My pants are huge, yet so comfy. Sewing vintage patterns means my pants are out of style.

Thank my husband for two blog posts in such close proximity. He's staying up to mark his mid-term, so I'm staying up to keep him company.

So. As noted in the title of this blog post, sewing vintage patterns can mean <gasp> that my clothing may not be exactly on style for today's fashions.

Take, for example, my typical, everyday jeans. How do they fit? The legs are skinny, the crotch is snug, and the waist sits about five inches below my natural waist line. AND THEY DON'T REALLY FIT ME PROPERLY. They don't stay up, I have to wear a belt, and even when I do, it's not a perfect fix, they still work their way down.

Now, consider a pair of pants made off of a 1940s style pattern:

Same pattern as the coveralls, just the pants part.

The waist is high, like where my actual waist is, there's at least a full hand-width of room in the crotch, and there's so much room in the legs--How much room?--I don't know, just lots of room.

I was a worried when I finished the first pair (the black-blue ones), and tried them on. I know I made the coveralls first, but somehow this was different. The pants were so loose in the legs and crotch. Not like, MC Hammer loose, but definitely not what's in style right now. I wasn't sure if I could wear in them out. They could be comfy for at home, but I'd already bought the material to make the second pair, so I felt like I needed to go forward with the sewing.

Then I did wear them out. I can't remember where to--probably a Saturday to market trip. They were comfy. Then I kept wearing them (I actually haven't finished tacking down the waist band on the black-blue ones yet because I keep wearing them). I've worn them to work, I've worn them to church, I've worn them on a family weekend in Toronto, I've just worn them around.

The biggest thing I've found I need to adapt my style to is, I need to tuck in my shirts. Normally, with tight pants, I don't tuck my shirts. It looks silly, and bunching happens. Now, because these pants are so big, if I don't tuck in my shirts everything get too tent-y or sack-like. Since there's a defined waist in these pants, it seems to hold down my shirt and keep things relatively smooth.

See what I mean? A lot of fabric was used in the making of these pants. If I tuck in my shirt (which is nice and slim fitting), they don't look too bad, right? (Thanks again, to my awesome friend Alexa Baker for the picture help.)

See all that room in the legs? Don't I look so comfortable?

Buttons. On the side. I've been enjoying picking out fun buttons. You can't tell in this picture, but they're sparkly. Can't say I love making button holes, though.

That's it for this pant pattern for now (two pairs of more-or-less identical pants is probably enough), although I might adapt the pattern to make a pair of shorts or two? I'm currently in the process of shirt-making. Perhaps next time I blog about sewing I'll make a few comments on the differences I've noticed between the construction of vintage garments versus modern-day ones.

Ciao,

Andrea