Category Archives: Pattern Emporium

Be Mine Jacket Hack

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Pattern Emporium Be Mine Balloon Sleeve top with jacket hack, size AU8, 1.5 yards cotton double gauze, high neck, regular length, wide facing, no button loop, sloped-shoulder adjustment

I love the Pattern Emporium Be Mine Balloon Sleeve top pattern but find it difficult to wear under a sweater, and even if it fits, a sweater would hide the beautiful sleeves. So when I saw that sewist Livia Jonker-Yamada had hacked Be Mine into a jacket, I was excited to give it a try myself so that I could wear it over a shirt. I waited for Liv’s promised blog post with instructions, but it never came so I figured it out myself.

I started with the size AU8 pattern, which is one size smaller than the size chart recommends but this is an oversized pattern and sizing down worked well for me on my first Be Mine top. I could probably go down one more size for a more fitted top. I used the high neck option so that the neck opening would hit above a scoop-neck t-shirt. I added a half-inch sloped shoulder adjustment as I did on my first Be Mine. I decided to make this jacket from purple cotton double gauze since I still have a lot left even after making PE Vacation Vibes pants and a Sinclair Alva top and I thought it would coordinate with a lot of things in my wardrobe. The double gauze is a good weight for a light summer jacket, it has enough body to help the sleeves balloon, and once you’re done sewing it doesn’t need to be ironed. Having previously experimented with both ironing and not ironing gauze before cutting and sewing, I am firmly on team wash and iron now, despite the fact that ironing the wrinkles out of a couple of yards of double gauze is fairly tedious.

Most of the hack is pretty obvious: you follow the instructions for eliminating the back button, sew the back pieces together, and then you don’t sew together the two front pieces. The tricky part is what to do to have a nice clean finish on the jacket front openings. It looked to me like Liv split the neck facing and added vertical strips to it to face the jacket opening edges. I couldn’t work out exactly what she did where the front edges met the wide hem facing so I improvised a bit.

In the photos below you can see the split neck facing sewed to the merged back facing on its owned and pinned to the bodice. When I split the front facing, I made sure to add my 3/8-inch seam allowance to the split on both sides. The vertical facing is 1 3/4 inches wide and runs the length of the top. I decided to cut neck and vertical facing as a single piece to avoid the need for a joining seam. I used Heat n Bond Ultra Lightweight Fusible Interfacing and fused it to a piece of gauze before cutting out the facings. After I sewed the front and back facings together, I serged around the outer edges and also along the inner edge of the vertical pieces. That last bit of inner edge surging probably wasn’t necessary.

After I finished sewing on the neck and vertical facings I clipped the seam allowance around the neck as per pattern instructions and trimmed the corners to make it easier to turn them under. Then I understitched and top stitched according to the pattern instructions. It was impossible to understitch all the way into the corners, as you can see in this photo, but that didn’t seem to be a problem. I did the topstitching all in one go, from the bottom, up one side of the front, around the neck, and back down the other side of the front, pivoting at the corners. I used an edge foot for all the top stitching and under stitching.

Then I added the sleeves, closed up the sides, and turned to adding the wide bottom hem facing. I split the front hem facing piece in half, adding 3/8 inch seam allowances to the inside edge of each piece. Then I sewed the front hem facing pieces to the back hem facing pieces and serged the top edge. I pinned the facing to the bodice, folding in the seam allowance. I sewed everything together and understitched following pattern instructions. Then I top-stitched just below the serged edge at the top of the hem facing. Finally, I was left with the unsolved problem of what to do with the unstitched 3-inch edges where the hem facing meets the bodice on the jacket opening edges. I decided to whip stitch that closed by hand, which seemed to have worked well.

I decided not to add buttons as I rarely button jackets (and I’m still a bit afraid of button holes). I’ve recently read that tie-front tops are quite fashionable right now, so I thought about adding ties, but decided I was unlikely to actually tie them (or wear them fashionably without a shirt underneath), so I left the jacket with no closures. As a result, it was a little tricky getting the neck openings aligned for the photographs, but they mostly stay in place.

The jacket looked neat and crisp, but since I will never iron it again I threw it in the wash to see how it would look crinkled up. When I took it out it looked great except for the center back seam, which didn’t lie flat because I forgot to top-stitch the seam allowances in place. After a quick trip back to my sewing machine to topstitch, the jacket was complete. That was yesterday, and today I wore my new jacket to work with the PE Heartlight skirt that I sewed last summer. When the outdoor temperature cools down a little I expect I will wear it a lot with wide-leg pants.

Just Shorts

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Pattern Emporium Just Peachy stretch shorts, size AU10 with waistband adjusted to AU8, black Pylos LiKnit, length 3, mid rise, elastic waistband, back darts, stitched pockets (with pocket opening adjusted higher)

Sinclair Bondi 22 fitted t-shirt, aqua wide lush poly spandex, short sleeve, hip length, “screwp neck“

Summer is here and I reached for a pair of shorts to wear out of the house and couldn’t find any I liked. They were all either shorts I wear for playing soccer, shorts I wear for sleeping, shorts that don’t sit where I want them to at my waist, shorts that I find uncomfortable to sit in, or shorts with inadequate pockets. Clearly I need to sew myself some new shorts.

I used the Pattern Emporium Just Peachy stretch shorts pattern to sew up some black PyLos LiKnit shorts. I used this pattern once before to make grey cotton Lycra shorts that I mostly wear for PJs (the yoga waistband is super comfy but doesn’t stay put as well as I would like when I put my phone in my pocket. This time I used the mid rise with the elastic waistband option. I went with length 3, stitched pockets, and back darts. I adjusted the pocket opening to be higher (basically used the bottom of the high-waist pocket opening) — this makes it less likely for things to fall out of my pockets without the need to increase the length of the pocket bags. I stitched the pockets with a zigzag stitch. Next time I will try to cover stitch. I do love the way the look of the binding over the pocket opening edge.

I used the AU10 pattern with the AU8 waistband. I should probably have graded the waist of the leg pieces to match the waistband too — next time.

The rayon/nylon knit LiKnit fabric is very light and these are super lightweight shorts to wear and pack for travel. They look almost like linen shorts but are much softer and easy to care for. They also dry quickly when you get caught in a rainstorm (ask me how I know).

