Pattern Emporium Harem Pants...rockin' the casbah

I'm a busy blogger this week. But I like these pants so much that I wanted to write them up as soon as I could. They are a blast to sew and wear!

Pattern Emporium is very clever with this design. So many options. Travelling the tree, I made the baggy fit in ITY knit, with a plain elastic waistband, the relaxed pocket, and the lounge pant hem. To achieve the fit I wanted - baggy v.s. slim - I used the size 16, one above my usual size. 

This pattern is thoughtful as well as clever: 

• It has 2 hemline cutting lines, one for 5'5",  and one about 3" longer for taller gals. I so appreciate this, because at 5'7" I'm forever adding to the length on things. 

• A vertical line is provided, waist to hem, for cutting and spreading the front and/or back, for more overall width and ease. I used it to add 1" to each piece, and then took the 1" away from the upper side seam - 1" at the top edge and cured down about 8". This was to reduce bulk in the waistband. 

• And it has the ultimate pocket. It's all one piece, lining and facing. It really makes the pocket fast and easy, particularly for a slippery knit fabric. 

That's all my sewing notes! Precedent setting. This pattern really delivers. I've made two other similar pants, Vogue 8909 Cuffed Knit Pants and the True Bias Hudson pants. The Harem Pants are absolutely my favorites.

I'm wearing these with one of my four Butterick 5954 knit tops. Yes, four now. White, marigold, avocado green, and red. Love in many colors.

Given my tendency to make multiples of things I really enjoy, of course there's another pair of pants, again in ITY knit.

So freaking cute! I wore this pair to Cleveland Clinic yesterday, and even Mr. Doctor told me how stylish they are. Make these pants!

On another front, playtime continues. With a deep bow at the waist to Martha, at Now Sewing. Her post, about using Derwent Inktense Pencils on fabric, got me going. After my visit to the clinic, I was in bed at 7 p.m. and up again at 2 a.m. What better time than the dark middle hours for an experiment...

 Lab equipment: the pencils, a black Micron pen, paper, cotton broadcloth (pre-laundered), and aloe vera gel. Also clean water and paper towels.

There's lots of info online about applying permanent inks to fabric. How to do it, preserve it, and wash it.

Fingers crossed that 24 hours from now, I have a good outcome.






The top of this image is my trial, dark and light color. The pink smudges are my impatient reuse of the gel without cleaning my brush. Good news - the gel really did keep the color from bleeding. And the Micron pen worked really well for the doodling.


The bottom image just shows how much the ink went through the fabric to the paper underneath. I was curious about how much destruction I might do to my bottom surface.

Wishing all a nice weekend - Coco