melle_chantilly

So, these jersey pants from I Love Pants/J'Adore Les Pantalons. The sewing itself was rather straightforward, except the pleating part which left me scratching my head for a long half an hour. I think there's a mistake in the pattern? Anyway, I'm happy with the way I did my pleats.

The finishings aren't too great, especially the overstitching of the side seam. This is when jersey truly becomes fiddly and annoying (and I probably didn't swatch enough to find the perfect tension). But that seam ends up under a big fat pleat! So WHO CARES. :D

The issue is that the pants ended up HUGE. I trusted the size chart and so I graded the pattern to a size over the largest in the book but they're very big! I had an inkling I could get away with a too small size for a pleated stretchy pair of pants but I wanted to try grading and see. Well.

They're also too long, which I could have foreseen (since the tunic by the same designer is a knee length dress for me! at least it's consistent). I'd rather have them it me right under the knee. I still like them!

The waist is elasticated, the fabric bunches up a lot, and I'm not fond of the look (it screams lazy tailoring to me. The pleats could have been a wee deeper and the waist reduced by a good 20 cm imho). But I never tuck my tops into my pants, and it is fairly smooth under a t-shirt.

(Yep, there's a horizontal line on the front, it's... dirt. ><)

I'm a bit nervous now because I'd like to make more complicated pants from the same book and it might end up a disaster. Time to measure my inseam and do some calculations? They're carrot pants and the fabric is slightly stretchy so I think I can get away with a less than perfect fit. I'd like to try a non-stretchy project beforehand, with a basic and easy fabric, just to practice some more. *thinking*

I did buy some cheap sheets though and I will... make a toile!