The shorts are modeled here with a short-sleeve 4p screwp neck Sinclair Bondi t-shirt in aqua wide lush poly spandex from Mily Mae Fabrics (which I made last year and may not have blogged). Normally I will wear the shirt untucked but leaving it tucked in here so you can see the shorts waistband and pocket details better.

Overall, I’m happy with these shorts and I have already worn them several times in the hot weather, including on a trip (they travel well!). They fit well but I personally would like them to sit a little higher at my waist, especially in front. Next time I make this pattern I would add a bit of rise, perhaps somewhere between the low-rise and high-rise line, and narrow the pocket bags so my phone will stay vertical.

Meet you there

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Pattern Emporium Meet You There dress, orange cotton double gauze fabric (washed and ironed before cutting), size AU10, knee length (2 long tiers, each shortened by 1 inch), mid neck, 1/2 sleeve, back ties, pockets (sewed down bottom of pocket openings)

I may have gone a little overboard when I bought several colors of “fluffy” cotton double gauze, 18 yards total, when it was on clearance at Mily Mae Fabrics for $3/yard last July. But it was really cheap and it is nice summer fabric and it will never go out of style, right?

I saw someone wearing an orange fluffy tiered dress during my travels last summer and it looked very cute and comfortable. I knew I had the orange fabric to make it and thought the PE Meet You There tiered dress pattern would be perfect. But I didn’t get around to actually making it until now.

I previously used some of the purple to make a pair of PE Vacation Vibes pants. PE patterns tend to run on the larger side, but these ended up being extra large on me and after I made them I had to cut off the waistband and resew it to remove some of the bulk. Part of the problem was that I didn’t press the fabric before I sewed it. There is a wide range of advice online about how to prepare double gauze for sewing. Everyone seems to agree that you should wash and shrink it, but some argue for pressing and others against. The anti-pressers argue that if you aren’t going to press the garment each time you wear it (and I definitely will not) then you shouldn’t press it before you cut and sew it. As I am definitely an avoid-ironing-at-all-costs sort of person, I decided to go with the no-press approach. But having tried this with the pants, I now see the folly in my ways. This fabric does, in fact, stretch and grow as you wear it, so pressing it before cutting gives you a more accurate size. I decided to go with a light pressing approach, both because I am too lazy to press three yards of fabric until it is perfectly smooth, and because, from what I read, that isn’t actually necessary and could also weaken the fabric. You can see in the photo below my unpressed fabric on the left and my lightly pressed fabric on the right.

The Meet You There dress has lots of options. I decided to cut a size AU 10 regular with the mid neckline, half sleeves, knee length, with pockets and waist ties. The knee-length dress can be achieved with two long tiers, and I shortened each by 1 inch to account for my short stature. That worked out fine, but I think next time I would achieve the same length by shortening the bodice by 1 inch and then shortening only one of the tiers, or perhaps even shortening the bodice by 2 inches and leaving the tiers as is. Because the gauze tends to unravel, I folded the hem under twice for a clean finish (which also shortened it a little bit). I thought the mid-neckline worked well for me. The low would have been too low on me. I think the high would have been fine, but I like the scoop neck styling provided by the mid neckline.

The instructions are great, with lots of nice tips. The instructions for the neck binding were very good, but double gauze is not a great fabric to work with when sewing narrow strips. I should have either been a lot more careful with it or used a tighter woven fabric for the binding (which is on the inside and you never see it so it doesn’t have to match). But I did the best I could, and with the help of my fabric glue stick I mostly got it folded under, but there are some edges sticking out on the inside.

The sneaky sleeve hem tip was fun, and did seem easier than the traditional method of threading elastic into sleeves. But the best tip was using clear elastic to gather the skirt tiers. I followed the instructions and used 1/4-inch light-weight clear elastic and ended up folding and marking it in eighths. I sewed it on using my regular sewing machine foot and a zigzag stitch. I followed the advice to sew everything on a sewing machine with a 3/8-inch seam allowance and then serge the edges to neaten.

I mostly followed the pocket instructions, but found that the pocket opening was too big and I thought my phone might fall out. So I sewed up the bottom two inches of the pocket opening.

I finished it last night and thought it looked pretty good, but wanted to see it in full fluffy crinkle. So I dunked it in the sink and tossed it in the dryer until it was only damp. Then I hung it up and went to bed. In the morning it dry and beautifully crinkled, so I wore it to work. It held up well to the heat and humidity and was fairly comfortable. I like the way the crinkles give the skirt and sleeves dome extra body.

Now I just have to figure out what to do with my other 14 yards of double-gauze fabric.

Swooning over ballooning

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Pattern Emporium Be Mine Balloon Sleeve top, size AU8, 1.5 yards woven rayon, mid neck, regular length, wide facing, no front seam or button loop, sloped shoulder adjustment

Ok, ignore the silly title, but do check out the lovely balloon sleeves I just made. I do adore them! As with many statement sleeves, they don’t play well with most sweaters (better break out the shawl for chilly days and over air-conditioned rooms), but who wants to hide fun sleeves anyway?

I’ve been wanting to make a Pattern Emporium Be Mine Balloon Sleeve top since it first came out a year-and-a-half ago, but didn’t get around to it until now. I even bought the fabric for it a year ago – a light-weight woven rayon floral from knitfabric.com (yes they sell wovens too). I don’t love that you’re not supposed to put it in the dryer (I did wash and dry it before cutting it so that if it does end up in the dryer sometime it has already been shrunk) and that it requires some ironing, but it was nice to work with and it made a lovely top. (Photographed here with my PE Urban Boldly mashup pants in orange LiKnit.)

I made the regular length with the wide facing option and the mid neckline (after much debate and staring at photos from other sewists). I omitted the front seam. I kept the back seam but omitted the button loop (thus the back seam is really not needed but it adds a little detail). I also did all the optional top stitching (there were too many colors in my fabric to pick one that would blend so I used white thread, which provides a little bit of contrast). After reading posts from a number of other women on the smaller end of the size range that they were sizing down because this over-sized top was a bit too big for them, I sized down from an AU10 to an AU8. I also added a 1/2-inch sloped shoulder adjustment, as that seems to usually make tops hang better for me. Otherwise, I sewed the pattern as written.

