I made PANTS!!

I’ve been saying that I planned to do a fair amount of sewing this summer, and then just…not doing it. But the last few days, I’ve trimmed and traced patterns and cut out fabric for a few sewing projects, and yesterday, I spent the day making the first of them: PANTS! (It is surprisingly hard to take photos of your own pants, so the vast majority of the photos that follow were taken by my daughter.)

(I took this photo myself; it was the best I could manage with just a timer!)

Pants have been intimidating to me; I managed the simple Cleo Skirt and the simple Demeter Dress patterns ok, so I’m not sure why I was so scared of the equally simple Luna Pants pattern, but something about legs, and having to make things fit around them properly, just made me so nervous to try.

The Luna Pants pattern was really clearly presented, and I also read through everything in the “Sewalong” posts that Rae shared before starting. Very helpful!

I decided from the beginning that I wanted to do all French seams, because I thought that would be the most comfortable seam finish for something that could be rubbing against my legs a lot. I’m really happy with how that turned out!

I did not put elastic at the ankle, because I just prefer a straight hem. I’m really delighted that I was able to hem these pants at exactly the right length for me!

The fabric I used is a lightweight, slightly textured cotton fabric; I’m 99% certain that it’s the Peacock shade of Kaufman’s Manchester Shirting. I really need to keep better notes about the fabrics I get – there’s no equivalent to the ball bands that I get with yarns! I’m not totally sure how it’ll hold up, because it is pretty lightweight, but I really love the way these pants feel.

I used some slightly contrasting yarn-dyed mystery fabric for the pockets as well as the waistband facing; I like the little pop of darker blue in the pockets, and I feel like it’s a little detail that marks these as uniquely mine.

(My daughter thought it was HILARIOUS to take pictures of my bottom!)

I was worried that the lack of back pockets might make the backside of the pants look a little boring, but I actually think it’s fine! And I’m glad I went with the XS size rather than the S size; I went back and forth about which to do, but since I did the XS with the Cleo Skirts and those turned out great, I did the XS for the Luna Pants too, and I think they’re just right. Any bigger and they’d be a bit too baggy, I think.

(I’m giggling at just how much turquoise is in this photo. What can I say, I know what I like!)

I’m just really delighted with how my very first pair of self-made pants turned out! The next pattern I want to try are the Sew Liberated Arenite pants, which seem like they’ll be quite a bit more complicated, but I love the look of them and trying is the only way to learn!