I've been feverishly working away at my Queen of Dots SWAP plans. With four items already finished, I'm using the momentum I'm gaining with the excitement of each finished object. I was reminded of Christine Jonson Patterns by their recent pants sew-along in their Facebook group. I have always liked Christine's patterns - Christine offers a wide range of paper patterns that work so well together. A lot of these can now be purchased as a PDF as well. Christine focuses on using knit fabrics for her patterns, and as a result her line of patterns makes the ideal solution for a travel wardrobe. Spring is always a busy time for me, with a lot of travel for work to regional tradeshows. My Queen of Dots SWAP was planned with these tradeshows in mind, which is why I included some knit separates. My next choice was the Christine Jonson Travel Trio One, Center Seam Pants out of the same medium weight black ponte that the Christine Jonson Basewear Two Tapered skirt was made out of.
My measurements placed me in the size 16 waist and 14 hip, however, when I did the stretch test, I was worried the fabric wouldn't be stretchy enough. I was hoping to avoid a compression legging/sausage casing style pant, and wanted more of a flared trouser style, so I sized up to size 18 for the waist and size 16 for the hip (and lower). I scooped out/lowered the back crotch curve by about 1" to get rid of the standard wrinkling that I get pooling under my buttocks/at the tops of my hamstring area. I also scooped out about 3/8" from the front crotch curve to get rid of the camel toe look I commonly get (so my crotch seam now looks more like a U than J). I'm not sure that makes any sense, I can add some sketches to show you more details on this if you like - just let me know. I also lengthened the pattern at the lengthen/shorten line by the knee by 6".
I made sure to carefully label each piece - right side/wrong side, as well as inner front/outer front vs. inner back/outer back. I find when I'm sewing I end up not paying attention to these things and need visual reminders of what piece goes where.
I ended up taking in about an inch off of each side seam - this is consistent with the changes I had to make to the Tapered skirt, also from Christine Jonson Patterns, and also out of the same fabric. In hindsight (
see what I did there, lol), I should have all of the seams equally across the back. As a result, my centre seams at the back are more on the side back than the centre back, but if anyone is looking that closely and comments on it, I'll have something else to say to them about what they're looking at ;) I love how the yoke looks, but when I tried it on once I had sewn it together, the waist came up really high - around my natural waistline. I have long legs (34" inseam for flats, 35-36" for heels), but I am also shortwaisted and dislike a seam line hitting me at the natural waist. So, I lopped off the yoke and attached a stitch and turn elastic waist instead. Maybe I should have called this SWAP The Queen of Lopping instead?!
I really like the finished pants. They feel like very flattering secret pyjamas! The weight of the ponte is great for a bootcut pant, and doesn't show every lump and bump! You'll have to take my word for it because right now I only have these photographs to show you.
Taking photographs is quite difficult for me. I don't have access to a photographer, I'm a bit lazy about taking my own pictures and end up using my cell phone camera at night. The lighting in my Atelier is not so great during the day, and even worse at night. I hope to take some pictures later this week with a better camera, a tripod, and in a different location during the day so you can actually see how these pants fit me. But until then, you'll have to make do with these photos.
Up next on the sewing table:
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