The top fits me very well in the size 8 (I’m glad I sized down). I’m short so I could potentially shorten the top a bit, but I think it works pretty well at this length. I often have to shorten sleeves, and these certainly come out longer on me than on many other people, but I actually like how the cuffs sit a bit lower on my arms. I’m also really happy with the mid neckline, which comes out as a scoop for me — the low neckline would have been very low on me.

As with all the PE patterns I’ve tried, the instructions for the Be Mine top are quite thorough and easy to follow. I’m not going to lie — the facings and sleeve binding are a lot of work. I used my serger and my sewing machine with three different feet! But if you take the time to do them right they come out beautifully. I didn’t do everything exactly right the first time: I started sewing a sleeve band on the wrong way and started sewing a hem facing upside down. But I recovered from these minor goofs and got back on track and I still got the whole top done in one Saturday afternoon/evening.

Now I need to figure out what fabric to try next (something with easier laundry requirements, maybe a polyester woven or a cotton double gauze). I would also love to try this as a jacket hack so I can wear these gorgeous sleeves in cooler weather.

Rayon shorts that look like a linen skirt

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After seeing how easy it was to make the Pattern Emporium Sashay Stretch Flared Shorts for my rainbow Pride outfit, I decided to make another pair, this time in dusty sage Pylos Liknit, in the longer length, and with pockets. I followed the pattern instructions to add jeans-style pockets, but I decided not to add the extra quarter-inch for seam allowance (as I felt it was plenty roomy) and I adjusted the pocket opening so it would not dip so low. I used the AU10 pattern with the full skirt option and a 1.5″ elastic covered waistband. This one also went together quickly, but the addition of the pockets and hemming probably doubled the construction time. I used 1 1/4 yards of 58″ fabric.

I love the way the LiKnit fabric works for this skort: it is lightweight and swishy. This is a pattern for knits and the LiKnit is a two-way stretch knit, but it looks a lot like a woven. It also has enough stability that the pockets work well. This should be cool to wear on hot summer days, but this week I wore it to work with the sweater pictured above (Pattern Emporium Sweet Cheeks sweater in versailles brushed hacci sweater knit), tights, and rain boots.

Pride skort

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Last summer when I visited Mood Fabrics in New York City I bought a yard of slinky rainbow polyester fabric with the intention of making a skirt to wear at the Pittsburgh Pride parade this year. A couple of weeks before Pride I realized I had not gotten around to making the skirt. I flipped through my pattern collection and decided that the Pattern Emporium Sashay Stretch Flared Shorts would be even better than a skirt. They come in subtle, medium, and full variations, with multiple lengths and waistband options. The subtle version is a slightly flared pair of shorts, but the full version is a skort that looks a lot like a skirt — but offers a little more modesty. I decided to use the full version with a 1.5-inch covered elastic waistband. I was going to add pockets, but after reading the pocket warning in the pattern instructions, I was concerned that if I put anything in them they would stretch out too much with the fabric I was using. So I decided to forgo pockets and plan to wear pocket bike shorts or leggings with pockets underneath.

I cut out the size AU 10 full version at the short length. The shorts are cut with just two pieces (one for each leg) and a waistband. I was just barely able to get these pieces out of a single yard of fabric (and it was clear that the long length would require more fabric). Because I was using striped fabric and I wanted the rainbow to line up where the legs meet at the crotch, I cut out one leg and then flipped it over and laid it down on the fabric, perfectly aligned. I traced around the first leg and cut out the second leg. I used my fabric glue stick to glue the crotch pieces in place before surging them together so that the stripe alignment would not slip.

The pattern instructions said that swim fabric did not need to be hemmed and this slinky fabric is similar to swim and also won’t unravel so I did not bother to hem it. I basted the waistband on three times before I was able to distribute the shorts fabric evenly, but eventually I got it and surged the waistband on. And that was it… easy peasy! Without pockets or hemming, this is a very quick sew!

Her uniform

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I asked my college student what she wanted for her nineteenth birthday and she asked me to make her another pair of her favorite black LiKnit “flowy” pants (PE Urban Boldly pants similar to mine, but adjusted for her taller height).

While I was at it I made her another cropped Bondi (size 4R but graded the waist to a size 0 and then graded the back waist even more, bottom cut at the horizontal waist line shown on the pattern) out of leftover cotton lycra fabric from a shirt I made my husband.

I made her a pair of pants just like this when she went to college, and another pair with the same pattern but in black ponte. I don’t think I have a photo of the ponte pair. She has apparently been wearing these two pairs of pants and the Cleo palazzo pants I made her on repeat all year. In fact I had to rehem two pairs of pants with frayed hems from dragging on the ground and reinforce some threadbare spots.

Fire spinning skirt

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My daughter joined a fire spinning club and has to wear 95% cotton or wool clothing while playing with fire. Personally, I would go with tight jeans in this situation, but she doesn’t like to wear jeans. I previously made her a pair of black cotton french terry pants (which apparently I never photographed), but a few weeks ago she emailed me that she wanted a black skirt, and sent a sketch of what she had in mind. She wanted a midi-length skirt with a slit on the right side, but in several inches from the side seam so that she could dance in it, ideally pockets, and a waistband that wouldn’t move around. She wanted the skirt to have a little bit of swish, but not so much fabric that it would be a big fire hazard.

I decided to use the Pattern Emporium Heartlight skirt pattern, which I previously used to make a short skirt for myself, modified to have pockets. I used the size AU 10 pattern with AU 8 waistband, just as I had made for myself. I used about 2 yards of 95% cotton/25% spandex black jersey fabric.

To achieve the slit I split the front panel of the skirt into three pieces. I drafted pocket bags that I could anchor between the side seam and the interior front seams, with top diagonal pocket openings. I’m showing the front pattern piece in the figure below, divided into three, with the pocket pieces laid over it. The pockets fold up at the green dashed line. (I know she only asked for one pocket, but once I figured out that I could anchor them in, I decided to give her two.)

I sewed up the left seam but only sewed the top 10 inches of the right seam and then serged the raw edge of both sides of the slit and top-stitched them down. After she tried it on and found the waist not as secure as she wanted, I threaded elastic into the waistband.

