
I had enough soft gray fabric left from a different pair of pants to use for these. I knew it draped well and was machine washable. The only thing I had to buy was wide black elastic (1 1/4″) for the waistband.
Part of the pockets show on the front, so they have to be in the main pants fabric. But the inside doesn’t show, so I cut those pieces from a scrap of cute cotton voile from my leftovers pile. Using a lightweight fabric decreases the pockets’ bulk and gives whoever does the laundry (me) a little surprise pop of color.
One of this design’s unusual features is a raw, uncased elastic waistband. I have seen the exact same elastic used in ready-to-wear cinch belts, so it makes sense that it would look good exposed.
I was really hoping I could figure out how to use the serger to apply the elastic and do the gathering in one step. Try as I might, I couldn’t figure out a way. When I really thought about it, I realized that it would have to be done in multiple steps, if at all. I did make a nice test swatch attaching the elastic to the fabric with right sides together. That would be a great treatment for a full, puffy skirt. Unfortunately, I was trying to apply the elastic on top, overlapping the fabric, not turned to the inside. Trying to stretch the elastic the necessary 2×1 ratio was just too difficult for something that should have been simple.


I ended up just sewing it on using a zig-zag stitch on my regular machine, stretching as I went. Then I cleaned up the messy bulk on the inside with a three thread overlock.
I went back to my regular sewing machine to do the gathering on the cuffs. Applying the cuffs was a fussy process, since the circumference was smaller than my free arm and the fabric had no stretch. I sewed the cuff to itself no less than three times! While it was many more steps than I had hoped, the results looked good.
Then I tried to put them on.
Aaaargh!
I couldn’t get my feet through the cuffs!
After a few deep breaths, I checked my work. I did indeed follow the directions as written in the magazine. The cuff pieces were the right size. I don’t know if this is a known problem with the pattern, or whether I missed something. Either way, the pants needed work if they were going to be wearable.
It looks like this is going to be a three part post. Oh, well. It happens to everyone, right?
See Part 1 Here.
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