The pattern is Vogue 1059 - an alice + olivia designer pattern from 2008. I think I bought all of the alice + olivia pants patterns when they came out.
The fabric is a rayon crepe from The Fabric Store. Initially I thought that I bought enough for a top / bottom combo (a la lizajane) but I'm not sure if I do have enough left for a top. Never mind, these pants seem to go with so many tops that I already own. My favourite combo is with this reversible swing top (featured here). The top is mauvy pink / indigo and the pants navy / cream / burgundy, but they seem a pretty good colour match in real life (better than the photos!). The bodgy hem on the top still annoys me though. I'll have to redo it one day.
The pants have a wide waistband. I wasn't sure how it would look in the chevron fabric, but the mismatched chevrons don't bother me. In the past, I have cut size 12 / 14 for the alice + olivia patterns. I had just started cutting these when I read the hip measurements on the pattern - the bonus of using commercial patterns - and decided to cut a 16 instead. I didn't want to put any stress on the fabric. Then I decided that maybe I should go for the 18 instead. My hip measurement puts me between the 16 and the 18. In the end, I cut a 16 front and an 18 back. The pants had a tendency to fall down, more because rayon crepe has a heavy drape than because of a fit issue, so I sewed a narrow elastic to the seam allowance of the top edge of the waistband, which seems to have done the trick.
The pants have an invisible zipper at the back. I don't think that I have sewn pants with a back zipper for over 20 years. Makes for a quick sew. You can see that I haven't under-stitched the waistband facing and so the facing is peeking out a little - I wanted to see how the elastic worked out first.
I did go to the effort of pattern matching my picket openings, but I didn't pattern match the side seams so it is all a bit of a mess of strips there anyway.
So, it only took me 8 years to sew this pattern up....why did it take so long??? I'm sure the next pair will come around sooner.
10 comments:
All of the Pieces of clothing Match from the Sunglasses to Sandals, Well Done!
These are really gorgeous. I am so surprised with the sizing. I have thought recently to make a larger size in the back than the front so I think I'll try that. I love the strips doing their crazy thing. Great outfit!
LOVE!!!
It took me a few good seconds of eye-watering inspection to even work out where the side-seam was. Definitely no point in matching that one!
The look fantastic. I love the long swishyness of them.
I do the elastic sewn to the seam allowance trick quite a bit. As most of the stuff I make is natural fibre, it tends to stretch, and I don't want to interface everything to stop it - an extra layer of fabric, too hot! So yeah, elastic is great.
I was making a pair of harem-style dance shorts the other day, with a folded knit waistband. I put elastic on, lining it up along the fold, on the inside side of it. I wasn't sure how it would work but I wore them yesterday and they were perfect. Can't see the elastic from the inside but they didn't fall down, and looked good the whole time. Win!
Can't see the elastic from the outside I mean. Duh.
It does look a really casually elegant and cool ensemble; and I love the mix of patterns you have going on in the top and pants! They're different but still blend together just beautifully, lie they were meant to be together :)
That is a truly inspired outfit. My daughter (an arty architecture student) when to a 21st on the weekend that was themed patterns'. She wore similar pants, a mismatched print cami and my Missoni wool coat (made years ago).
I still remember your Missoni coat!
Lovely pants - they look very swishy and cool.
I like the zig zag print pared with the wide legged pant, they look great on
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