She says it is exactly what she wanted for her fire spinning performances and she likes it so much that she will wear it even when she is not performing.

Magnificent Magenta

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I bought three yards of a beautiful magenta ponte fabric from Mily Mae last year because I love the color (it matches the highlights in my hair) and I love working with this kind of ponte (67% Rayon/28% Nylon/5% Spandex). I thought about making a dress out of it, but eventually decided on a magenta suit. I already have a (store-bought, me altered) purple suit, but I don’t have a pink suit. Magenta is on the more purply side of pink, which means it can be interpreted either as pink or purple.

Unfortunately, magenta doesn’t seem to quite match either pink or purple threads, so I had to order several threads online until I found a close match that I could use for top stitching that would blend into the fabric. None of the Gutermann or Coats & Clark threads I ordered were quite right, but Amann Saba all purpose poly wrapped poly core thread tex 30 color 1059 did the trick.

I used the Boo & Lu Onyx blazer pattern for my magenta suit jacket, with the same modifications I used for my hip length grey ponte version with pockets. I had hoped to get the facings interfaced and catching in the top stitching properly this time, but still ran into problems that required extra gluing and fusing to resolve. I still feel there must be a better way to make the facings, and if I make another Onyx maybe I will figure out what it is.

I used the Pattern Emporium Urban Wide Leg pants pattern to make magenta pants to go with the jacket. I haver previously made three tapered and three wide-leg pants with this pattern (plus a few mashups with this pattern and the PE Walk Boldly pants). I made these size AU10 low-rise (which ends up being high-rise on me), with the waist graded in and the waistband modified to be a contour waistband lined in athletic knit and with elastic added. I added front jeans pockets with straight pocket openings.

Last winter I also bought some super soft purple 86% Poly/12% Rayon/2% Spandex Monaco Rib fabric from Mily Mae, and it turns out to be almost the exact same color as the magenta ponte. Why they don’t call them both by the same name is a mystery to me, but regardless, I clearly needed to make a rib-knit sweater to go with my suit. I used my favorite Sinclair Bondi classic fitted t-shirt patten in size 4p hip length with a screwp neck, adjusted slightly for a broad and sloped shoulder. I cover stitched the hems, using the magenta thread spool and a bobbin wound with the same thread for the needle threads.

The whole outfit looks great together, and I will wear it as a suit with my matching magenta booties! I expect I will also wear the pieces as separates. Although this is a color I wear year round (I also have a cashmere sweater and a winter parka in this color), to me it is really a spring color.

April update: I couldn’t resist some magenta jacket photos with the magnificent magnolia trees in front of my house!

My new best (sweater) friend

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Winters in Pittsburgh are generally relatively mild, but we’ve had more cold days than usual this winter, and the forecast for this coming week predicts more snow and below-freezing temps. I like the instant gratification of sewing in-season items that I can wear right away, so I tend to only sew warm sweaters in the winter and lightweight dresses in the summer. I bought a whole bunch of heavy sweater knits on sale at the end of last winter and only sewed some of them before it got too warm to contemplate wearing them. I was in the middle of futzing with suit jacket pattern adjustments, but decided this week’s forecast called for a new heavy sweater: Something warm and snuggly that can be thrown on over multiple layers and worn on repeat both around the house and outside.

I’ve previously made three Pattern Emporium Sweet Cheeks “roomy” sweaters. But I sized down three sizes to an AU4 and made them all at the cropped length so that they wouldn’t be so roomy. I made a brown mid-scoop neck and a green v-neck out of brushed hacci knit and a purple v-knit out of stretch sweatshirt fleece. This time I decided to go full-on roomy, slouchy and made my normal AU10 size hip length and with a v-neck. I made the pattern without any adjustments other than shortening the sleeves by 1 inch and slightly reducing the diameter of the wrist bands. I used Morraine double cashmere sweater knit from Surge Fabrics in the kelp color. This is a soft 320 gsm 44.5%Rayon/35.9%Poly/19.6%Nylon fabric with 4-way stretch. I used matching Banff ultra thinck 1×1 rib sweater knit for the v-neck, cuffs, and bottom band. (I like the kelp color, even though it isn’t purple. My daughter has a thrifted wool sweater in this color that she wears constantly and I had to darn it when she was home over winter break.)

I cut the sweater out yesterday morning and sewed it all together after dinner. I’m getting better at making all the bands, but they still take some effort. My normal size is, indeed, very roomy, but not too roomy. I think going one size down would still be roomy enough, and if I was using a lighter-weight fabric I think I would want to size down. The hip length gives a very different look than the cropped length, and I like them both. I’m modeling these with PE urban tapered pants in black ponte, but they also look great with leggings or jeans, including my wide-leg cargo jeans for a totally relaxed and slouchy look. (Also, I made the necklace at a ceramics party a few years ago.)

Still sweet

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I was so pleased with my Pattern Emporium Sweet Cheeks cropped v-neck sweater in sweatshirt fleece that I decided to make another one in brushed hacci. This time I used the peat moss color of the versailles brushed hacci sweater knit from Surge Fabrics. This is the same polyester/spandex fabric I used previously for the scoop neck version in a different color. It is brushed on the inside so it is super soft and cuddly. Once again I sized down from an AU8 to an AU4 so it would be less oversized.

It was still a lot of work. I love the split hem band detail, but it takes some effort for proper alignment. The v-neck and the arm bands also take some time. That said, I did finish it all in one day yesterday (even with only limited use of my right hand after surgery) so it didn’t take that long and the instructions are very good.

One thing I like to do that isn’t in the instructions is to zigzag over the raw edges of the bands with a wide and shallow stitch before attaching them to keep the layers of fabric aligned and prevent them from curling under. It takes a little bit of time but saves having to unpick and redo when a layer slips out of place (which has happened to me multiple times on other projects). I’ve seen fabric glue recommended to do the same thing and I’ve tried it and found it doesn’t work as well for me as you have to wait for the glue to dry and on some fabrics it doesn’t seem to hold well.

