Chi-town Chino Pants

I got to pattern test for a different pattern designer! Alina sent out a tester call for turning the chi-town chinos from shorts into pants, and I couldn't resist the opportunity to make myself another pair of pants that fit. I may have bit off more than I can chew, because the first weekend I was in PEI for a beach ultimate frisbee tournament, then for another 2 days in the middle of the week I was in another part of PEI with family (I brought the printed pattern with me and assembled it at the cottage), and my sister was in town visiting as well, so I spent a lot of time with her. In the end, I was able to finish on time, but unfortunately had difficult finding time to take pictures to send to her. Not only that, but we forgot a memory card for her camera, so thank you Ricky for letting us borrow your phone.

I definitely learned the importance of cutting pants properly on the grainline. I cut out these pants a little bit off grainline, and it is already bothering me. Lesson learned, I still like them, and I will do better next time. These pants have slant pockets (just like my last pair), welt back pockets (definitely not like my last pair) and a front fly zip. the waistband is done differently than how I've done them before, and I like this method just as much as the separate waistband method.

This was my first time doing a Full Seat Adjustment (using Heather's tutorial here), and I think that will be how I make pants, shorts and skirts going forward, because I like how the front fits much better. There is less extra fabric in the front, especially when I sit down. I will still need to do some grading due to my clearly-larger-than-most-women-my-size's legs, but most of it will begin at the bottom of my bum.

I used leftover navy wool fabric from my first pencil skirt (which did not survive the great purge of 2016 due to it being to large now) because I was unable to find a fabric that I liked at Fabricville, so there is almost no stretch in them. This is not a problem for the most part, but it means that they are a little difficult to get up over my clearly-larger-than-most-women-my-size's bum. I think going forward I will need to stick with fabrics with some stretch for pants, which I am perfectly okay with since I tend to sit in weird positions at work or pretend to kick people in the head at random times throughout the day.

Details

Pattern: Chi-town pants by Alina (Free because I was a tester)
Material: Navy blue wool from Fabricville
Modifications: Full seat adjustment, graded out to large leg sizes, added about 4 inches in length.
Learning: I learned one of the most useful skills that I will need, considering my body: A Full Seat Adjustment! There are more complicated ways to do them that I might investigate in the future, but the simple way did the trick for now. I also learned a new way to insert a zipper fly, belt loops and slant pockets. This was also my first time doing welt pockets, and although they weren't that difficult, I don't think I will be making them again soon. I also learned the hard way not to cut with pinking shears too close to the stitching, and pay attention to grainline.