I don’t make a lot of pants and I tend to wear RTW skinny jeans a lot (especially in winter). But these pants? These pants are kind of my dream pants. I just love that wide leg, fitted waist and, again, that wide leg. I do love that a wide leg is coming back into fashion. It’s such a nice contrast to the skinnies. It’s really comfortable and has a great sense of drama. I’m really tall so I feel like this is an easier style for me to wear.
I think I bought this pattern (Vogue V8836) pretty much as soon as I saw it. I’ve had this vision of wide leg sailor pants in my head for a while this pattern is very close to it. (Of course, now there’s Vogue V1464 to fulfill the button front sailor pant dream. Could 2016 be the year of the pant? Perhaps.) This pattern is in the “Very Easy Vogue” category and I’ve often found the moniker to be quite true. Indeed, these pants were very easy to make. I think the most difficult part is the topstitching (which I sneak peeked on instagram here). I tried to do a triple straight stitch around the fly because I like the look of it but it was too hard to keep it straight around the curve. After a few tries I gave up and did a single straight stitch. If I make these again, I might opt for a decorative topstitching thread.
I cut these pants out months ago so I don’t remember my plans when I chose to cut a size 16. My measurements are right between a 14 and 16 so perhaps I just didn’t want to cut it too small and figured I could make adjustments. In retrospect, I probably should have just cut a size 14 because there was plenty of ease. The finished garment measurements are printed on the tissue pattern which is kind of a pain to find. I'd love it if they were printed on the envelope.
I ended up making the front pleats largely and increasing the seam allowance at the sides and center back. In total I probably removed 4 to 5 inches. (I thought I took notes but can’t find them. whoops!) I’m pretty happy with the fit now except I think I maybe needed to remove a little more length from the waistband. It fits the pants but seems to gap a little bit. I also lengthened the crotch depth a little bit but I didn’t have enough fabric to length the leg.
The fabric is Robert Kaufmann Essex Yarn Dyed fabric in Denim. It was really easy to work and is so, so gorgeous. I actually bought it during a Black Friday sale in 2014. I think I had planned to make pants with it but I only bought 2.5 yards so I just barely had enough for these pants. The pattern calls for 2 5/8 yards but I was able to squeeze it in. There was one flaw in the fabric (a rather large thread in the weave, so annoying!) that I carelessly placed at the center front. But I was lucky enough that it got folded up into the pleat. Phew!
I'm afraid I have not taken these pants out yet but I'm hoping that I'll get a lot of wear out of them. I think I could even wear them in summer without being too hot because the wide leg will allow for a lot of air movement. Have you tried this pattern? What do you think of the wide leg trend?
