Sew Messy

A review of Simplicity Pattern 1622

This pattern is part of the Khaliah Ali collection, a plus-sized collection that I’ve made patterns from before.  I chose to make the pants because I’m still on this quest to find/make pants that fit well.  Not perfectly, just well.

As I explained Here and Here I’m a size 20 in the stores.  But in patterns I made previously the 20 didn’t fit, and the 24 was pretty tight.  I broke down and pulled out a tape measure (actually bought a tape measure, then pulled it out!), and it turns out according to Simplicity, I’m a 28…the max size they make.  Talk about devastated.  I spent several days in a funk.  The day I bought the pattern and Jo-ann’s, I also bought some fabric that was “outside my comfort zone.”  When I got home I just felt like it wasn’t fabric that I “loved.” So between the two, the pair of pants was slow to get going.

Here is a picture of me laying out the pattern piece on the fabric:

Laying out Pattern

And here is the fabric on the serger:

On the Serger

You can see it has it’s drawbacks.  It has an optical illusion effect when it moves.  Not great for avoiding attention to the rear end!

Here is a picture of the seams lining up:

Lining up Seams

I didn’t put a lot of effort into hemming.  In fact, the pants were finished except for hemming for 6 weeks before I touched them again. And then it was just to get it over with, and move on to a new pair of pants.

I used the “blindhem stitch” but did it wrong:

Not thinking clearly

But don’t care, since I am starting to hate these pants.  Keep in mind I paid like $10/yard and got 4 yards.  So huge waste of money.  Plus the pattern which I only got for 40% discount.

Here’s the finished product:

Finished!

In the end there are several issues.

1-    The waist is TOO HIGH.  I have to roll the waistband down three times to get the waist to a reasonable height.

2-    The crotch is too low if I don’t hike up the pants (causing the waist to be too high, see above).

3-    The legs are too short with the crotch in the proper location.

Unfortunately I didn’t wear them before I tried another pair of pants from the same pattern.  I would have known to alter the waist and leg length.

But I went back to the drawing board and started with a knit fabric.

Here are the pattern pieces being cut out (ignore the boxes in the background, still unpacking from the move):

Laying out Pattern

And here they are cut out:

Cut Out

Here I’m matching up the front seam:

Matching Up Seams

And here I’m hemming the pants.  I used the serger, then rolled the edge under, then rolled it under again.

Hemming and Hawing

Here is the finished product:

Finished

I love these pants.  There are still the same issues as the other pants.  They are too short when I pull them up to where the crotch should go…and then waist is too high.  The pant legs are flared a bit, it seams to me, which I’m not sure how I feel about.

I’ve been using these pants as PJ bottoms, lounge pants, etc. And they are perfect for the task.  The other pair I wore to work and was self-conscious the whole day.  I might wear them around the house for lounging as well, but over all it was a waist of fabric and money.  The fabric is this silky polyester.  Not a great choice for pants, but I was looking for something that would flow nicely with the little bit of flare.

In the end I plan on making one more attempt with this pattern.  I’m going to lower the waist and lengthen the leg.  I’ll post the results here as well.

Other Craft Projects:

• Plus Size Capris – Take Two!
• Kids lounge pants Galore! Simplicity New Look 6237
• Plus sized Floor length tshirt dress – Butterick pattern 3039
• Chef’s Pants for Hubby – and how to blind hem stitch
• Sheri’s Portrait Dress Butterick B5930
• Mouse Wrist Rest
• Car trash bag
• Plus sized lounge or pj pants
• Plus Sized Patterns and Vanity Sizing.
• New Look 6237 Children’s Pants and Shirt – Today the Shirt!