Summer Eureka! Linen crop pants and review of my go to pants patterns.

I have made two pairs of Eureka! Pants that fit pants for work. I have been super pleased with them! Of course it helps that I have perfected the fit of the pants through several muslins and with help from Sarah Veblen.  

Since my first 2 pairs worked out so great I decided to make another pair but this time as a casual summer pair. 

The fabric is a blue linen with white flower print from my stash. I wanted to be able to wash these at home so I washed and dried the linen a couple of times to shrink it up and to soften it as well. The linen was not sturdy enough for the style of pants I wanted so I underlined the entire thing with Imperial batiste in white. I did this by cutting the pattern pieces in batiste and hand basting them to the linen. This helps with keeping the knees and seat from bagging and cuts down on the wrinkles and the batiste feels so nice against my skin.

I did not line these since I felt the underlining was plenty for this casual pant.

So, how did I decide what changes to make to the original pattern? I put on a pair of the original pants that I made and first I rolled up the hem to a spot above my ankle that I liked and looked flattering. Then I worked on pinning the inseam and outer seam to get a silhouette that I liked. 90% of the width changes are done from the knee down and they are done almost evenly from both sides to maintain the correct grain line and hang of the fabric. 

Once I had pinned and measured my pants I traced off the pants from my master pattern and made the changes to the lower legs. I was carefull to mark the new pattern pieces as cropped/slim so that I can return to those pieces to be used again and know exactly what I have! 

The only difference between these and the first 2 work pair that I made is that I tried a different waistband treatment. The waistband is cut exactly the same only instead of using an interfacing I used elastic. The back lapped zipper and pants hook and eye are exactly the same. The elastic was cut 6 inches shorter than your waist measurement (per the directions). Honestly, I was a little dubious about doing it this way.... Thoughts of kids pants, old lady pants, yoga pants and all sort of this like that were swirling through my head. I am so GLAD I tried it! On my shape with a larger tush and relatively smaller waist it made the waist very comfortable. 

I am very happy with my pants progress! I now have 3 styles of pants down pat! A darted trousers/slacks type of pant. Fitted at the waist and skimming over my lower abdomen and hips to create a smooth silhouette. A casual type of pant with a yoke back and much more fitted, these would be my denim and corduroy jeans. The last is a knit pants, think yoga pants. 

I do need to work on my patterning. I have very precise patterns for my Eureka! Pants that fit. I have what I am calling my 'work' pants and then the variation shown here, 'cropped/slim'. 

For my Jeans pattern I have 2 versions, a straigh leg and a skinny leg. Each is marked with a different seam allowance for stretch versus non-stretch wovens. I am toying with the idea of redoing these and making totally separate patterns for stretch vs non-stretch and having a uniform seam allowance. This will keep things more uniform. 

The knit pants are more fluid. It all depends on the type of knit and the amount of stretch. I use a very scientific method of wrapping the uncut yardage around my hips (my widest part) to where I like it and then taking and using that measurement to base my pants off of. This does mean that I have several sizes cut out and use one that is closest to the measurement. This keeps me from having to make changes after construction because a fabric has more stretch than the original. What I would REALLY like to do is to correlate amount of stretch to a specific pattern size. For example a stable double knit or ponte versus stretchier knits and knits with lycra. I think if I had 3 pattern sizes determined then it would be easier to select the correct one from the outset without having to make changes on the fly.

I think I see a winter project on my list!!

Happy Sewing!!

I am off from work this week and enjoying a week of grandma camp. Helping out while my daughter and her hubby move apartments. I do have to tell you that I forgot how exhausting a 14 month old can be!!! And I am loving every minute of it :)