So hey! It's been awhile since I blogged! But I'm here now, and I've got a project that has become near and dear to my heart to share with you. OK that sounds like it's serious, it's not that serious. It's pants. But like REAL pants, and I sewed them - I actually made myself pants. I guess that's kinda serious.
When I got the email from Adrianna at Hey June, saying she was opening testing for her new skinny Bryce Cargo Pants, I got stoked and scared at the same time. First off, the drawings looked so close to a pair of light pink cargoes I already own from the Gap, that I LOVE. Big draw factor. And everyone knows I'm a big Hey June pattern lover, so I knew the drafting and instructions would be top notch. BUT. Pants. I'd never made real pants before (confession: I DID make a pair of pants a few years ago that required very little skill and didn't fit well - the pattern, and the pants, were quickly abandoned). I decided to just take the plunge, I had nothing else big going on in January, and felt I had the time to devote to learning how to fit pants.
I learned SO MUCH.
I did 2 separate muslins, but upwards of 15 minor and major adjustments to the crotch curve, and the inseam at the crotch curve. I just kept tinkering with the seams, trying them on, taking a picture, then obsessively looked at the picture to try and figure out how to fix what was wrong. I'm not exaggerating - see collages below. At the end of the day, I did a combination of lengthening and raising the front crotch curve, shortening the rear crotch curve, and adjusted the shape of the curve (how many times can you say crotch in a paragraph before it becomes weird?). I made a size 2, but really modified it, so I'd say my pattern now falls between a 2 and 4).
Things I learned:
----> No one prints out a pant pattern, sews it up and has it fit right out of the gates. No one. Every single person in our tester group made adjustments, whether major or minor.
----> Anyone can sew pants! You just need to be prepared to put in the time to work out the details in fitting.
----> Everyone's crotch curve is different. It's true.
----> This process actually made me feel really empowered and body-positive! Even though it also made me so frustrated I almost cried. Then it made me feel so accomplished I also almost cried.
Overall, this was the most fun and challenging tester group I've been a part of to date! Adrianna was so incredibly patient and kind, and helped me find really important solutions that I had no idea how to look for, in terms of fit. I felt like she didn't have to be so available, and willing to help (I mean, although I'm a tester for her pattern, it's not really up to her to find a custom fit for me, outside of the patterns parameters), but she went above and beyond. And it all paid off for me personally.
I have always loved cargo pants (I wore a pair of genuine army cargo pants in high school for many years....ahhhh the 90's!), so the Bryce's fit right into my wardrobe, and will get tons of wear all year round here in Victoria. I actually made another pair in black twill, and they're an excellent anchor in my wardrobe too! I'm planning a purple pair, and an olive green pair too (can a girl ever have too many pairs of skinny cargos? I think not).
I have some fun things coming down the pipeline for this year, and I want to do a post on what I've been up to in general, where I'm at in my sewing journey, and a little bit of where I'm at in life too! So thanks for checking this post, and hopefully you'll want to watch this space to see what's coming!
AND most importantly, if you're a sewist and you want this pattern (and honestly I truly believe you WANT this pattern!) - grab it today before the release discount pricing ends tonight (Sunday Feb 4th): Bryce Cargo Pattern.
xo Mandy