Jul 1

Jul 1 Seaforth: A Cautionary Tale From A Terrible Pattern Tester

I’m thrilled to welcome another great pattern by Hey June Handmade, the Seaforth Pants. I jumped right in to making View B WITHOUT making a muslin, because, as the title of this post cautions, I’m a terrible pattern tester.

These pull-on pants are sized based on hip measurement and come in sizes 0-24 (35”-54” hip). I chose size 6 for my 38” hips.

I pulled a printed tencel twill purchased from Blackbird Fabrics that’s only been chilling in my stash for 15 months.

Both views feature zippered patch pockets. This detail elevates their style.

One “trick” I tried (for the first time!) in constructing my Seaforth pants was to fuse the interfacing AFTER opening the welt.

In the right fabric, these pants can be styled casually with a simple tank and sandals.

Or dressed up with heels and a sexy cami for date night or lunch with friends.

Note: I used the same 2” wide elastic on the cuffs as was used for the waistband. The pattern as designed calls for 1” elastic in the cuffs.

One of the other things I tried, since I love making mistakes, was to completely finish the waistband and insert the elastic (also known as elasdick*, as I'm about to explain) through the grommets. This sewing experiment went well until it came time to pull the joined ends inside. While 2 layers of elastic and a bodkin do fit through a grommet, 6 layers of elasdick do not.

These grommets are larger than the pattern calls for. I have eleventy billion; I’m not buying another size.

So close. But the elasdick won.

dx- non-reducible elasdick hernia; tx- surgery

After an hour (or more?) of wrestling, I conceded and opened the casing. I won’t be trying that again.

I also sampled the wide leg version, View A.

Modeled with a Durango tank (free pattern)

Of course, I love these as well. The fabric here is Avery slub linen, aka linen noil. (Remnant purchased from La Mercerie’s fabric clearance. Jess only sells yarn now. SAD FACE.)

Here’s another look at the welt interfacing. Stitch the opening with the non-glue side of the fusible interfacing on the right side. Open and turn to the wrong side. Then fuse, rolling the fabric edges to the inside slightly.