Burda 7192----Loving My Charcoal Gray Pants!!!

It's day 17 of the Fearless February Sew Along and I finally have my first garment to show for!!! Don't worry, the other pieces should role out more quickly. You may recall that I started off the month trying to sew up Jalie 2909 and wasn't able to resolve the back leg wrinkles so I switched over to Burda 7192. I'm so glad I made the switch and although I had a few issues trying to tweak the fit eventually I figured it out---yay, I figured it out (Thank you Jesus!!!!) and I've made a pair of pants I'm pretty proud of!

Now, I must admit that these pants are a SWEET VICTORY for me! I've been trying to learn how to fit pants for YEARSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!! I've studied how to fit pants for YEARS! You may recall the posts I've done on the subject. But even with that I still couldn't quite get it right. Then on last week the "light bulb finally came on" and I did it. I had an epiphany of sorts. I'll be honest---it didn't take rocket science or brilliance. Actually, just a little work and ingenuity. That's it---plain and simple. I'll tell you what I did in the next post! But for now, let me show you my pants. They're not 100% perfect but I think they turned out great! I wore them for the past 8 hours and have been all over the place---in and out of the car, at church, at the store, etc. and they still look pretty good--only had a few wrinkles. That's my usual test on how good a garment is---by the way it holds up to wear! So these definitely get an A+. So here's my review......

(Yayyyy, my pants after 8 hours of wear! They still looked great!)

Burda 7192

Time to Sew:

These weren't too bad at all. I was able to tackle it in a few hours.

Sewing Ease (scale 1 easy to 10 difficult):

Not hard at all. I'd give this about a 5. As a whole pants without any fancy designs are pretty easy to sew. You just sew up the legs (front/back piece)--put the 2 tubes in each other and sew up the crotch curve. Then progress with the rest.

Pattern Description: 
Pants with mock yoke pockets.

Pattern Sizing:

Size 14

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?

YES!

Were the instructions easy to follow?

For the most part. I had to pull out some other resources for clarification. For instance I didn't understand how they recommended sewing on the waist band. They recommended sewing it on as 2 separate pieces and then sew the center back seam. It could've been just me, but it was a tad bit confusing.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?

The pattern is WELL drafted! I loved the wider leg and the slimmer fit at the waist. There were little "mock" pockets---I mean they were pockets but hardly usable. They could've just omitted them.

Fabric Used:

Charcoal gray suiting fabric. I think it was a medium weight gabardine. It was perfect for these pants!

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:

I didn't really make any major changes. I adjusted the fit of the pattern to suit my body and get a good fit such as crotch curve changes, etc. I'll discuss that in my NEXT POST. I did lengthen the pattern by 2". That actually ended up NOT being long enough--especially to wear with 3" heels. So I could only do a 5/8" hem on it. I knew I should have made it longer---especially since I have about a 34" inseam. I did have to eliminate the gaping in the center back of my waistband and that was easy to do---just added a dart in it.  I also skipped adding the crease. Also---I made some "unintentional changes"---aka mistakes.--LOL!!!I had a little snafu with the zipper insertion but recovered from it. It's sad because I clearly wasn't paying attention---I've used Sandra Betzina's fly front tutorial countless of times and have never had a problem with it. It's the best tutorial out there.

(no crazy back leg wrinkles!!!!!!!!!!)

What would you do differently next time?:

I would probably leave off the pockets since they aren't very useful.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?

Not sure if I'd sew it again but I highly recommend it. Since I'm so short-waisted, I usually wear my shirts out and thus don't need a pants with all of the pockets, belt loops and such---no one ever sees them. I like pockets and stuff in my fitted jeans/capris but not so much my slacks. Might not make much sense but it's my preference.

Wardrobe Versatility:

It's charcoal gray---it practically goes with everything. I'd love to pair it with bright colored sweaters (hence the bright pink) like bright yellow and orange. I think these are definitely a wardrobe staple.

Conclusion:

Very nice pair of pants!!! I couldn't be more pleased!!!!!

Ok, I have a few more garments to work on. Off to do some more sewing.....