M7726 High Waisted Pants

Love this pants pattern…the fit, the waist, the pockets, the wide legs. Everything!

Not a great pic, so bad in fact that this morning I made myself study the info for my camera – how to take an inside shot. It really helped (there are a couple more ‘old’ setting pics in this post, but the newer ones are much better).

Back to the pants!

Mine are View D – long, wide, belt loops included, and deep hem. I also made the sash, but no photo here. I like it, but it’s a little fussy for casual wear. All my pics here have a 2″ wide belt.

These are truly wide legs. But in my linen fabric they feel wonderful. Sassy.

Great paper bag effect. As I mentioned in my post on my muslin (here), this look is like going home to the 80’s.

Sewing notes:

• I made a straight size 12 (5’7″ and 130 lbs, 34″ hips, 30″ waist).
• I added 2.5″ to the length, and later realized that View D has a 6″ hem allowance! I actually cut off 6″ and used a 2.5″ hem. Next time, I’ll save my fabric…
• I think McCalls has tried to make this an ‘easy’ pattern. The zipper. Here’s how it looks per their instructions (which are quite good and well-illustrated ). Since both fronts have cut-on extensions, the resultant zipper is very finished without added bulk:

• I cannot wear a zipper and its associated hardware next to my skin. So I added a fly shield. This is not hard, and there’s lots of help available online, for adding this step-up feature. If you think you might want to use one, just plan ahead in your zipper construction.

• Let’s talk basting. I love love to baste stuff – stitching lines, detail lines, seams. I just take out my long quilters basting needle and go to it. For these pants, which feature 8 pleats in the waistline area, I marked my pieces with chalk and a tracing wheel, and then used a long loose stitch on my machine to cement those critical lines. In a contrast color of course!

• The instructions are good, but don’t include basics like interfacing (the zipper extensions, the pocket edges) or that zipper essential, bar tacks. I added the latter. They secure the fly shield and the bottom of the zipper opening. Again, online research can help anyone not familiar with finishing a zipper:

• And, my belt loop secret. I cannot stand it when my belt buckle slips up and my pants slip down, right there in the middle of my britches! So I add a fourth belt loop in the front, spaced so that there’s room for the buckle.

Don’t’ hesitate – just do it 🙂

• The fabric. It’s 100% linen from Fabric Mart. Dense black color with nice slubs. First wash: I had black ‘thingies’ all inside the washer and a lot of lint in the dryer. This is predictable for linen, most of the shrinkage and lint come with the first wash. Second wash, it was stable, and I was ready to work with it. Because I used chalk to mark details and notches, and because I know fabric can relax during sewing, I washed the pants again before I hemmed them. I LOVE this linen. It’s soft and rumpled, but not wrinkled. Wonderful fabric.

Such fun pants, a great fit, and a lovely design. I know these are very trendy in the slim capri look (views B and C), but I doubt I’ll go there. I like the swish of wide-leg pants. How cute are these for summer…

Ciao! Coco