Tencel Twill Luna Pants

I'm sitting at my desk and should really be writing something else, however I'm going to quickly tell you about my new Tencel twill Lina pants instead....

Fabric:

This is the same Tencel twill from Fabric Godmother that I used to make a Wiksten Tank top last month. This is the mustard colour way, but I'd describe it as 'ochre-of-my-dreams'. It was kindly sent to me for free by Josie, essentially to cheer me up about being in lockdown. As I mentioned previously in my tank post, it has incredible drape, with an almost rubbery handle, which sounds odd but is great! 

I've been wearing these trousers all day, so I can attest to some creasing, but not as much as you'd probably get from a viscose. As with any slippery fabric, cutting out and handling it whilst sewing was a challenge. But it doesn't fray too badly, and presses really well. 

Pattern:

I bought the Made by Rae Luna pants pattern a few years ago, and made the pattern up twice, first in a light-weight, washed denim, and then in cotton lawn. The fabric of the denim pair disintegrated, but, although very faded, the cotton lawn pair have stood the test of time surprisingly well. This garment style is so comfy to wear, in no small part because the elasticated waist sits on the hips rather than higher up on the natural waist: the former being my preferred position. 

Rae reworked the Luna pattern last year and re-released it. I received the updated file but haven't printed it out, so I'm not sure how the pattern pieces differ from the original. For this pair, I wanted a slightly looser, less tapered look through the legs. To do so, I added about 2cm to the outer leg seam at the hem of the front and back leg pattern pieces, blending it into the original seam by the lower hips. I also made this pair a few centimetres longer, as I found my other pair have shrunk a bit over the years, and I'm not sure how this Tencel will behave over the long term.

Label:

I'd seen these cool Isewlation garment labels popping up on Instagram during lockdown, and eventually their designer, Sally (@modistasewing), got in touch with me to request some help in promoting them during Me-Made-May. All the profits she receives from their sale goes to the National Emergencies Trust, which supports local charities in helping the victims of disasters and emergencies. I bought some myself, and they are awesome. I held off finishing this project until they arrived, because they are the perfect colour and shape for these trousers.

Thoughts:

I'm so happy with these trousers! I'm wearing them right now with my washed denim Kabuki tee. I feel comfy and breezy on this warm day, but somehow I'm also looking pretty stylish, if I say so myself. I love how this pattern hits a sweet spot of being loose but not baggy, which I think is particularly important around the bum! I doubt this will be my last pair of Lunas. The next time a super-fluid, woven fabric that I adore crosses my path, I'll be ready to deploy this pattern.

Flora and Fauna Secret Pyjamas

So, having fallen hard for Made by Rae's Luna pants pattern, it'll be little surprise to learn that another pair has been whipped up already. But before I made my second pair, I was a good girl and went back and fixed the issues I had with the stress points on my anchor pair. 

Thanks everyone who left a comment making suggestions on how I could both fix that pair, and avoid the issue with future versions. Want to know which piece of advice I implemented? ALL OF IT!!! First, I cut narrow strips of fusible interfacing and applied them to both sides of the seam where the stress points had appeared. I then restitched the seams slightly inside the original row of stitching, which kind of 'ate up' the bits where the fabric was coming apart (unfortunately I couldn't let out the side seams to compensate for this slight reduction in fabric around the hips because of the in-seam pockets). Finally, I topstitched the rise seam allowance down to one side to reinforce the whole thing, and after a couple of wears, these steps seem to have fixed the issue with no further signs of stress so far.... But to err on the side of caution, I took another piece of advice and chose a size Medium, rather than the Small, for my next pair.

Pattern:

Starting with the size Medium has obviously given a baggier silhouette to this second pair. I think I still prefer the look of the smaller, less-voluminous anchor pair, but I didn't want to wreck this amazing fabric if a repeat of the stress points occurred, so I'm trying to embrace this look. To avoid adding any more fullness around the hips, I didn't bother with the in-seam pockets this time. I know that omitting pockets would be close to blasphemy to some sewers/sewists! I like having pockets in my anchor pair, but the finish on this second pair definitely looks sleeker without. Plus, without them, this was a super-quick project. Aside from not bothering with the pockets, the only other pattern mod I made was to shorten the leg length by about 4cm. 

Fabric:

A couple of months ago Claire, Stevie and I organised a little South Coast sewing meetup. We visited the soon-to-be vacated storage space of Ditto fabrics, and Fabric Godmother's unit/treasure trove. We all came away from the latter with a goodie bag that included 2m of this A-MAZING Cobra corsage cotton lawn. I had been taken with this fabric at a previous Fabric Godmother open day, but had been focussing on purchases for specifics projects at that time. To have acquired some cost-and-therefore-guilt-free, was such a treat! An Instagram thread between the meetup attendees followed about what we planned to make with our pieces, but so far I only know of Claire's epically awesome kimono to have been realised from the fabric we were given.

