Thursday, June 9, 2016

Burda 6906 - Green + ivory rose print palazzo pants

This project started from my desire to add a pair of wide leg palazzo pants to my wardrobe. I wanted something fitted at the waist that was still flowy and comfortable, and settled on Burda 6906. I really liked the yoke of this design - somewhat unusual on a pair of pants - and the piping on the top and bottom. I'm always on the lookout for those little something extras. The pattern suggested viscose or rayon crepe, so I went cruising through Mood Fabric's selection of rayon crepes. I knew I wanted a print for these pants, and chose this green and ivory artistic rose stretch rayon crepe, now sadly sold out.


The care for this fabric was hand wash in cold water and line dry or dry clean. I do dry clean on occasion but not typically for casual clothing, which these pants were intended to be. However, after putting the fabric through my machine's delicate cycle and hanging up to drip dry, the black dye started to run into the ivory and it looked terrible. I figured it wouldn't be useable to me that way and I had very little to lose by drying it in the dryer, so that's what I did (after washing on delicate again.) It came out exactly like it went in, and if I lost any of my original 2.5 yards to shrinking, it wasn't evident when I was cutting out the pattern pieces.


The fit of these pants is just perfect right out of the envelope. I flat measured the waist since that measurement was not included the pattern paper and went with the 10 instead of my typical woven size 12. I wasn't much worried about the hip measurement as this fabric has a good amount of stretch and they are pretty roomy through the hips as drafted.


I did try to match the roses on the print as best as I could, particularly at the center front and center back. The sides look okay - maybe not as perfect as I would like (especially on the right side) but really who is going to notice on these busy pants? I am always my own worse critic. Who was it that said a little imperfection keeps things interesting? That needs to be my new mantra.


The pattern directions only instruct you to put piping along the bottom of the yoke, but that didn't make much sense to me, so I stitched it to the top and bottom as per the envelope example.


I used knit interfacing on the yoke and yoke facing to give the pants some stability but still allow them to be stretchy and comfortable. The piping along the top acts like a waist stay and prevents that seam from stretching out. The back is closed with an invisible zipper.


This was a really fun project. I got the exact look I was going for, had no fit issues to speak of, enjoyed working with the fabric and my zipper went in perfectly the very first time (which pretty much never happens to me.) Definitely expect to see this pattern again soon, maybe the shorts view in a stretch denim chambray.

Note: This fabric was purchased with my Mood Fabrics monthly allowance, as part of my participation in the Mood Sewing Network.