Fancy Pants!

Yes, indeed, it's a rare day here at Following the Thread... I made some trousers! 

This is not something I do every day. In fact, I don't even do it every year. I so rarely wear pants that I don't focus much on making them and figuring out all the fiddly pants fitting. 

But Liesl & Co had the Cannes Trousers as part of their recent pattern release, and so I wanted to give them a try as part of the Advisor's Circle. They take almost 3 m. as drafted (although I knew I'd likely have to shorten them by a great deal) but magically, just the week I was thinking about making them, I found 3 m. of floral rayon at the thrift store. So off I went! 

You can see this project and the details over at the Liesl & Co blog now, but I'll also share a bit here. 

They were pretty straightforward in design and instructions; as usual, the instruction booklet has great illustrations and step by step explanations. Despite all that, I managed to put the fly zip in backwards even after holding the pieces up to me numerous times. Argh! But other than the fly going the wrong direction, it's otherwise perfect, it even has a nice fly shield.

The other major change I made to these pants was to shorten them significantly. I think I took 5" out of the length (I am barely 5'2") and have a 2" hem. That's pretty much what I'd expected. I'm not sure that pants this long and full suit my short figure that well, but maybe with a shorter and more fitted top the balance will be a little better. 

To check the crotch curve and rise, I took a well-fitting pair of linen pants that I've had for years (they've lasted because I probably wear them once a year) and laid the pattern against them. I found that I had to add about 1/2" to the back rise and a slight bit extra at the crotch extension to match but that the two were very close. I used this as my quick fit process and went ahead - the rayon only cost me $2.50 so I was treating this like my (hopefully) wearable muslin. 

As it turns out, it worked pretty well. I do find that these pants are still a little close to the body for my liking in the back, but still wearable. The pattern has lots of interesting details like the pockets and pleats, and I thought that it was easy to put together, other than my mirrored fly error. 

The rayon is very soft and feels great in these wide legs, especially when a breeze is blowing. I feel like these are very much 1930s beach pyjamas, and they're very Agatha Christie glam. Still not sure I'll wear them too often, but at least I now have a pair of summer trousers that actually fit me, so maybe pants will appear more often in my wardrobe.