Hello lovelies ❤️ happy Friday! I’m back again sharing another pattern from Megan Nielsen Patterns. Let me introduce the Opal pants! How cute are these pants? Let me be upfront and say, if you are new to sewing pants, you will definitely love these. Sewing pants always gives me a bit of anxiety so I haven’t made many even though I enjoy wearing pants. I’m now making a conscious effort to make more pants and understand my fitting issues and how to rectify them. Let’s get into this pattern:

The Pattern

Megan Nielsen describes the pattern as follows: “Opal is a relaxed fit high waist pants set with mix and match options. Pattern includes paperbag or standard elastic waistband, inseam or patch pockets, back pockets, belt loops, an optional belt and multiple lengths.” I love elastic waistband pants, they are so comfortable, hassle free and still give comfort even after a big lunch😉. What I love about this pattern is that it’s for all seasons and the different variations are a great wardrobe builder.

The Fabric

The pattern calls for a large selection of bottom weight fabrics and will have different effects on the structure and look of the pants. I’m trying to use a lot of fabrics in my stash as I’m avoiding fabric stores as many keep getting temporarily closed for deep cleaning as more staff is testing positive for Covid-19. I had 1.8m of this burgundy suiting fabric, it’s about medium weight and not a lot of drape to it. I knew the fabric wasn’t enough for the pattern, but had this Ankara fabric that I thought matched it very well. I made the waist belt with the Ankara fabric and I love the effect and pop of colour it gives the pants.

The Sewing

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I decided that I want to make view A to tapered pants with the paper bag waistband, I like the relaxed fit of the pants but because my fabric had so little drape, I didn’t want the pants to look heavy and bulky on me. I decided I wanted a fitted look instead to better compliment the fabric. My measurements – waist: 90cm, hip: 120cm, thigh: 75cm, crotch: 75cm and inseam: 64cm. I decided to cut a size 14 in the curve pattern range and made no adjustments besides shortening the length so the pants would be ankle grazers. For a relaxed fit, I would cut a size 16. Deciding what size I wanted to cut on the pattern, I measured the pattern pieces at the above mentioned measurements minus the seam allowances and compared them to my measurements, I think this is a quick and easy way to get an idea on how the pattern will fit without having to make a muslin first.

Challenges

Guys this is probably the most straight forward pair of pants you’ll make, I don’t think I used my seam ripper once making these pants. That’s definitely something to celebrate 🎉 the instructions were very clear and I liked the order of work in constructing the pants. So I had no challenges and they were a great afternoon sewing project.

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Recommendation

If you are new to sewing pants and unsure of yourself and your measurements, this is a pattern for you. There is so little that could go wrong and with them being a relaxed fit, this pattern is a great confidence booster whilst learning. For people with more experience, I love that there are so many variations to the pattern, the pattern is a great wardrobe builder and sews up quickly. So yes, I will definitely be making this pattern again, the shorts and the pants. Can you see the joy I have wearing these pants 😄

Blessings Lovelies ❤️