There’s nothing like a great pair of pants. What’s even better is when you can make them in any fabric, print, color, and length that you’d like. The Simplicity 8389 provides the options for you to do just that.
I’ll admit that as a beginner sewist, I have been hesitant to come close to pants. Aside from my DIY Jumpsuit that happened by accident, I haven’t put a second thought into making pants…until now. I’ve said it time and time again that I’m bottom heavy, so I get nervous about the alterations that need to be made to accommodate for my shape. I’ve read the book Pants for Real People, which gives you directions on how to alter commercial pant patterns based on your shape, but I just haven’t taken the time to practice on a pair of pants.
Despite my aversion to pants, I couldn’t resist purchasing this pattern. I’ve always wanted a pair of pants similar to View D, but could never find any in the store that fit. Go figure! So I picked it up during my huge fabric buy that I talk about here.
Well, after sewing my DIY Jumpsuit, I had about 1 yd of leftover fabric. Ironically, it was just enough to make view C of this pattern, which are shorts. So I gave it a shot and they turned out great! If you checked out my July feature in Sew Sew Def magazine, then you saw my View C make of this pattern. Here’s a picture of the shorts below.
Turns out that I didn’t need to make any major fitting adjustments to the pattern. In fact, I didn’t make any at all for the shorts. This was certainly a confidence booster, which was just what I needed to attempt View D. After all, if the shorts fit me, the pants should be no different.
For this pattern, I cut a size 16 for both the shorts and the pants. I’m a 44″ hip and the finished garment dimension is 50″ at the hip, so this size was more than enough to cover my hips and give me some room to wiggle. The only adjustment that I would (and should) have made was adding length to the back inseam, which is the book’s recommendation for a full derriere.
I chose to use a stretch twill fabric from Joann. I love damask prints, so I fell in love with the fabric. In fact, I had seen it several times prior to purchasing it, making a mental note to get it for this pattern. Since it is twill, it was a bit stiff when I purchased it. In fact, I was nervous that it’d be too stiff to create the look on the pattern illustration; however, it softened up once I washed it. I pre-treated is using the washing & drying instructions on the fabric bolt. Thankfully it did not bleed, because I was nervous about navy bleeding into the ivory.
The thing that I love about this fabric and pattern combination is that you can dress it up or down. I wore it with a tank top for a casual summer look, but with the addition of a sweater, it can be an easy office look. There are so many options with these pants and this fabric!
The construction for both the shorts and pants was easy. In fact, this is one of Simplicity’s Easy-to-Sew patterns. So, if you’re a beginner don’t be afraid to check this pattern out. Eventually, I plan on making another pair of linen pants in view A as well.
Thanks to everyone who participated in my pattern giveaway! Winners were randomly selected from entries from the blog, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. The winners have already been contacted, so if you are listed please check your inbox.
