big.) 

Another thing I have noticed, and maybe I'm alone in this - that when I use these deep stashed, scary fabrics, even when the results are not exciting and I end up giving the item away - what I feel is a sense of relief.  I'm trapped by the stress of using my beautiful stash to make beautiful, perfect things, and while each inspiration is a step towards a platonic ideal, the act of trying to reach perfection is more important than the result.  I've noticed this over and over again, but only recently has it actually turned into results: I have really cut down on buying expensive fabric when I don't have any idea what to do with it. 

 

 

Friday pattern Co Saguaro set and a long, subsequent elastic pants comparison binge sew

 I made this set in a time crunchy state of urgency just before leaving on a trip (and I wanted to wear the set on the trip obv).  For this reason I had everything on my floor: the lovely red fabric I thought I would use plus about 7 alternative fabrics in a mix-and-match free for all to come up with enough yardage for these *hungry* pants.  The issues were that I wanted the set to still be a set, so I wanted the top and bottom to go together.  Considered 3 colours of raw silk in a jester-style mix and match but decided it would be too comical for me.  There was a lovely flowered linen for the bottoms, but didn't have anything that would be a good top, and I think the red fabric I had initially planned was not enough enough to make the pants.  

Lesson: really high waisted, wide hem pants take a LOT of fabric.  I can't fit them on 1 meter of 110 wide!!  Rare!!!

It was with a weird shock that I pulled out the super amazing high quality linen from Tessuti that I have been stashing.  I love it so much that I bought more than a meter.  I didn't have enough to make the entire set, but the white raw silk was a close enough match to be the top.  

Onward!  Size S and no modifications because I didn't have time.  I was accepting the potential for a HUGE DISASTROUS fail with one of my most coveted recent fabric purchases (to be considered distinct from the so precious deep stash I am just unable to cut into), and just flying with it. 

I did make the tactical decision on the top to go with a tighter elastic that grips my chest, rather than a loose elastic which skims without sticking.  I reckoned this way I could go without a bra.  However, in reality I hate the clinging feel - the loose elastic would have been a better choice.  So the top is kind of uncomfortable for me to wear, though I think it looks pretty cool.  I overlapped the tops quite a bit, trying on as I went, to get the amount of coverage I was content with.  This way even when I lean forward there's a bit of coverage.  

The result is that the pants are amazing.  I think it's the linen that does it - this linen just wanted to be a pair of swishy pants, and the length of them suits it perfectly.  High waisted loose pants have been the thing this summer, with cropped tops, and I actually have a few cropped tops that have gone really nicely with these, so they turned into an absolute win.  The crotch is too low and the pockets are annoyingly small, but despite that I adore these pants. 

This is with a Victory Frances tee hacked out of a very old tshirt - but my most judgy eye felt that the armscye fit is horrible (the pattern offers a back tie as a cheat so it won't keep falling off your shoulders) so I didn't do any more variations of this.  In fact I never kept the original ones I made for similar reasons.  Maybe I'll get more inspired this summer, it could be as simple as adding in the very necessary sloping shoulders adjustment that I know I need but rarely do.
 

I don't think I'll wear the top due to the tight elastic.  I think it's quite cute though and before giving it away I will probably take some notes in case I want to make it again as a stand-alone piece.  Sadly with my crazy travel schedule I thought I'd taken photos but I didn't (or I threw them away.)  No photos of the top.  But it was cute.

In the meantime I thought it would be fun to make the adjustments I should have made the first time around.  I was near The Fabric Store so I could even buy fabric for the experiment.  I wasn't sure whether these stripes would yell "clown pants" or be great. No way to know but to try, right?  I shortened the rise by 1", increased the size of the pockets by 1" all the way around, and changed the hem to an Anna Allen style 2+1 inch foldover (1 inch, then 2 inches) lengthened the hems to make up for that (maybe not necessary, they are longer).

All my thinking about these pants and modifications of them and some future shorts vision all got conflated together into a great big elastic pants binge, which follows: 

I moved onto the Peppermint Samford Pants 

Great pattern info, says it's for a 5'8" human. 

shortened crotch 1", and length 2", made size C 

Adjusted back pockets so I didn't need to double them- I thought the instructions were a bit silly. 

 

These are functionally identical to the Saguaro pants - a wide leg pant with a self made waist tie and 2" elastic.  Seriously SO similar.  However, these are FULL length and again, I had very few fabric options here.  I spied some drapey rayon that I bought recently and had completely forgotten about.  Not sure what the vision was for the rayon, but I bought 2m.  These pants feel like they run the show, but they also feel like something I might cheerfully wear to swan about the house.  I had some thoughts about whether to stabilise the pockets with interfacing.  Should one always stabilise pockets?  I don't remember what I ended up doing. 

Learning to shorten the rise on all these high waisted things has been a game changer.  So much that I'm considering going back to the Florence pants .

Anyway then I made the Peppermint Loungewear set pants.  (Incidentally the fit looks so similar to my old pictures of those Florence pants, but it isn't - the rise on those was terrible for me.)

These pants do NOT tell you what height human they are made for. 

I made size B and shortened the pants 1" but left the crotch height alone. 

It was really interesting to compare patterns which appear superficially quite similar - in terms of fit, of course, but also in terms of the information provided in the patterns ahead of time.  It seems like a mark of the quality of the pattern designer to share as much relevant info as possible.  Lately there are so many people designing patterns and selling them on etsy, and there is no longer a good, clear repository of new patterns and people's opinions on them - so it's hard to know whether to try out a new designer when you spy a cool new pattern. 

 

Sorry these are a bit rubbish, it was too cold for this.

Anyway these pants used a bit less fabric, so I could fit them on 1.5m of delightful drapey viscose twill, possibly from Blackbird fabrics.  Also, this pattern is SUPER easy, because there's no waistband. You just attach the elastic to the top of the fabric and fold down.  It's nice, for once, to have an elastic that won't be able to roll up or be obnoxious, although it was a bit tricky to sew down as you have to make sure not to fold over the pocket edges.  These pants have a much different shape to the previous selection - bigger pockets, cropped styling.  Way too cold for these now, they are going straight away for spring, but they are a surprise winner - I really love them! 

None of these pants are suitable for the shorts I have been dreaming about but luckily it's winter now so I can save that for next summer.

 

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.