I decided to start up-skilling by copying a favourite pair of my pants - these relaxed fit, elastic-waist with a drawstring pants from Elk:
I own these - in the 'splatter' print pictured, in a black viscose, and I did own them in an apple-green colour, that I got to wear once. Only once because they met with a cranky toddler in an airport wielding fried rice. Then they met with an overzealous husband wielding stain remover, who may have applied it onto dry fabric, which then resulted in bleach marks all over the pants. Lessons learnt? Never wear new pants while wrangling said toddler by yourself at an airport, and never let husbands attempt to remove stains from brand new clothes.
Anyway, the ruined pants gave me the opportunity to unpick these pants and have a pattern to work with. These pants are pretty simple to copy. They are pleated at the hem, with a cuff to bind the hem, they have an elastic waist and a drawstring casing and they have welt pockets on the back, and welt pockets on the side front. I didn't do either of these welt pockets - I totally wimped out, and decided to do no pockets at the back and in seam side pockets at the front. I wimped out mostly due to my fabric choice - a silk viscose. I'm going to look for something more stable for the next version and will most likely put the welts in. Here is what I came up with!
I think they are pretty spot-on. I will say that the silk-viscose does not move in the same way as the cotton 'splatter' ones I own - I am slightly concerned about the durability of the lighter silk-viscose, but I guess time will tell.
Next time I will put some stay tape on the side pockets (if I use them!).
Copying these pants was remarkably easy. As I unpicked them I drew all over the pattern, indicating fold lines, pleat markings and seam allowances. I also made a list of construction notes - I tried to unpick the pants in the order I thought they could be sewed - I sort of achieved this. In the end I wrote out the order as I sewed these together, so that next time I have my own instructions.
I felt kind of weird copying these. Elk is a small Melbourne business, and I wondered if it was ethical to copy one of their garments. I talked to Michael about it and he asked me if it meant I would no longer buy stuff from there. Ummmm.... no. Since I unpicked these pants, I've bought the shoes I'm wearing in these photos, the shirt I'm wearing in these photos, a necklace as a gift...... and I've requested a pair of these same pants for Mothers' Day in an awesome print that I would never be able to find the fabric for. I don't know if any of this reconciles me copying the pants - what are your thoughts on this issue?
