Esther’s Hudson Pants
After shying away from knits for a few years in the beginning of my sewing journey, I’m always excited to sew a knit garment and appreciate my growth.
I have no clue why I was afraid of knit fabrics, I started using an overlocker almost at the start of my journey. I promptly made trousers so I had no fears in many regards but someone somewhere may have whispered that knit fabrics are tough to sew and I stayed in that irrational fear for longer than necessary. I have since learnt that nothing is inherently difficult, there may be requirement to do some different steps but nothing a quick Google search won’t be able to answer, actually ChatGPT is faster.
It’s always exciting to have a knit fabric in the box. I absolutely love knit fabrics because of the forgiving fit and speed of making garments. The fabric didn’t immediately speak to me on what to make so I asked the other members of the SewHayleyJane team for inspiration, the Kielo wrap dress and Vogue 2000 dress were suggested.
I looked through Instagram to see the Kielo wrap dress, it was a popular pattern when I first started sewing but I’m not yet convinced that the pattern works with my style. I’ll probably still make it just to see if it would work for me.
The Vogue 2000 pattern is definitely my style. I love a good wrap dress. I love the forgiving nature of a wrap dress to weight fluctuations. As someone whose bust and waist fluctuates about 4″ depending on eating and exercise habits, I love the idea of having a dress that can work for a variety of body sizes. I was about to buy the pattern and start the process of making a cute dress when I did a quick pause.
In the spirit of Me Made May, I have been doing a mini wardrobe audit. Attempting to wear me mades everyday in May opened me up to the fact that I have garments for brunch, church, dinners, outings with friends, etc. But I don’t making garments for my everyday. I work from home 4 days a week and prefer to dress comfortably. So I did a quick pivot and decided to make a garment that would work for my work from home wardrobe.
Once I zeroed in on my criteria, my pattern choice was almost instantaneous. I have wanted to make the True Bias Hudson pants for so long. I love that they are a pair of slim fit joggers. I was excited to make them, only to realise that they are actually made to sit on the low waist. I began to think about how I can remedy this because I won’t be caught in low waist trousers. Thankfully, True Bias has a blogpost to make the joggers high waist.
The fabric was an absolute dream to cut out. The cotton jersey is quite stable so I was able to cut and sew it with no fuss. As always with knit fabrics, I used a ballpoint needle for the seams that were sewn on my sewing machine and the overlocker for most seams.
As suspected, these joggers were easy to make. I had cut out the fabric before I realised the pattern was drafted for someone 5″5 but at 5″6 and with the high waist adjustment, the length still works well. I didn’t have cording in my stash so I left it off the waistband. It doesn’t change much except aesthetics. I love how slim these fit, making them a bit more put together than larger fit joggers.