Sweet fleece

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I enjoyed sewing and wearing my charcoal grey soft cozy Polartec sweatshirt fleece Pattern Emporium Urban Tapered Pants so much that I decided to make a Pattern Emporium Sweet Cheeks Sweater (sweatshirt) in purple to coordinate. I bought the purple Polartec fleece from Surge Fabrics. It is very similar to the charcoal grey Polartec fleece from Califabrics that I used for the pants. Both are very smooth on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

This is my second Sweet Cheeks Sweater. I previously made one in a lighter weight brown brushed hacci sweater knit to go with my pink plaid Walk Boldy pants (but actually I wear it with all sorts of things). Last time I made the mid-neck cropped length, and sized down from an AU8 to an AU 4 so it wouldn’t be so oversized. This time I did the same combo but switched up the neck to a V-neck. I really like the V-neck but it was more work to assemble. The sweater has more structure with the sweatshirt fleece than the hacci, which gives it a somewhat different look and causes the cropped length to sit a bit higher (more cropped). I like it both ways!

I’m really happy with the sweater, but note that it includes several components that require an extra step or two in order to get good results. The V-neck and bottom bands (see photo below for all these sharp details and a peak at my Triumphant surging) require some extra basting and alignment and the sleeve cuffs must be gathered and basted too. The pattern comes with terrific instructions and tips for how to do this, and I’m pretty pleased with my results. All of these features add too a really nice looking garment. Still, these steps take time and effort. I think the sweatshirt fleece was a little less forgiving than the hacci I used previously, which caused me to go even slower to prevent any mishaps. Nonetheless, I already have plans to make this pattern again! At some point I would like to try the hip length version and maybe also a t-shirt version without the sleeves.

Urban tapered pants two ways

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I made a pair of Pattern Emporium Urban tapered pants last winter out of some grey cotton Lycra fabric. They fit ok, but the fabric gave them somewhat of an athletic look. I’ve worn them a lot for casual wear, and I’ve used the wide-leg version of the same pattern to make a couple of pairs of pants in a ponte fabric, with a dressier look. I decided to try the tapered version again, this time with black ponte fabric and some additional modifications. It’s easier to get a good fit with wide-leg pants, but I’m getting the hang of tapered pants too.

I started with the size 10 tapered pattern with the low-rise waist, and graded down from the hips to the waist and altered the pockets to have a deeper pocket bag and straight opening as I had done in one of the wide-leg Urban pants I made. Then I added an extra-high contoured waistband lined in athletic knit and reinforced with half-inch elastic as I had done in my orange Urban boldly pants. I also extended the bottom of the crotch seam about half an inch in both the front and back. When I initially basted on the waistband and tried on the pants they seemed too wide in the thigh so I extended the grading on the outer leg seam down to the knee and resewed the side seam, using my serger to trim off the excess as I sewed.

The pants fit well and are super comfortable to wear. They have a slim fit but they are not skinny pants. Except for the waist, they have plenty of ease. However, even in the ponte fabric, I think the look is still somewhat casual, maybe a bit baggy — the wide-leg versions look dressier to me, perhaps because they fall in a straight line down the leg without folds. For a dressier look, I may try a pattern for slimmer fitting pants.

For a casual look, the Urban tapered pants are great, and they are awesome for travel — comfy and plenty of room in the pockets (especially after I cut the pocket bags a little bigger to make sure my phone would fit below my hip crease for maximum comfort). While wide-leg pants are cool and breezy in the summer, a cool breeze up your legs is not optimal in the winter. For travel, less fabric to trip over or pool around your feet can be advantageous. I have already taken these black tapered pants on two trips and wore them for two days straight each time, including wearing them overnight on a red-eye flight (if I have to take an overnight flight I definitely want comfortable pants!).

I decided to go ahead and make another pair out of Urban tapered pants, this time with the intention of using them for comfy athletic pants. I used a charcoal grey super cozy 250 gsm Polartech stretch sweatshirt fleece made from 51% Polyester/38% Nylon/11% Spandex. The fabric is smooth on the outside and fluffy on the inside. I made these with the same modifications I used for the black pants, except I made both the inner and outer contour waistband from the fleece, I made the waistband a half an inch shorter, and I used stitched pockets (borrowing from the PE Just Peachy Shorts pattern but with a straight pocket opening) instead of pocket bags to reduce bulk from the fleece. I especially love the way the pockets came out!

These pants are also super comfy and the contour yoga waistband feels great. The back darts really add to the waist and rear shaping and in combination with a graded-in waist and contoured waistband mean that there is no extra fabric gathered beneath the waistband.

These are very comfy and warm — they will be great winter pants to wear with a warm sweater all winter (pictured here with my Sinclair Soho cozy quilted tunic). In fact, this is what I wore this evening (with a coat) when I ventured out into the 26 degree chill and I can confirm that they kept my legs pretty warm.

Fall Liknit

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A while ago I bought a couple of yards of PyLos LiKnit in almost every color. I’ve previously used the black, seafoam, lavender, and linen colors. There are also several lovely warm Fall colors that I have been contemplating using in coordinating garments for months.

I started with a pair of orange pants (LiKnit “metal rust” color), very similar to my previous Pattern Emporium Urban Boldly mashup pants with the low rise size AU 10 Urban pants mashed with the Walk Boldly wide leg and a high contour waistband lined in athletic knit. This time I tweaked the contour waistband a bit from my last mashup and sewed half-inch elastic into the waistband.

I wanted a LiKnit top to go with the pants. I previously had made a black Sinclair Bondi LiKnit top, but I find the LiKnit doesn’t quite stretch enough around the bust and has drag lines, even though I sized up. I decided either darts or a boxier cut was probably needed for a LiKnit top so I went with the Sinclair Loop drop shoulder knit top pattern, which I had previously used to make a sweater. I made this one in Marsala LiKnit with the scoop neck, cropped length, simple hemmed bottom. I think this pattern works well with the LiKnit fabric. The LiKnit stretches surprisingly well for the neck band. I would like to try this pattern with a narrower neck band too. I think the split hem might also work well with this fabric.

