Persephone, dear, it's been awhile

 Gosh how has it been this long? I last made some Persephone pants in 2019!  

I made three separate versions of these, somehow struggling to commit to an actual heavyweight fabric, and playing around with the rise and the size.  I started with size 4, then I removed the pockets and some of the rise, and then I finally tried out a size 0 (which was a bit of a leap).  The first pair were fun for awhile, the second pair shredded, and the third pair were way too tight.  

So I pulled out these pattern pieces and this heavyweight brick twill (finally!)  All the work has been done fitting and I have made these a few times there are no surprises to the process.  They are a size 4.  There is 1" removed from the rise plus I cut off the top at the size 0 line. I lengthened the darts since previously they were a bit fat after all that cropping.  I cut the waistband much longer than the pattern piece so I wouldn't have to worry about easing it (some flashbacks to terrible Philippa pant experience here, I don't think the Persephones needed to be eased.)  I also narrowed them to size 0 at the hem to see if that would keep my bike from chewing on the cuffs.  I used Pomona patch pockets on them. 

These came together relatively quickly, without any harm to the maker, and with minimal screaming at my sewing machine.  I did the fly buttonholes easily on my normal machine, and after a single attempt at the main button I switched to the Bernina right away because I have learned it is not worth expecting my Pfaff to do a serious buttonhole.  

 

Hooray new pants!  They are too airy for winter and I got cold the first day I wore them. The patch pockets still don't really solve the problem that I can't get things into them.  One solution would be pockets with darts at the bottom and kind of bellows shape so they stick out and are ready for me to put things in, but as I wore these I realised the other solution would be to put the pockets much lower down where there is space for me to get my hands into them - I'm not sure how this would look.  But none of that belies how great they are!  I think they are safe for my bicycle too which is excellent.  Overall it took me years, but I finally have a perfect pair of Persephones in my closet. 

Persephone by Anna Allen, version no. 3

My beautiful green Persephone pants shredded in the wash. It turns out that the velvet wasn't so strong and the stitching at the waist couldn't hold it together.  It wasn't going to be easy to repair so in the meantime I have them in a corner awaiting some upcycling-brainstorm.  (A delicate jacket, methinks.)  So I had to make more.

Also because yet again I just don't seem to understand the concept of heavyweight duck fabric, I made some Persephone pants out of a wool woven.  It is somewhat heavier than all my previous Persephones, so I'm getting there!  Also this time I made the big leap and sized down from a 4 to a 0.  Spoiler: I think a 2 would have been a better choice.  Live and learn.

I'm pretty good at making these by now.  I made them on a Sewing Day with my friend Tessa when I was over in Hamilton visiting the nice places I used to live.  I used my size 4 pattern to adjust the crotch height, the total decrease was about 1", above the level of the hips.  I could use even more of a decrease.  In fact, when I make these again at some far away point in the future, I should do the size 2 and I should remove another cm off the top of the pants. Then the waist would be a bit bigger, and that would be nice.  I'm 5'4" and seem to be about 27" waist and 37" hips.  I'm somehow very short everywhere.  My torso is short and my pelvis is short.  I'm beginning to think I need to shorten all pants patterns below the waist, the way I'd usually shorten a tshirt above the waist. 

As it is, the effect is sort of that I have been poured into these.

Sadly even though I'm reunited with my beloved Pfaff, I am not doing good buttonholes.  I had a lot of trouble on the main buttonhole, though the small ones went ok, and I think from now on I'm going to just do them manually.  That is in the instructions in the Dawn Jeans (which I'm currently making) and it would save me a lot of drama. 

There is a huge tummy tuck happening in the front, it's like all my guts are sucked in by the tight pants, but it is rather too much.  I am giving these to a friend because they are too tight for comfort!

Anna Allen Persephone Pants in Hermes Velvet

So apparently I don't learn from my errors.  Or possibly I just think that following pattern instructions and fabric weight recommendations...is optional.  Because version 1 of these amazing pants was made from a lightweight linen-silk blend that suffered from just not being heavyweight enough.

Thus for take 2, I naturally pulled this fantastic Hermes cotton velvet out of my stash. It's a one meter long and rather wide piece that I bought in Copenhagen and it is just so beautiful that I want to make everything out of it.  Naturally again...it's not heavyweight.  It um has great drape.

For this version I made size 4 again.  I removed the pockets.  They sit right on my hip bones and I can't get anything into them easily.  When something is in them, it hurts my hipbones.  So - no pockets.

Then by comparing closely to the first version, I removed 1 inch from the upper part of the waist.  I did this because I saw that the entire butt and crotch area fit me well, but I had excess fabric bunching at the waistband - the upper part of the rise was too long.  So I couldn't use the lengthen/shorten lines, since they are in the crotch and I didn't want to change that part of the fit.

