Sasha Pants Reimagined

Pleat front pants seem to have made a comeback.  There is a specific big 4 pattern that is doing the rounds on the internet at the moment that I have been tempted to buy on so many occasions but there is also this niggling voice in my head that tells me that this pattern really won't suit me with it's increased volume at the hips.  It was while I was resisting the urge to add to my already large pattern collection, that I spied  a pair of pleat front pants that looked like Sasha Pants that had been modified.  Sasha is, I think, my all time favourite pants pattern so I wondered if I could do the same.

I traced out my Sasha pattern in front of the tv one night and armed with my phone and Google, I started experimenting.  I wanted the fullness of my pants to begin at my knee and not my ankle, so split the pattern horizontally at this point.  I then worked out where I wanted my pleat to sit and split my pattern vertically waist to knee at this point.  I then grew my pattern at the waist by the amount of the pleat I wanted to insert; in this case 4cm, to create a 2cm pleat.  I inserted additional paper at the gaps and taped it back up again.  I also wanted to make these pants sans waistband so added additional height at the waist.  I added in the width of the finished waistband on the front, back, pockets and pocket stays.

At this point I still wasn't sure if my pattern would work out like I imagined in my head so rather than commit precious fabric to my first pair, I chose some cheap slightly stretch suiting that I picked up from Annah Stretton.  This didn't mean that I was going to sacrifice quality in my finishes though!

To create my pocket bags I chose a piece of cotton that my daughter had cut out to make pyjamas but changed her mind. Yay, another piece of fabric liberated from the scrap bin!

Over several evenings I put these pants together exactly as I would have, my regular Sasha Pants. I did have to use Google again to work out how to finish the fly without the waistband  but all in all the construction proved to be pretty straight forward.  A self tie belt made in the same fabric as the pants and a vented hem, completed the look I was after.

Because the fabric had less stretch than I had anticipated, these pants are a little more snug than I would like, but overall I am really happy.  For the next pair I would like a little more room in the hip, and a little more height in the rise.  This pair finish at my natural waist but I think I would like them to be just a smidge higher, maybe 2cms!