What I particularly love about this fabric is the fine detail of the printed illustrations. They make me think of Victorian tomes cataloging flora and fauna, the type that might exist at the Natural History museum. I'm actually wearing these trousers now and keep finding myself staring at the veins of a leaf or the scales on the snake. 

As for the fabric itself, it's pretty perfect for this trouser pattern. It's light-weight enough to feel airy when worn on a hot day and to hang well with this type of trouser style, but it's also opaque so no undies are on show. Plus, it's a natural fibre, yet doesn't seem to crease. Hurrah! 

Thoughts:

If my anchor Lunas were a major style departure, then I'm taking the journey further still with these. I'm totally in love with them, but because they're not my usual look, they are pretty much wardrobe orphans. I have only one breastfeeding top that works with them, so I'm currently planning a couple of simple tops that will look good with these and other things in my wardrobe. 

Luna Mission: Secret Pyjamas

So this is pretty major for me. These trousers are a massive departure from an aesthetic that I've been pretty dedicated to for the best part of a decade. The casual retro/Rockabilly-lite tip I've been on may not have always been super evident in all of my personal sewing projects, but they were the vibes I have most identified with and been inspired by for agessss. However, last year I felt something shift and I became less interested in those looks. But because I was pregnant and my body was changing shape and size, I had to put any real experimenting into my new stylistic inspiration on hold.  

I'm a big fan of the designer Rae Hoekstra, AKA Made by Rae, and I'd been sniffing around her Luna pants pattern almost since she released it. I couldn't see myself wearing them, but I'd often suggest the pattern to students in my sewing classes if they were looking for an easy-ish trousers pattern to make. Then, when I was pregnant, a friend lent me a big bag of various maternity trousers and jeans, which contained a pair very similar in style to the Luna pants. When I first saw them I put them straight back in the bag and mentally labelled them 'not me', but in the last few months of my pregnancy I ended up wearing them almost constantly. So having identified during #MMMay17 that light-weight trousers would be a welcome addition to my wardrobe, it was time to go Luna exploring... (sorry, too obvious?!).

(image source: Made by Rae)

Pattern: 

The Luna pants pattern was a welcome respite from my trouser fitting woes. Yet, as per Rae's recommendation, I still made a toile (muslin) to check the fit before chopping into my precious fabric. Partly because the fabric has sold out so I couldn't buy any more if I messed it up, and partly because I've decided that sewing time is too rare and precious to spend it making garments that don't fit well and won't get lots of use. 

My main concern was getting a fit that didn't look too baggy. I prefer the look of the green pair pictured below which seem to have a similar fit to the maternity pair I borrowed, as opposed to the yellow version that you can see here. This pattern has about 4"-5" of ease through the hips, which seems like a lot to me, so I decided to go down a size from what my measurements would suggest to should cut (which Rae suggest if you're using a loosely woven fabric). (BTW, there is also a series of extra-detailed blog posts from the Luna pantsalong, if you require a little extra hand-holding for this make). 

(image source: Made by Rae)

It turned out to be a good call and I'm really pleased that I went for the Small, rather than the Medium, as the fit was pretty much exactly what I was hoping for. The only changes I then had to make to the pattern were to shorten the leg length by about 4cm, and to slash-and-flare through the back rise to add 1cm as it felt a teensy bit tight through the seat. 

Fabric:

Although I was on a self-imposed fabric diet after my then-recent move (nothing like packing up to move house to force you to acknowledge how much fabric you own!), I treated myself to a couple of metres of this light-weight washed anchor print denim from the Village Haberdashery on my last day teaching there before going on maternity leave. Pre-washing revealed its super-soft and slightly drape-y nature, so I had a hunch that it'd be a great match with this pattern. I wish I could link to the fabric, but sadly it's not on their website so I assume they have sold out. 

Thoughts:

I put these on as soon as I finished making them and then wore them for three days on the trot before I accepted they should have a wash. The fit was exactly what I hoped for, and they were pleasingly airy during the roasting hot weather we had last week. The only thing that felt less than pyjamary was the elasticated ankles. Not being used to this style, and not having worn the maternity pair I borrowed for eight months, I felt really conscious of them to start with. However, sensory adaptation did its thing and I didn't notice them at all after an hour or so. 

What is breaking my heart is that the loose weave has resulted in the fabric coming apart a bit at a couple of stress points on the rise. There's a bit on the front but it's more noticeable on the back (see above and below). These appeared after just one wear, and I'm not sure what, if anything, I can do about it now, or how I could prevent that in the future. Thoughts most welcome. 

Cost:

Pattern: available here in PDF form for $12 (approx. £9.44)

Fabric: I can't remember!!! I'm guessing £16 for 2m?

Elastic and thread from my stash

Total: £25.44

A fairly pricey make by my standards, especially if their days are numbers if those weak points rip apart entirely. However, thanks to the the fabric being really wide, I still have a sizeable chunk of it left (enough for a Scout tee or a woven tank of some kind, for sure) and I definitely plan to make more Lunas in the future. In fact I've just pre-washed some more precious fabric with this pattern in mind, watch this space...