Sleep pant quest
In an effort to complete a July sewing goal I am using up some cotton wovens in my fabric collection to attempt to use a Big 4 pattern to make sleep pants. I seem to have a collection of sport team fabrics that would make perfect sleep pants.
I have been using the same McCalls pattern to make sleep pants for my DD and me for years. Neither one of us is all that crazy about the pants that I create using the pattern. Therefore before completely chucking the pattern I thought I would make a few adjustments to see if I can get a better fit.
Here is the first pair I attempted. First issue is that apparently I am unable to cut directional fabric. The logo looks great when I look down from above but when looked at straight on the words are upside down. The waistband is all wrong on this pair - folded over to much. The rise in these pants makes them all but unwearable.
Onto pair 2 - this time I checked and rechecked and cut out the directional fabric correctly. Next issue is the width of the pant leg - honestly could fit a small family in the excess fabric called for in the pattern. I ended up cutting off an extra 1 1/2" on each side of the pants to get them in normal width territory.
This pair was better but still have issues with the rise. I like a pocket on my sleep pants. Helps to keep the front from the back in order and just nice to keep a kleenex inside if needed. The patch pockets are an add on and I am not overly happy with the addition.
Pair #3 I decided to try a PDF from Winter Wear Designs, Classic Sleep Set. I just made the pants in a capri length. Managed to cut the fabric correctly and these have very nice pockets with no trim.
The pattern is well written and designed. The rise on the back pant leg is higher than the front (as it should be). I measured the rise of the pants and adjusted them to match my rise. The front was fine - only off by an inch, but the back the rise was off by 5 inches for me.
When I was working on the front leg pieces I thought maybe they would be too narrow, but never fear the width is still huge. I will most likely be doing a few more adjustments to this pattern (on the leg width) to get a truly comfortable pair of sleep pant pattern.