The Imperfect Ponte Pant

I had such high hopes. I used my already fitted Colette Clover pattern, and purchased some lovely navy ponte knit from FabricMart. Of course they would turn out fabulous, right? Not so much.


I'm only giving you one picture, so let's save it til the end, m'kay? Scroll down if you just can't wait another second, but if you can wait, here are some highlights and lowlights, in no particular order.

• Decided on some pockets, a la Sallie. I think it was the ponte, but I do take some responsibility.
• There are pockets, but they have been sewn shut.
• The pants turned out oddly high waisted. I scooped out about an inch and a half down in the front, because the back seemed fine.
• The back really isn't fine, needs to be just a bit lower.
• Decided on the side zipper, but not an invisible one.
• I caught some skin when wearing my other pair of clovers that do have an invisible zipper. Ouch. Plus, I live in fear of invisible zipper failure.
• Decided to do a lapped regular zipper.
• Ripped it out one time.
• Re-inserted. Yikes, it was oddly lumpy in places where I don't actually have lumps.
• Ripped it out again.
• Decided on NO zipper. With the knit, I can pull them on.
• The inside looks like a dog's breakfast. (I love that phrase, I hope I'm using it correctly... like is it A dog's breakfast, or just dog's breakfast?)
• No one can see the inside, thankfully.
• Ponte doesn't fray.
• I made a blind hem. It looks great. They are maybe a tad long. That's ok.
• I'm not sure I'll wear them in public.
• Then again, they would be really comfortable on a plane trip.
• Still. Maybe they will just be house pants.

I know. Super cute shoes, right?!

Colette Patterns Rule!

I don't know which part of this post to do first, so, since I'm about 2 days late...


Thank you to The Coletterie (the blog for Colette Patterns), for featuring me and my Jasmine top in their Monday Featured Seamstress segment. If you missed it, you can click on the name and see the post. I was so flattered to have been chosen, after they had seen the Jasmine top in their flickr group. They made my Monday!


And on Monday, I finished my first pair of Clover pants. I say first pair, because I will definitely make more. I didn't actually have to make too many changes... traced the size 12, messed around with the crotch depth length. Is that the right term? The length that goes from your front waistline to the back waistline?


Anyway, after making the muslin, I had to tweak just a wee bit more, and they fit! OK, they are just a touch tight, but I'll take care of that with eliminating a recent obsession with Halloween candy. Done. The only change for the next pair is to lower the back waistline about half an inch. I did make the pockets, but I think I'll probably just leave them out for future pairs. I have several pieces of fabric already pulled in my stash for said future pairs.


These are made from an inexpensive poly gabardine from Hancocks. And it's black. Not too exciting, but I predict a lot of wear.


Oh, and p.s., no Wilma on Wednesday today, but the holidays are coming up, so lots of opportunities for hitting the dessert section of her cookbook pretty hard.