I actually finished the top and pants back in August and took them on my Switzerland trip. I didn’t post these photos earlier because I have plans to complete my me-made Fall ensemble with a jacket made from light mustard LiKnit. But I’ve been super busy with other things, my sewing machine is in the shop, and I need to finish a quilt and some pants for my daughter before I sew any more clothes for myself. So the mustard jacket may not materialize for a while. In the mean time, I’ve been wearing the outfit with a store-bought purple sweater. I also have a surprising number of other tops and jackets in my wardrobe that go with orange pants… who knew?

Before I took my youngest daughter to college in August, she insisted that I make her some more black “flowy pants.” She has a pair of black LiKnit pants I made using the Sinclair Cleo pattern extended into palazzo pants that she wears pretty much non-stop. They have held up really well through lots of wear and wash and dry cycles. They are not stretched out and have no pilling. Unfortunately, they did come in contact with a spot of bleach, so there is a light spot that my daughter periodically colors in with a black sharpie. Anyway, she asked for another pair of black LiKnit flowy pants, as well as black ponte pants for cooler weather. She is about the same size as me but taller and a little slimmer so I used the same Pattern Emporium Urban Boldly mashup approach with the same base size as I used for my orange pants, but added 1.5 inch to the waist height (basically the high-rise version plus an extra half inch) and didn’t shorten the leg before hemming. The pants fit her very well and she loves them, but I didn’t manage to get a photo before she packed them up to take to college. She asked me to make another pair just like them in black ponte and send them to her.

October update: Ponte pants finished and delivered. She was wearing the LiKnit pants when I saw her so I got photos of the LiKnit pants (outside) and the ponte pants (inside).

Just Peachy!

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I bought the Pattern Emporium Just Peachy Stretch Shorts pattern last winter and finally got around to making myself a pair of shorts out of leftover grey cotton-lycra fabric from my stash (that I previously used to make Urban tapered pants). They come with elastic or yoga waistbands with are fairly similar to the PE Walk Boldly and Urban pants respectively with the same back darts and hip shape. The main differences are that they are (obviously) shorter than pants and the shorts have a taller yoga waistband and a straight inseam while the pants have a curved inseam.

I made my usual size AU10 with a size AU8 waistband. I made the mid rise with a yoga waistband, stitched front pockets, and length 3, which has about a 6-inch inseam. I have learned from my past experience with PE pants that because I’m short, the mid rise ends up being a high-rise fit on me, especially with a yoga waistband added. I followed the pattern pretty much as-is except for lengthening the pocket bags and adding half-inch elastic to the fold in the yoga waistband. I used a zigzag on my sewing machine for the pocket stitching and to sew down the 5/8-inch hem (fused in place with seam tape first).

I struggled a bit stretch the size 8 waistband to fit the size 10 shorts smoothly and in the end it puckers a little bit more than I would like. I probably should have made wider darts in the back or graded the waistband or switched to a contour waistband like I’ve used on some of the pants.

I love the way the pockets are finished with a binding. It’s a really nice finishing touch and the instructions were easy to follow (the instruction said to make the binding longer than needed and cut off the ends after it was sewn, and that worked really well).

The shorts are super comfy and I will probably wear them for casual wear and sleeping. Even with added elastic, the waistband is not as firm as I would like due to the fabric I used not having great recovery. I probably should have added a power mesh or athletic knit layer for a firmer feel. It is not actually too lose, it is just a feeling thing, especially when I load the pockets.

I don’t actually wear shorts very much outside my house (except for bike shorts and soccer shorts) so I don’t really need a large collection of shorts, but when I need more, I will use this pattern again. It would work well for both casual as well as dressy shorts (perhaps made out of ponte, scuba, scuba suede, stretch velour, etc.).

Heartlight skirt

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The Pattern Emporium Heartlight Skirt pattern is a versatile pattern for very flattering flared A-line knit skirts of all lengths. It’s also super fast and easy, unless you’re me and you make it harder for yourself. I did two things that made constructing my skirt harder the first time (adding pockets and using a waistband fabric a lot firmer than the skirt fabric), but now that I know what I’m doing I can continue to add pockets and add firmer waistbands and it shouldn’t be too bad the second time around. And if you want to try either of these things, keep reading for some tips.

I was planning to use this bright floral DBP fabric for a dress, but liked how it went with my purple double-gauze pants, so made a Sinclair Bondi v-neck t-shirt instead. I also realized that the colors in the fabric coordinate with a number of other things I own (including my sneakers), so having separates in this fabric would be useful. I decided to make a skirt, and coincidentally Heartlight was the Friday discount pattern a couple of weeks ago, so I bought it and figured I would give it a try. I loved the shape of the skirts this pattern makes and the soft yoga waistband, but I was disappointed it didn’t come with pockets. I read on the PE Facebook page that people had added pockets, some using another PE pattern that I don’t own, and others improvised based on the pockets in PE pants patterns.

I cut the pattern out using my projector. I cut a size AU10 about 2 inches above the knee length (thinking that since this wasn’t a petite pattern, this is what I would need, but it actually ends up being more above the-knee than I was expecting). The skirt front and back plus the pocket pieces I cut used less than a yard of fabric. If you are taller or want a longer skirt it will obviously use more fabric, but the pattern has some tips about how to cut the skirt in pieces to use the fabric more efficiently and to allow this pattern to be used with narrower fabrics. Because DBP is very soft and stretchy, it does not have enough hold for a yoga waistband unless you add elastic or line it with another fabric. Especially since I was planning to add pockets, I knew I needed a different fabric for the waistband. I also realized that my floral fabric was very busy and might benefit from being broken up by a black waistband. I decided to use black 256 GSM athletic brushed poly for a nice firm yoga waistband.

I referred back to the PE Walk Boldly pants pattern jeans pocket instructions. As the shape of the hip on the pants does not match the skirt I could not use the pants pattern piece, but I improvised following the same concept. I made pocket rectangles about 6 inches wide and 8.5 inches deep, and then doubled them for the front and back of the pocket bag. I angled the rectangle to align with the skirt side seam and adjusted the top edge to align with the waist of the skirt. I opted for a straight slash pocket opening.

Once I figured out how to make the pockets work they were pretty easy to cut and sew. I stitched the top of the pocket to the skirt front, understitched and topstitched, then folded it in half, surged the bottom, and then basted the rest of the pocket top and side to the skirt front piece (ok I realize that really requires an entire tutorial and not just a diagram and single sentence unless you are already familiar with making these sorts of pockets). The pockets are big enough for my phone and are well anchored in the waistband.

