Another Version of Those Cute-Pocket Marcy Pants

If you join a Sewalong, but didn't sew a stitch, did the Sewalong really happen?  I really wanted to participate in MPB Peter's Jeans Sew-a-long, but, well, life happened instead, and nearly two months zipped by with barely a stitch being stitched by me.  Meanwhile, I've been mostly living in my favorite old stretch jeans, which are threatening to break through at the knees, and my two pairs of Marcy Pants V8712.  Now that I've found my way back to the sewing room, it's clearly time for more pants, & quick & easy are the keywords for the moment.    Who ya gonna call?  Marcy T, again!  Version 3 took one day to complete :)    OK, I sort of rushed, since I wanted to wear them to today's BABES gathering, so I made a couple of oopses, but still, I have yet another pair of super comfy pants!


As I had discovered the first time around - and I am not the only one - this pattern has an obscene amount of ease.   I mean, seriously.  My measurements call for Size 14-16, and for the first 2 pairs (one of each view) I made a 12, which essentially got altered down to a 10.   This time I just cut out a 10, added 2+" inches to the length, and they fit with ZERO alterations!   Yes, you read right....NO alterations!   


The fabric gave me a few moments of concern though.   I wanted to do a bit of color blocking like I did on the fleece pants of this version (view A), so I grabbed a nice chocolate Ponte from Marcy, with touches of black woven through, and a lighter brown knit for the contrast.

Until I realized that the lighter brown knit was a woven.   A stretch woven, but still... the woven had about a 30% crosswise stretch, compared to the 100% stretch of the ponte.  And about 25% lengthwise, compared to 50%.    Off to search for something else in the stash.   


Nope, nothing there.  


Even though the last time I tried to mix a knit with a woven (This Decades of Style Wrap) I had quite the challenge getting it to work, I decided to try again.  It actually wasn't a problem at all - so far - here's hoping it washes & wears well!   I think the fact that the contrast was only in the pocket, and at the bottom addition, made the mixture quite workable.


One day of re-tracing the pattern, cutting, and sewing it all up and I was done!  There is definitely something to be said for quick & easy!   I know I've mentioned before that I'm not the speediest sewist around either.....although, as mentioned, I did rush a bit & had an 'oops' on the pockets....


Somehow, even though I swear I double checked to make sure I was sewing the correct sides together, I managed to serge my pockets so that the serged seam was on the inside of the pockets.   Some people might be fine with this, but I just envision bits of lint, lost treasures, fingernails snagging on the thread....maybe it's just me but this was NOT ok.  I suppose I could have just cut off the seam & make the pockets a bit smaller (20/20 hindsight, you know....) but what I did was fold the pockets the correct way & sew up another seam, enclosing the serged edge, so that I ended up with a finished seam on both inside & outside of the pockets.   And, of course, a VERY bulky pocket edge :(
Serged edge on right, enclosed edge on left:

Which resulted in VPL (Visible Pocket Line)  :(

VPL UPDATE!:
I couldn't stand it.  That Visible Pocket Line was driving me bats, so I decided to do something about it.  I clipped the ends of the pockets that were attached to the top & the side seam, created a new pocket edge by cutting the pocket down with a simple serged edge, reinforced the clipped ends, and can now breath a sigh of relief :)


Here's the view with the old pocket on one leg, and the new pocket on the other.  Guess which is which?  ;-D

Of course, I managed to collect a stray thread for the photo op right near the VPL, but such is life in the sewing room.


I'm now really happy with these pants, and I'm sure my other two pair will be happy to get some rest time!


Finished Pants (before fixing that VPL):

The bonus is that the pants go with everything I made for PR's Mini Wardrobe Contest as well!  Here they are with the Marcy T top:

The knit/woven mixture conclusion?  In small doses, & appropriately placed, I think I won't worry about sewing mixed fabrics/stretches together.  However,  mixing those fabrics on long seams or areas that really need to hang well together......fuhgeddaboutit!


In other news, today's BABES gathering was another delightful success, hosted by the lovely luckylibbet and attended by a dozen or so chatty & talented local sewists.   Tasty food, lots of showing & telling & a fair amount of "Oooooh can I try that on??!!!!  Oh look it FITS me!!!", loads of laughter, and finishing up with folks hauling out their loaded laundry baskets filled with fabric and patterns & books to give away.   How lucky are we to have such a compatible community of comrades to commune with?


Still smiling....... :) :) :)