Persephone Pants

 I don't even know where to start this post.

Do I start by talking about the hesitation I feel almost every time I consider trying out a new pants pattern because I often don't feel up to the task of dealing with fitting issues?

Or do I start by talking about how smitten I was with the Persephone Pants Pattern from the moment I first saw it?

Or do I start by talking about how pants sewing has totally stolen my heart over the past year and made getting dressed in the morning a much more enjoyable task?

Or do I just start by telling you how much I love these pants?

Yeah, I'll just start there because I do freaking love these pants.  And while I was (and am) smitten by this pattern and I did hem and haw for several days before making it because I felt exhausted by the idea of dealing with various fit issues, I am so glad that I took the plunge because these pants ended up being everything I could have hoped for.  And don't tell anybody, but I really didn't end up doing any fitting adjustments because fortunately the pattern is made for ladies with big old ten inch differences between their waist and hips and I fit perfectly into the size 8 recommendation (29" waist, 39" hip).  Really the only modification I made was to hem them a 1/2 an inch higher (I'm 5'6" for reference).

As for the actual sewing, this pattern was super-fun to make.  I realize not having an outer side seam can make fitting a bit more difficult but I loved having one less seam to sew and it really makes for a great pattern for patterned or striped fabric since you don't have that side seam to break up the visual interest.  As for using striped fabric, I should have been a little (or a lot) smarter about stripe matching but I ended up with a pretty good match on the front and a slightly less good match on the bum.  You win some, you lose some.

I did manage to match the stripes in the pockets to the pants since you can sometimes see them ever-so-slightly and I went with a bias cut on the waistband and belt loops to add a little visual interest (and to avoid pattern matching hell).

The fabric is an Italian cotton bottom weight that I bought back in November at Esther's Fabrics on Bainbridge Island.  I originally planned to make some Lander Pants with it, but now I'm thinking that I like that pattern in a fabric with a wee bit of a stretch to it.  While this fabric is a bottom weight it's definitely lighter weight than recommended for the Persephone Pants (recommended weight is 10 oz and up), but it seems to still work well with the pattern.

The turtleneck is made from the Itch to Stitch Hepburn pattern and a Pickering knit that I bought from Fancy Tiger Crafts back in 2017.  I know I've mentioned it before, but I love the Pickering Knits and while buying knits on-line can be a bit of a crap shoot, I've always been happy with every one I've gotten from them.  And as for the turtleneck pattern, this is actually the first Itch to Stitch pattern that I made.  It's a fairly simple pattern given that it's a knit turtleneck but it seems well drafted and I love having patterns for basics like this one.

And if I can throw in one last me-made item in this post that may never end - my sandals!  I took a sandal making class with the lovely Rachel Sees Snails, hosted at Drygoods Design, a couple weeks ago and these sandals were the fruits of my labor at the class.  I've been bitten by the sandal-making bug and have made a couple more pairs since that time and if I can get my butt in gear, I hope to write up a post about material sourcing sometime soon.

Alright, my friends, that's a wrap.