Saturday, January 17, 2015

Pixie Pants 2.0!

Almost 10 years ago, I bought a pair of black J. Crew pixie pants.  I have worn those pants to death!


In December, I set out to J. Crew to buy a replacement pair, but returned empty handed.  At the store, I realized that the Pixies were not the same  pattern or quality as my originals. The original had an exposed zipper nicely finished on the outside with black petersham ribbon (no petersham finish on the new Pixies), and each leg was constructed with three pieces, including a rounded equestrian-style inset which had made me love the pants in the first place (there is no inset in the new version).  Furthermore, the pants in stores today didn't feel nice and the high price ($98) annoyed me.

So...to the seam ripper I went! I deconstructed the originals--baggy knees and all--and used the original pieces as a pattern to cut out the leftover black ponte knit from this knit dress.   I used a narrow zigzag on my regular sewing machine for all of the construction (no serger) and was sure to interface the facings and stay stitch all the curves.  I followed Craftsy's free instructions for the exposed zipper.  I found the directions somewhat nonsensical and very confusing, but who am I to say?  Still quite the beginner here!!

Although I made plenty of mistakes along the way, I am pretty pleased with the results!

Friday night after work at the Morgan Library & Museum


Here are some close ups of the pants:







6 comments:

  1. Très bonne idée, Claire et en plus, pour une fraction du prix. Bravo!

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    1. Merci Denise! malheureusement les prix chez JCew deviennent de moins en moins abordable...

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  2. What a great basic pant (and how annoying that J Crew changed the pattern)! Same thing happened to me with a pair of perfect Levis. Really well done on the pattern copy x

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    1. Ahh, thanks!! After wearing them almost all weekend I think I need to bring them in a bit in the waist...but I'm so glad I went for it and made my own pair!

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  3. RTW is always changing and the price keeps going up! I think your version is quite nice!

    Annie
    http://enantiomerproject.blogspot.com

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  4. Thank you Annie for commenting. I am really enjoying reading your blog and look forward to seeing your makes this year! I had no clue what I was signing up for with the fast, but am so glad I did---the FB page and blig links are such a treasure trove of inspiration...

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