Wooly Cornflakes

I seem to be the recipient of a cute little curse where every elastic-waist pair of pants I make is dressier than my jeans. Is this because I ignored an old woman at a business-casual well? Who can say!

These are my ES Clyde pants, a pay-what-you-wish pattern. It’s a minor miracle that mine are here, not because there’s any particularly tricky steps when sewing, but because I was convinced I didn’t have enough fabric. I kind of didn’t, but not in ways that ended up mattering!

Somebody’s pattern review somewhere said that they easily made a pair from 1.5 yards of 60” wide fabric, and I can’t remember who this person was but that is not something we have in common. I assume they also made a size 12, or I wouldn’t have risked it – though I found when transferring the pattern to fabric that I had inexplicably printed and assembled a 12 tall, so that might have something to do with it? I snaffled a Clyde pants pattern in that weird free distribution window around early 2021, if I remember correctly, so my memories of picking a size are a little foggy. By the way, I’m not, and neither was I in early 2021, tall.

1.5 yards was definitely not enough yardage for me. Hypothetically, let’s say I fit all the leg panels side-by-side, 6 in total. (I did not.) The pocket backs and facings still wouldn’t fit on the length. Realistically, let’s say I fit 5 of the 6 leg panels side-by-side. (I did.) There was no way, at any angle, that the 6^th piece would fit. Cue: moping.

On day 3 of the mopes I remembered reading a online discussion about piecing the crotch hook on pants, and after some adjacent but not-quite-relevant results (no Google, I don’t need instructions on how to give someone a piercing with a crochet hook) I turned up this PatternReview.com thread. I followed those instructions pretty exactly, letting the pattern piece overhang the fabric, rough-cutting a scrap  larger than the overhang with a selvage edge, and matching and sewing the selvages before cutting the hook. Next: rejoicing! I had all 6 panels! And I would defy anyone to notice this seam without my active participation.

I also had to piece one of the pocket backs (I almost got away with it, too, but the seam just peeks out) and use a different scrap fabric for the pocket facings. This cotton has a very different hand than my main fabric, but it sure was ~*available*~.

This main fabric, by the way! It’s a wool blend with a tiny red-and-green check that I think merges into a nice soft cocoa color at a little distance. For topstitching I used a spool of plum-colored thread that I don’t remember buying, with olive green in the bobbin; they’re both pretty dang subtle but the plum is practically invisible. It was like sewing a dazzleship. The fabric was soft and drapey on the bolt but it pressed crisply, and the finished pants have a little more ‘crunch’ than I anticipated, almost cornflakey. No leftovers.

The instructions are good, probably! They’re certainly lavish! I just used the “Quick Start Guide” and loved it. They’re really clear about the seam allowances (mostly but not exclusively ½” – just narrow enough that I don’t feel guilty serging instead of French seaming) and the steps are intelligently sequenced. I followed them to the letter until sewing the elastic. I tried their way, but I didn’t like it, so I unpicked and sewed a typical casing instead.

I used one line of topstitching instead of two because I was running out of thread. 2 lines would have been handsomer on this wide elastic, though.

And the finished pants? Well, they exist, which was definitely in doubt for a minute there. But they’re a little too trim and tailored for my preference. I like the slouchy, relaxed fit most sewers achieved elsewhere. I have a few options if I want to make another pair, including reprinting the pattern in a larger size or using a 3/8” allowance on the long seams instead of ½” (with 3 seams per leg, not counting the crotch, that’s an extra ¾” of space per thigh). I shudder to think of printing this again (my ink! Oh woe, my tape!), but that’s probably the best choice, because, again, I am not tall. These are quadruple-cuffed!

And finally there’s the obviously correct next step, which is to surrender to the inevitable and use linen. A-doy.

In the end – my end, specifically – nobody is going to notice the piecing on the back leg except me, and I’ve come to appreciate it. It’s like a tag telling me which side is the back. This is the first pair of pants where I’ve felt serious doubt on that point.

Is this because I offended an old woman at a vertically-symmetrical well?! I have got to stop hanging out at wells.

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Pattern: ES Clyde pants

Pattern cost: $0.00

Size: 12 tall

Supplies: 1 1/2 yard of cocoa wool blend, Sewfisticated, $10.49; 1 yard of 3″ wide elastic, Sewfisticated, $0.99; thread from stash

Total time: 6 hours

Total cost: $11.48