My biggest problem came attaching the waistband, largely due to the difference in stretch and firmness of the two fabrics. I followed the pattern instructions and used the quarter method to distribute fabric and pinned in place with 8 pins. I knew that stretching the athletic knit waistband to fit the DBP skirt would be difficult, so I decided to machine baste it before sewing it together. It was a complete disaster, with parts bunched up too much and some parts not joined together at all because the waistband had curled under. I unpicked a few spots and tried to fix them, and grew increasingly frustrated as I went. I eventually declared it a mess and went out to dinner. After I came back I unpicked the entire waistband (easy because it was basting stitches) and started over. This time I started by basting the two edges of the yoga waistband together with a wide zigzag stitch over the edge. This ensured the two edges would stay together and prevented them from curling. Then I applied the quarter method again, but this time used a lot more pins. I machine basted the whole things and it looked much better. Finally, I surged the layers in place, stretching the waistband as I went. After that all that was left was to hem the bottom, which I did using hem tape and a zigzag stitch.

The end result is comfortable and looks good, and I even like it untucked too… actually I’m more likely to wear it that way. I like the fact that the skirt is a little big swishy, without having all the fabric of a full-circle skirt (I love those too, but not for every occasion) and that it doesn’t require any gathering to make it. I’m pretty happy with how the pockets came out, although with DBP you always have to be careful how you load pockets to keep them from stretching out awkwardly. The PE “foxy” pocket style would also probably work with this pattern. Although the firm athletic knit was a bit of a pain to deal with, it makes for a great waistband that feels like it will stay put as I wear it, even with loaded pockets. I might make a black skirt entirely out of this fabric. I would also like to try this pattern in a rayon ponte and also try a longer length.

Purple fluffy pants!

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I haven’t sewn many garments with woven fabric lately because I don’t like to iron my clothes after I wash them and I would also rather not deal with zippers. I also find knit clothes just tend to be more comfortable to wear. However, “fluffy” cotton double gauze is trendy right now, you don’t have to (and you really should not) iron it if you wear it crinkled, and when you use it for loose fitting summer clothes it is cool and comfortable and does not need a zipper. I bought three yards of purple fluffy from Mily Mae Fabrics and decided to make some woven palazzo pants.

I love the Pattern Emporium Walk Boldly and Urban knit pants patterns so selected their Vacation Vibes pattern for woven palazzo pants. The pattern has both a low-rise and high-rise option, as well as several pocket choices and options for subtle or dramatic flare legs. I love wearing high-rise pants so I went with the high rise waist, subtle flare leg, and foxy pockets. I cut a size AU10 short and made no pattern modifications whatsoever.

I washed and dried my fluffy fabric before use and did not iron it at all to keep it nice and fluffy. I projected the pattern onto the fluffy and cut it with a rotary cutter. It is a little tricky to sew because you want to avoid having it stretch out. I used a walking foot on my sewing machine with a slightly longer stitch length and surged all the seams after I sewed them to tidy up the edges. every time the pattern suggested pressing with an iron I ignored it, and just did some light finger pressing. I made a bias binding for the large foxy pockets (big enough for my phone without any modifications), but it requires several passes through the sewing machine to attach. By the time I got it attached it had stretched out a bit so I moistened the pocket openings with a damp cloth, reblocked them to their proper shape with my hands, and let them dry before I finished attaching the pockets. The pants were very easy to sew, and went together quickly. The waistband was super easy to assemble as there was nothing to stretch: I made a casing and threaded a piece of 2″ elastic through it. I’m 5’2″ and ended up hemming the short length 2.25 inches to wear with flats. The only time I touched my iron was to very lightly press the hems.

Here I am modeling the pants with my new Chorus top. I tucked it in so you could see the waist band but I will probably wear this shirt untucked. I like the subtle leg option, which is plenty wide on me. The dramatic leg could be fun with the right fabric, but may be more pants than I really need.

I thought the pants looked pretty good and were comfy to wear. But the rise was really sky high on me and the crotch was sitting pretty low. I am a big fan of high-rise pants, but as a short person, I sometimes find high-rise too high when there is no petite version. I also find I frequently have to size down and/or grade in the waist on PE patterns, despite choosing sizes that match my measurement. I decided to wear my pants to work all day and see how they did. They were comfortable and looked alright, and the double gauze was just right in both the 75-degree F outdoor weather and indoor air conditioning. but by the end of the day I was convinced that the waist was definitely too high for me. I also noticed that the pants slipped down a bit as I wore them and I kept stepping on the hem. The pockets were kind of droopy and I was concerned my phone could fall out when I sat down.

I cut off the waistband, removed about 2 inches from the top of the pants and graded in the sides from the hip up to the waist. I took about 3 inches out of the waistband circumference and sewed it back on. I think they fit much better now. They sit right at my natural waist rather than above it and there isn’t so much extra fabric around the waist. Next time I make these I think I would cut a size smaller (especially if I use double gauze since it stretches out a bit when you wear it), low rise, and still probably grade in the waist. I would also reshape the pocket opening to attach higher on the leg and hem them a bit higher. I might try a yoga waist band in a coordinating athletic knit (the pattern has instructions for that too!).

New photos show the reconfigured waistband. As an added bonus, since the pants are pulled up more the hems have risen and I no longer trip over them. I made a Sinclair Bondi v-neck tshirt (my first Bondi v-neck) out of a floral DBP in my stash to match the pants. I was going to make a dress from this fabric, but I liked how it paired with the pants so decided to make separates instead. I also like the shirt untucked. Skirt coming soon. I wore this outfit to work, and by the time I walked home it was 92 degrees F. The whole outfit was still comfortable, even in the heat and humidity!

Urban Boldly mashup pants

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Pattern Emporium offers two different wide leg knit pants patterns that are fairly similar but have some important differences. Walk Boldly has the widest legs, the highest rise, lots of pocket options, and an elastic waist. The wide leg option in the Urban Pants Collection is not quite as wide, doesn’t have as many pocket choices, and has a yoga waist band. Both pants are pretty much the same from the crotch up to the bottom of the waistband, with the same back pleats that I love so much. I have seen a number of questions in the PE Facebook group about whether these two patterns can be mashed, and of course the answer is yes!

