Workwear Denim Lander Pants

 

Those who follow me on Instagram may have seen that I've been working on perfecting the fit of the Lander pants pattern by True Bias. Two years ago I made this pair of 70s inspired Landers, and whilst they've seen heaps of wear, they just don't fit my post-lockdown-increasingly-middleaged body anymore.

I've really missed having them as an option in my wardrobe, so I decided to 'go back in' and see if I could make another pair with an improved fit for my current shape. Having finally accepted to myself that I could do with a full-tummy adjustment, I did a bunch of research on various methods and made a couple of toiles. I think I've worked out a full-tummy-adjustment-lite method that is a bit of a mish-mash of methods that seems to work for me. 

The other adjustments I made to the pattern included scooping out the front and back crotch a tiny bit, and widening the legs at the hem to create a more exaggerated flare. I used the same pocket templates that I worked out for the previous pair. The denim is some gorgeous, sturdy-but-soft workwear denim from Fabric Godmother. Annoyingly, there's some white lines that appeared after my pre-wash. I'm wondering if I could over-dye them out. I've never figured out how to avoid these, if you have figured it out, I'd be very grateful if you'd drop me a quick email!

But back to the fit for a second. Overall, I'm super happy with how these have turned out. Even though the denim has no stretch, I can actually wear these comfortably all day. Even days that I spent largely sitting down. This is a MAJOR breakthrough for me. There's still some slight pooling of fabric at the top of thae back legs under the bum still, but I wonder if these are necessary to actually bend forward or sit down properly. 

My confidence has been having a bit of a wobble recently regarding my changing body shape, and theoretically, this outfit of slim fitting top and high-waisted jeans is highlighting all the aspects of my body that I currently feel self-conscious about. However, I actually really like how I look in these pictures. yesterday I unexpectedly caught a glance of myself in a mirror whilst wearing this outfit, and again I was happy with what I saw. Are there elements pf my body that I wish were different? Of course. But generally, I'm pleasantly surprised with how I feel in this outfit. I'm guessing that a big chunk of that is that I actually feel physically comfortable, now that there's adequate room for my tum.