Vogue 8859: Am I Dreaming?

Love this pants pattern. Could it be the one I've been looking for? All my life?

I'm not saying there's anything aesthetically too exciting about these pants. Mostly I appreciate them for what they are not: uncomfortable, bulky, difficult to sew, demanding of just the right fabric, hard to care for.

The first pair is of ponte knit.

I made several fitting changes, shortenings, combinings of sizes, all of which seem pretty specific to me. But what might be relevant to my friends out there: I had to take in the center back seam a lot to reduce bulk in that area. Like, more than 1" per side of the center back seam, starting at the top of the back yoke and tapering down to the original seamline about 2/3 of the way to the crotch.

Unexciting back view that showed me I am knock-kneed!

For my 5'2" frame, I shortened the pattern 1" above the crotch (by using 2" elastic for the waist rather than 1"), 1" between the crotch and knee and 1/2" below the knee.

Since I widened the "waistband," I ran into troubles with the yoke seam. That is, the waist seam threatened to fall below the yoke seam. Seeing as how I had already serged the two-inch-wide elastic into place and didn't care to remove it, I topstitched the elastic just 1/2" from the top (with a twin needle). Though I wasn't so sure how this would work out, it is absolutely fine and comfortable to wear. Everything stays in its place and the pants stay up nicely.

Inside view of the waistband, showing how the line of topstitching is far above the lower edge of the elastic

Outside view of the waistband

Today I finished up a second pair of these pants, from a stretch cotton/poly/lycra denim from Joann's. Marcy Tilton recently blogged that stretch wovens would work with this pattern and, by golly, she was right.

The Joann's fabric wasn't bad at all. I washed and dried it twice in a bid to remove all shrinkage prior to sewing. But after wearing the pants for an hour or so, they've definitely grown larger. The recovery could be better. But I'm so comfortable I really can't complain!

Seriously, when we wear long tops and tunics, is it really necessary to have a fly, and front pockets, and coin pockets, and belt loops, and a structured waistband, and rivets, and a jeans button? All of those things are great, but I wouldn't want to sleep in them. These pants are so comfortable I could easily wear them to bed.

I used 3/4" elastic in waist of this second pair (without shortening the pattern correspondingly), and I don't think that worked out as well. That wide elastic, either 1 1/2" or 2", feels so secure and just-right to me. I need to order a big spool of it from Wawak, because it is quite expensive by the yard from Joann's, Hancock's or our independent local fabric stores.

Future plans for this pattern include making a version without the knee detailing, just to see if I like it as much as an even plainer pant.

These pants are a dream come true, and I hope I'll continue to feel as excited about them in the future as I do today. I can envision many pairs in different colors and fabrics, each more comfy than the last!