Fancy Pants Without The Hassle/Wrap Pants Tutorial

I'm going for a record here!!! ;) Three posts in 3 days, unprecedented! 

This past Wednesday, I posted a favorite pair of pants on Instagram, my outfit of the day :) A number of people wanted to know how I made them. They are beyond simple to do.

They are basically a wrap style of pant, somewhat anyway. 

The over panel has ties that hold the panel in place.

In the above picture, I've untied the panels and I am holding them to the side. What you can't see is that there is a panel in the front and in the back.

You get a better picture of the pants in the video below. 

While I enjoy a challenge, I also don't like for things to be anymore complicated than they need to be. I began with this free pajama pant pattern from Martha Stewart. It's really just a good, basic elastic waist pant pattern.  

*The front and back overlay panels on the pants are just 2 rectangles. Nothing more. For the panel width, I measured from the side seam to the midpoint of the opposite leg. 

*For the length of the panels, I measured from the waist to the hemline.

In the picture below, you can see that the panels extends from the elastic foldline to the hem foldline. 

Make 2 ties and attach them to the edge of the rectangle at the waistline. The ties should be approximately 18" long. The ties are the very last thing you will do, so I recommend using a length of ribbon that is basted to the edge of the panel to determine just how much length you will need for your tie. You want enough length to tie a nice bow.  

Like I said, this design is so very easy to do. I had the border print and thought it would be fun, but this looks just as lovely in a solid. There are so many possibilities. You can do a sheer overlay. Maybe use something really special for an evening pant. The fabric that I used is a rayon batik so it has a lovely drape. Silk, light weight cotton, a lovely poly would all work beautifully.

If you give it a go, by all means let me know...and send a picture! I would love to feature your make :)

Rhonda

Pants...Getting To The Bottom Line

Best laid plans...
Four weeks ago, while at an agility class with Mr. Berkley, I somehow managed to catch my shoe on the rubber tile, and I went flying, landing with all of my weight coming down on my left knee. The trainer ran over and asked if I was okay. The impact was so powerful that I actually felt like throwing up. All I could manage to say was that I needed to take a break. (Silver Lining...I didn't re-injure my wrist!) But, me being me, I sucked it up and stayed through the rest of the class. By the time I made it home, my knee was the size of a large softball. I iced it, and sent my husband to the pharmacy for Arnica cream. It took about a week for the swelling to begin subsiding, but there was a big sack of fluid on my knee. Finally, the fluid began to disappear, but last Friday morning while making the bed, I once again managed to trip and fall, landing on my left knee. I now have an appointment to see an orthopedic doctor. I'm walking on the knee, and it doesn't hurt to walk, but it's extremely painful to touch, and going up and down stairs has been a great challenge. So, with all of that, I am a few days late with my next pant post.

The theme of our second week of our pant posts is all about the bottom line, literally...our bottoms :/ Not something that most of us want to talk about. 

Becky of Trail Balloons, my fellow challenger has a flat bottom. She absolutely loves the Flat Bottom Flos from Style Arc. While those of us who have a round bottom...like me, we tend to think that those with a flat bottom have it made. But it does pose fitting issues that are just as dire to the flat bottom girls as the round bottom girls. Becky has done a very detailed post on fitting a flat bottom in THIS post. 

My favorite pattern for my round bottom is the Barb Pant from Style Arc Patterns. And to make it all the sweeter, you can get the pattern for FREE just for signing up to receive the Style Arc newsletter. HERE'S the link!

   
The pattern photo for the Barb Pant looks like it was drafted for a thin and rather flat bottom. But, that is not the case.

Here's what the pattern actually looks like;

The front is on the left, and the back on the right. Look closely at the front. The crotch curve is minimal. The back has a very deep curve, and looks to be raised at the center back line, as it is. So, with the Barb Pant, the full bottom adjustment is built into the pattern. Score!!! At least score for us full bottomed girls ;)

Another aspect that I love about the Barb Pant is that it was designed for a stretch woven. With a stretch woven, you will get a much more fitted pant, and especially for a pull-on pant, that's really nice.  

Now of course, the pattern has been designed for the middle of the road full bottomed girl. Some of us have rounder bottoms, and some not so round. I really love the tutorial that was done by Colette Patterns. You can find it HERE. The tutorial walks you through a full bottom adjustment as well as adjusting for a flat bottom. A great tutorial to keep on hand.

I have made quite a few pairs of the Barb Pant. I will be back tomorrow, Monday with a fashion show of Barb Pants.

If you haven't downloaded the free pattern,be sure to do so!
Happy pant sewing!!!

Rhonda

Cargo Crazy/Pair 2, Pockets, Pockets Pockets

Berkley and I had our second agility class. He loves it, but I think I need a remedial class on how to run without falling :/ Berkley was running through 1 of the tunnels. My job was to run and meet him at the end so that I could then direct him to turn and run through the second tunnel. As I was running, I managed to stumble, and I went flying, landing directly on my knee. Hurt like the dickens!!! But the positive thing is that I didn't land on my wrist and break that again!!! Always a silver lining :) My knee is so swollen, but this too shall pass. 

I am so very behind on the cargo pant challenge that Cennetta of The Mahogany Stylist and I are doing. I may be behind, but I absolutely love this pair!!! I only have hanging pictures today, but my next post will be me in the pants.

Here's the lovely Cennetta in her pants;

     

We both used the same fabric, but in a different colorway, hers is a tanish brown, mine a gray/blue. The fabric is from Mood Fabrics and you can find it HERE. 

For my front pockets, I decided to do something a little different. I used the pocket from the pattern, but I filled in the opening, lengthened the pocket, and rounded the corner. As you can see in the above picture, I inserted zippers to create openings in the pockets. 

I really went crazy with this pair of pants. I had purchased the trim from Fancy Tiger Crafts in Denver, Colorado. Had no idea of what I would do with it when I bought it, but there was enough to run it down the side seams, so I went with it!

I used the existing pocket pattern to create the back pockets. They were a little too large, so I folded the pattern until I had a pocket size that I liked. I did not use the darts, just ignored them and rounded the corners.

The pockets blend in so well that it's a little difficult to see them. I added a snap closure and just a bit of the ribbon trim as a tab on the flap of the pocket.

Here's a side view of the pants.If you look closely, you can see all 3 pockets. I took the original cargo pocket from the pattern and used it on the side of the leg, adding a zipper opening.

You can see the pocket a bit better in this picture. I was able to match the trim on the pocket to the pant leg so that it looks continuous. 

The original cargo pocket has darts so that the pocket will sit away from the garment. I just ignored the darts, rounded the corners, and added a little to the side of the pocket to accommodate the length of my zipper. 

I plan to wear 1 of the Molly Tees from Pattern Union that I made with the pants. There's a lot of pattern going on, but I love it! 

Cennetta did some fun things with her pockets. On the back, she added a solid color strip to the top of the pocket. The pocket is the perfect size for a credit card or driver's license. 

On the front leg of her pants, she stacked the pockets, the patch pocket on top, a small rectangular pocket with a zipper, and then the traditional cargo pocket with the added darts on the bottom. 

Cennetta also did a fun treatment with a zipper down the front of her pant leg. You can read about it HERE.

A sneak peek at my next cargo project...

I have quite  bit of the red and white striped ribbon, so I will be using it with the white denim. 

As it turns out, I really like the fit of this out of print Simplicity pattern. Just fits so well. But, in the end, it's just a pant pattern. If you have thought that you might like to give a cargo pant a try, just use a pant pattern that you really like, and that fits well, then go pocket crazy! 

I'm off to put ice on my knee :(

Rhonda