Top: Loes Hinse Design, Princess Tank No. 5209 Pants: #SimoneMcCalls (M8098) 

Fabric:
Cotton/poly chambray and plaid rayon challis print from my stash

It’s officially summer, and I’m excited to share my first summer sew! These are #simonemccalls pants. I used gifted fabric from another sewists’ stash: a cotton poly chambray and a plaid rayon challis. There wasn’t enough of either fabric to make the pants, so I used both – and had enough left to make Loes Hinse Designs Princess Tank as well.

Fitting notes:
The pants are supposed to be loose fitting, but I made some modifications for a better fit: I increased the crotch length in the seat, and decreased it at the back waist (a.k.a. “dropping the seat.”) I also slightly straightened the center back curve to better fit my seat. I made my usual alterations to the tank pattern: high round back, shoulder height, forward shoulder, full bust adjustment, and sway back.

Construction notes:
Don’t you hate it when plaids and stripes aren’t printed on grain?! I had that problem with this rayon challis. For the most part, I followed the stripes and not the grain because the gathered panels would have looked awful with the plaid at odd angles. I chose not to make a waistband casing, as that treatment often looks bulky. Instead, I serged my elastic onto the pants’ upper edge, then turned and topstitched into place. The gathers are much smaller and more even this way. The top doesn’t actually have princess seams, rather it has side panels with a princess line: the difference is that true princess seams fall over the apex of the bust. Since I had to do a full bust adjustment on this top, you can see bust darts on the front panel at the side panel seam. (These are known as “Dior darts” after the Parisian designer who used them extensively in his collections.) The pattern calls for the side panels to be cut on-grain. I took a bit of artistic license and cut them on the bias for fun. I also used bias facing on the armscye which is neater that the serged and turned finish called for in the pattern instructions.

This duo will be so comfortable in the hot weather months to come!