I made parallel lines up high and used those.  I would lengthen the dart just a little next time as my modification led to a really short, fat dart.  I had to shorten all elements of the fly as well, and then make my own button placement.

I sewed these in one day.  It was amazing.  Except for the buttonholes.  I had small vintage buttons from etsy and no hammer, so I didn't test the buttons ahead of time.  And it ends up the crappy Singer I'm borrowing WILL make buttonholes but it does not align them correctly.  I had to do about 25 practice buttons before I could correct for the weird alignment.  That was when I realised that these buttons are some kind of vintage that look like they have to be soldered together. Etsy fail.  And since I had made 4 13mm buttonholes I was stuck with an irregular size.  I ordered So Many online buttons and nothing fit.  After a MONTH, I finally gave up and bought normal buttons at JoAnns.

And then once I finished the pants...the buttonholer Would Not make the buttonhole for the main button because of the many layers of fabric now present.  It's really frustrating to finish a pair of pants and feel like you are Just About to wear them but are stymied by a few small steps.  I seriously considered hand sewing the main buttonhole, but then I read a bunch of posts on how to hand sew buttonholes and decided I couldn't learn that before my frustration overflowed. So in preparation for a 3-day Thanksgiving sewing binge, I took these plus some big puppy eyes to someone I knew, who after much begging, grumpily sewed me one buttonhole on a Bernina.  I was never that excited by Berninas before but now I wish I had one.  It used a buttonhole foot rather than the long buttonhole thing, and because of this you have great control over the entire hole.

And my Persephone pants are done! And they are amazing!  And it looks like I need to size down for my next pair!  Which I will make in the correct weight of fabric, I promise! 

Persephone pants by Anna Allen patterns

I hopped on this bandwagon right after I discovered the pattern via Sophie (@adaspragg) on Instagram.  I had no idea if I would find it totally too crazy or really fun.  I also explored the phenomenon that is Kamm pants because I was out of that loop too.

I made a size 4, which fit my measurements exactly: 27-37.  I have seen since then that many people are sizing down to truly get the snug hip fit, and I could do that, but I do also really like how comfortable they are as is.  I don't have much room in the hips, but the high waist and loose fit below the butt mean there is so much space to move and bend - really the sad bit is just that they are a little too long to bicycle in (I tried.  Snapped threads.  No holes, luckily.)

The fabric is a somewhat lightweight, but stiff linen blend with a bunch of lurex in it, creating delightful iridescence when I move.  It is probably too light for this pattern and does leave me with terrible panty lines.  I have worn the pants a bunch and found them so comfortable that I will probably make another pair and choose a heavier fabric the second time around.  The problem with using a fabric that feels, in my head, like wild crazy rainbow iridescence is that these feel to me a bit like disco pants.  I don't think they are quite so out there, style-wise, as I feel they are.  But I feel like I'm really pushing the edge of fashion when I wear them, which makes me think my next pair need to be really toned down.  

Um, except that I have one meter of Hermes green cotton velvet.  It's a wide meter.  The pieces fit...so...I might have to do that next.

The instructions are impeccable.  The button fly creates a beautiful amazing clean finish with none of the ragged uncertainty that arises at the bottom of a zip fly.  (or is that just me?)  I LOVE the button fly.  I followed every bit of the instructions including the totally ridiculous belt loops because wtf belt loops?  I hate belts.

After washing:

It took one sewing day, meaning a full day with coffee breaks.  They fit perfectly, as I said.  Except.  They are too high.  I mean, they are in close relationship with my ribs.  After wearing them, the fabric has accordioned down the top about 2 inches to try to all sit at my waist.  (Yes I know I could iron them but I'm never going to.)  I find the pockets are flat against my hips which makes them functionally pretty useless.  I don't really want pocket contents bruising my hipbones.  So on the next (velvet!) version I plan to take 1" out of the top part of the waist and not put in the pockets.  Or belt loops.  I thought of using the crotch lengthen shorten line but I want to take away the height nearer the waist - I'm still thinking this through, so we shall see what happens!

Me Made May, week 2

Well hello again.
This week of Me-Made-May included the following, a lot of which is unblogged!  Posts of those unblogged items will follow once I have gotten some suitable pictures.

Thurlow Jeans
Many of the same things from last week
New Mabel miniskirt x 2 (I wore both of them, a lot)
Ondee top
Persephone pants
Briar in yellow (unblogged and likely to remain that way.  I have nothing new to say about this top)
Cocoon cardigan
silk Penny top
mystery swimsuit no. 2

I am happily at work in my pants-binge.  I have to say that the amazing new pants patterns coming out are overwhelming me with the quality of their instructions, the quality of my results, and I'm really excited to see the final 2 pairs (of 4 planned) as they become real,wearable things!  I've avoided making pants for awhile because I have so many awesome pants from op-shops/consignment shops that I don't really NEED to make pants.  But a girl can only make so many tshirts before she has to expand the me-made wardrobe a bit...