Not Quite A Lucky Four Leaf Clover
I bought some lovely stretch linen from Lincraft in their half off sale especially for these and drafted the pattern to a size 6 as my measurements indicated.
Before cutting I lay my Sewaholic Thurlow pants on top of the pattern and realised that the rise on these was too high in the front and too low at the back. I lowered the front by 2cm and increased the back by 2cm as well. Because these were to be a trial pair, I left off the pockets and just made them as simple as possible.
At the try on stage, I quickly realised that these pants were way to wide in the legs, so I shaved 1cm off the inner leg, tapering away at the crotch.
If I could give these pants a Facebook style "like" I would but really they just don't float my boat. To give them credit, they are really comfortable and the front and back rise sits really nicely as does the shaped waist band. I am not convinced with the side zipper. I find it difficult to get on and off and it made fitting the pants less accurate. After two hours of wear, these pants had grown soo much they were no longer wearable, so late in the day, I deconstructed them and took 1cm off the side of each of the 4 panels which mean't removing the zip. They now fit a lot better but are still a long way from perfect.
And for the verdict....these pants have been altered within an inch of their lives and actually don't much resemble the original at all. Although they have potential, I really don't think they are designed for my shape and I have patterns that require less work to get to fit nicely, so for future pants, I think I will stick to those. All is not lost however, because I do have a very wearable pair of black pants for the autumn.
I'm interested to read your take on that pattern because it was high on my hit list. Sounds like I should just stick with one I already know works for me. Stunning hair BTW!
ReplyDeletePants are one of those things that are highly individual so don't entirely take my word for it. I am sure that the pattern has merit because it has had a lot of good reviews but it just didn't work for me. Oh, and thanks. I am not convinced yet about keeping the short hair...time will tell!
DeleteIf you have patterns that fit you better, you should stick to using them. You're right. You do now have black pants that fit.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I am actually beginning to think that Colette are just not suited to my shape. I have one more pattern to try though before I give up completely!
DeleteI have been on the fence with those pants. Thanks for your honest review. If it's any consolation, I've read more "iffy" reviews of the pants than glowing reviews. I have severe arthritis and the last thing I need is to try to fiddle around with a side zip, so that part of your review was worth its weight in gold. The pants look good on you and I like your haircut.
ReplyDeleteThanks Pajamapat. I always feel bad about putting a less than glowing review of a pattern so I feel it is important to point out the good with the bad.
DeleteVery interesting take on this pattern; in the end they look great on you but it's a pain to have to do a lot of tweaking to get a pattern to fit. So many indie patterns really appeal to me, but unfortumnately they often look like they're intended for a differently shaped person to me. And then I remind myself that Vogue patterns seem to fit me reasonably well and that I already have about 10 million of them going back decades...
ReplyDeleteOoh lucky you with those Vogues. I am a recent covert to Vogue patterns, prefering the other brands in my younger days. Perhaps they weren't trendy enough for a 20 something or maybe they have become more mainstream over the years, I don't know. I do know that I love a good Vogue online sale!
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