Swishy Fish

I made these wide-legged trousers a while ago, and since they only made me stumble once (despite regular wear) I thought it would be safe to make a winter version. The idea of swishing around in shiny wool seemed like a good one, and I pulled out a fabric I'd bought in Toronto during my vacation there. The pieces were cut during an evening of work/play at my friend Karen's appartment, and we took some pictures when I visited her at work!

These are the Kommatia Palazzo pants, which I've made before in linen. This wool has a lot more body (although it's still quite drapey) and I really like how the shape gets more pronounced! Sewing these was very quick (the most time-consuming step is the fly front and even that is not such a big deal), these were done in two evenings!

I didn't topstitch the pockets on my first version and regretted that ever since because the pocket lining kept peeking out (it has been fixed with some hand stitching) so I made sure not to skip that step on these. It still shows a bit (which is what tends to happen with this type of pockets and bright contrast linings) but not nearly enough to bother me.

I also noticed in my previous versions that the waistband tended to grow and relax too much, even with interfacing. I had a leftover piece of an interfacing with rows of stitches running through it, which is usually used in jackets, and I used that for the waistband. The stitching runs parallel to the length of the waistband and acts as a kind of staystitching, so this thing does not give. They won't be my eating pants, but they won't fall down either!

I did forget that I had added length to my summer version (after a warning from Eleonore) and didn't do that for this one, so these are finished with the tiniest bias faced hem. I'm not exceptionally tall and having something come out short (when it's not intended to be short) is a rare occurence!

I like how these are both basic (dark wool herringbone fabric) and dramatic (there's some silver woven through the fabric and of course those wide legs! A heads up about fabric quantity: The pattern says you need 2,40 meters but I had 1,5 yards and got them cut out without puzzling. I'm not sure if this still applies to larger sizes, but you don't need as much fabric if you're making a size small!

The t-shirt I'm wearing with it is another slightly modified Renfrew (neckline raised, side seams straightened for a boxier fit). I made this to wear to our latest elections so cut out the word 'Lies!' in white flock foil stuff and ironed it on. It's gotten a lot of wear since then, and caused some confusion!