Samara Pants From Itch to Stitch: The Fun Of Something New

I always see those tall, skinny ladies in their swishy, wide leg trousers in fashion blogs, or on Pinterest looking so cool and chic. I'm always telling myself I could never pull off that look. Then the call went out to test Samara Pants and I thought: BUT..... what if I could?

I don't always have knowledge of what's being developed, but I did know high-waisted, wide leg trousers were coming. I'd been telling Kennis for weeks that the style wasn't for me and I was going to pass on testing. I mean, I'm short. I'm curvy. I'm a little thicker through the middle than I ought to be. 

This style wouldn't flatter me. 

The testing call posted, accompanied by the sample shots. Those beautiful wine colored pants shown in the shop listing.
I felt wistful; If only I could wear something like that. 

Then it struck me: I sew. I can wear anything I want! Think about that. Why do we sew for ourselves if not to try new things we could never buy RTW?

Pattern Details

Samara Pants are drafted for lightweight woven fabrics. You will want to choose something with a soft hand and an amazing drape. Rayon challis is, of course, the number one choice, but there are plenty of other crinkles, crepes, twills and silky fabrics out there that could be suitable. Samara has a high waist and an invisible side zipper. Back shaping darts keep the pants slim and sleek over your torso. At the hip, they start to widen until they hit the ankle with a swell of fabric that flits around in the breeze as you walk. 

Design Features

- Wide legs that flare from the hip down

- Straight waistband sits at the smallest part of your waist

- Invisible side zipper closure

- Back darts for shaping

Muslin Work

At the risk of being called a liar: THESE WERE SO EASY TO FIT! 

Yes, I did too have to shout that. Have you seen some of my previous fitting fiascoes?

I started where we all should start with a new pattern: body measurements. I came in just over the size 10 recommendations, but not close enough to the 12. 

I traced off the 10 with only a 12 inch inseam. My main concern was fitting the crotch curve, darts and waist. I didn't need a full length leg for that... nor did I have enough muslin fabric to cut full legs. I used an old piece of mystery fabric (cotton, I think) that had some stains and damage.

Right out of the gate they looked amazing! The back above my butt lays so smoothly, and the side seam is hanging straight. 

The trouble I'm having is some tightness in front and back, plus the waist feels too tight. Sure, they look good, but if I wanted to do anything besides stand still "sucking it in" I needed to size up.

 I took these apart and restitched them with a smaller seam allowance to approximate the size 12. I'm not going to show you a picture because, it looked the same, except too big. Yeah, they were falling off me. 

I felt a bit frustrated, but Kennis had a good observation on why the fit was so different between the two. The crotch curve of the 12 is bigger than the 10 which would allow the waist of the pants to sit just enough higher. I spent some time considering that: I've always had problems with Hungry Butt (and Hungry Front). Maybe I did need more space. I measured my... er, undercarriage to about where my body curves in front and back. Then, I measured the paper pattern's undercarriage. Turns out my body is 1 inch bigger! Even though the crotch curve was too small, the front/back on my muslin felt balanced down under. I split that inch between my front and back pattern pieces, adding a 1/2 inch to each crotch extension and tapered very long and gentle into the inseam.

I immediately cut out my "finals" and basted them together. PERFECTION!

Construction Notes

When it comes to construction, these are super straight forward. There are no weird techniques or tricky parts. There is a terrific post on the Itch to Stitch blog about invisible zippers HERE if you need some extra guidance on that part. The link to it is embedded right in the instructions as well.

My fabric is a dramatic print rayon challis. This fabric was given to me by my sewing friend, Judy over at A Custom Clothier. Isn't she sweet! 

I spent a great deal of time deciding how I wanted the print situated on each pattern piece. I didn't feel that "mirroring" would be a good look for something so large. Instead, I went for a more random/staggered feel.

My hope was this would create a feel of movement in the fabric. I think it worked!

My Big Mistake

I finished sewing my Samara Pants and put them on with the cream colored top I made to coordinate and. MISERY. It wasn't working. Negative words were flying everywhere. I felt frumpy and fat, and my waist band was saggy despite some hard-core interfacing. 

WTF?!

Tucked, untucked, shorter hem. Each felt worse than the last. 

At this point, I was really upset. What had gone wrong? 

The Importance of Measurements

What went wrong? Let's start with this:

 When I pull up the waistband to where it should sit, I had 2 extra inches of ease. Before unpicking anything, I remeasured myself. The yellow measuring tape is where I usually measure my waist. 34 and 1/4 in. The blue tape is, apparently, where I should be measuring, and where the waistband of Samara sits. That is 32 and 1/2 in. Roughly, 2 in difference! 

Have I been measuring my waist wrong all these years?!?

What an embarrassing mistake to make. I'm no noob, after all. With this revised measurement, I should have made an 8 at the waist and graded to the 10 at my hip.

Quite Frankly, the thought of unpicking the stitch-in-the ditch, the invisible zipper and the waistband to grade everything down was disheartening. Instead, I made this one work by unpicking just enough at the CF to accomplish the alteration, leaving the zipper alone. 

Learning To Wear A New Style

Armed with pants that now fit me correctly, I still didn't care for my cream colored top. I should have known better, as that vanilla color hasn't ever done me any favors in the past. I decided to work through my closet, and considering only shape, not color, pull out all the tops I thought might "work" with my long, wide leg pants. I tried them on, snapping a quick photo to compare my options. 

Here are some of the shots I took:

This was a great exercise for me! 

I learned SO much about what works for me, what doesn't and what I felt the best in. I've discovered I need something quite form fitting. Form fitting with an open neck and/or something with shoulder interest to balance the flare at the ankle. 

 I feel so much better because now I can see that it isn't the style of pant that doesn't work for me, but rather how I put the outfit together.

Final Photos

Just a few more photos of my finished Samara Pants. 

I had a great time trying a new style and I encourage everyone to come test the waters outside your comfort zone. If you need a little more inspiration, you've got to go check out all the tester versions HERE.
Most of us are short, but you'd never guess! 

You can get Samara Pants HERE for 20% off through Sunday, May 19th.

I've got fabric for a second pair all set to go. I'll be cutting, sewing and sharing this pair over in the Itch to Stitch Facebook group this week. 

Be sure to come by and check it out!