I like both patterns a lot, but I like the comfort and fit of a yoga waistband, especially one that has been modified to fit me perfectly. But sometimes I want the look and swooshy feel of extra wide-leg pants. So I started with my wide-leg urban pants modifications (laid out in Affinity designer) and digitally traced the Walk Boldly legs onto the front and back urban wide-leg pants leg pieces. Since the crotch lines up perfectly, this is easy to do. I shortened the leg pattern pieces by 2 inches and was able to cut all the pieces in size AU 10 from 2 yards of 58″-wide fabric.

I used seafoam Pylos LiKnit fabric for these pants — not the first time I’ve made summer pants out of LiKnit, but the first time with this pattern. LiKnit is a rayon/nylon lightweight knit that looks and feels somewhat like linen. It has horizontal, but not vertical stretch. I realized the lack of vertical stretch might be a problem when making these pants, but I decided to give it a try. it turned out not to be a problem at all for me except for the waistband, which I lined with athletic knit. I basted it on and realized immediately that I would need it to be bigger to comfortably get this low-stretch fabric over my hips. So I removed the initial waistband and cut out a new one. I added about a half inch vertically and an inch horizontally from the yoga contour waistband I had customized for my grey ponte wide-leg urban pants. This one worked perfectly. These pants looks and feel great to wear!

Pants modeled with Sinclair Harper cardigan with ruffle hack and Sinclair Cache top in eucalyptus Impressionist Double Sweater Knit

Songbird Kimono Jacket

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I love my lightweight Pylos LiKnit palazzo pants and wanted a jacket to go with them. I was looking for something unstructured and drapey that I could throw on over a tshirt or a dressier shirt in warm weather. The Pattern Emporium Songbird kimono jacket/duster/cardi seemed about right. I decided to give it a try in the cropped length with the narrow binding option. I made it in AU size 10 with the semiflared sleeves, shorted 1 inch. I made it in a 2-way stretch fabric, but it is also suitable for wovens.

It was pretty quick to cut and sew from the black LiKnit. (I took a couple of days off this week to sew after having spent last weekend on campus at graduation.) I used 1″ fusible knit stay tape for the interfacing on the binding, which is not exactly what the pattern called for, but it seemed to work pretty well. I cut the bottom of the binding at an angle, but messed up and cut one side at the wrong angle. I fixed it and then forgot to adjust the length of the other side to match and didn’t notice until the whole jacket was put together and I discovered that the binding was lower on one side than the other. I pondered how to fix it, and then decided I didn’t really like the binding ending a few inches below the hem anyway. I considered attempting to unpick the whole binding, which didn’t seem like much fun. I also considered just cutting off the binding and redoing the whole thing, which probably would have worked ok but I was too lazy to do it. In the end I decided to splice additional binding pieces to the bottom of both sides and bring the binding down to the hem line. This is not really the right solution, but since the whole thing is black, unless you look at the jacket in bright light, the two diagonal splices are not very visible. Other than the splices, I really like this look and when I make another Songbird jacket I will almost certainly plan to extend the binding on purpose this time. Here’s a closeup in the bright sun so you can see what I did.

Even though I shortened the sleeves by 1 inch, I still felt they were too long for me (a problem I often have for garments that don’t come in petite sizes). The sleeve hem is 1.5 inches so I folded it over a second time and effectively shortened the sleeves by 2.5 inches, which was perfect for me. The pattern comes in a choice of semiflared, flared, or tapered sleeves and multiple sleeve lengths. I was looking for something to cover my arms so I chose long sleeves. I wanted something loose but I didn’t want flared sleeves that would get get in the way, so semiflared was the right balance.

I’m modeling the jacket here with a Sinclair Yasmin dress, but trust me it also looks great with the palazzo pants. Also note my little tricolor beech tree in the background, which struggled last year but is hopefully making a comeback.

Low waist, high waist band: More Urban Wide Leg Pants

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My first pair of Pattern Emporium Urban Wide Leg pants came out great in purple ponte. However, I thought I could make the waist band fit me a bit better and improve the pockets. I made another pair in black ponte but this time I changed the waistband to a contour and flattened the top of the front pockets. These were even better, but I felt the waist could be more fitted while still leaving more ease through the seat and legs. So for my third pair I used the low-rise pattern instead of the high-rise pattern, but added an extra inch to the height of the contour waistband piece. I also graded in the tops of the pants legs at the side seam on both the front and back pieces. I cut the updated pattern out of a yard and a half of charcoal grey super soft “charming heather” legacy ponte from Zelouf fabric (69.1% Viscose, 27.1% Nylon & 3.8% Elastane). I cut back pockets too but in the end didn’t use them as I wasn’t sure whether they would look good with the low rise. Now that I see how the pants look in the back I think the back pockets would work but maybe a little shorter than the ones I borrowed from the Walk Boldly pants pattern — and I still may add them.

I love the fit of this latest hacked version of Urban Wide Leg pants. The high waist is both comfortable and flattering. I can wear with shirts either tucked or untucked. The waist looks good and the pants stay snuggly in place without pinching. This is also the softest ponte I’ve used so far. (Pants modeled with Sinclair Bondi top in CMU tartan.)

I really like this version and will probably make more with these modifications or try this waist style with the wider Walk Boldly legs. So to summarize what I did, I made the Urban Wide Leg pants, low waist style with jeans pockets in size 10 with the following modifications:

  • I changed the waistband into a 3.5-inch tall contoured waistband. I cut separate front and back pieces as well as inner and outer pieces. I used an athletic knit for the two inner pieces. I sewed 3/8-inch elastic to the top seam joining the inner and outer layers and then understitched it to the inner layer.
  • I moved the side seams in about 1 inch at the top of the pants and graded them out to the original size 10 side seam line about 5.5 inches below the top.
  • I changed the top of the front pockets to be straight diagonal slashes and I lengthened the pocket bags by about .75 inch.
  • I shortened the legs by 1.5 inches and then sewed a 2-inch hem to fit my 5’2″ height.