Marigold Trousers – Sew My Style April 2018

It is April Reveal Day! Though I’ve already seen some great Marigold Trousers and Jumpsuits throughout the month, I am hoping to see even more today. It really seemed that the Marigold was the furthest that participants have been pushed out of their comfort zone by Sew My Style to date (myself included!), but I’ve loved seeing what everyone has created.

Though I am truly a lover of a good jumpsuit, the trouser version of this pattern seemed so perfectly summery to me. I was so fortunate to be chosen as the monthly winner of the #CottonandSteelCloset hashtag over on instagram recently, and chose this fabric as my prize with these pants in mind. I love that they can be worn with sandals or flats, or dressed up a bit with a pair of heels. They are a perfectly stylish, laid back, comfy pair of pants!

Also – THEY ARE PANTS! This was my first time making pants, and honestly I was pretty nervous. I was so happy to see that these would be included in the Sew My Style projects a bit before the Lander Pants – though I’m so excited about those, as well, I was very relieved to make my first foray into pant-making a more relaxed fit one, before launching into something more structured and fitted. I’m so happy with how these turned out, and am now very much looking forward to my upcoming Lander Pants and leggings plans!

So back to the Marigold trousers. I’ve not made one of Tilly’s patterns before, and I was super impressed by her instructions – clear, colorful, and detailed! This made sewing up this pattern a dream. I look forward to trying out more of the Tilly and the Buttons patterns in the future.

My only qualm with the pattern was that I had a bit of difficulty making sure I was carrying the pleat placement over properly from the pattern pieces to the fabric. To be quite honest, I’m still pretty sure that I didn’t do it quite right. The pattern seems to show 2 pleats, but I couldn’t quite figure out how they were supposed to pleat and overlap at the same time. The instructions didn’t offer much extra insight at this step, and admittedly I didn’t do too much online searching to see if anyone else had the same issues or had the answers I was looking for. In the end, I ended up doing my own thing and using a single pleat. As these pants are not particularly fitted or precise, it all worked out quite well, if not exactly as the pattern intended.

I sewed up the size 4 in this pattern. I only made two slight alterations – one being the pleat placement mentioned above, and the other being the length of my elastic. I thought I had a whole roll of elastic in my notions, but I was sorely mistaken! I was desperate to go ahead and finish my pants, and when it came to the last few steps I realized that I only had about a 25.5” length of elastic available, when the instructions recommended about 27 ⅝”. I measured it against my waist, and it seemed quite fine, so I went ahead and inserted this smaller elastic into the waistband. I’ve had no issue, and the size is still quite comfortable! My waist measurement can fluctuate quite a bit throughout the course of the day, so it could’ve been that when I’d taken my waist measurement, I was at the bigger end of my measurements which is why the smaller elastic ultimately worked out just fine? Who knows.

I’m pleased as punch with my first ever pair of pants. My husband is not entirely sold on the style of these pants, but I’m feeling pretty cute in them so that’s alright by me. I love the way they look with a cropped top, but am also looking forward to wearing them with an Ogden cami tucked into the waist. I have actually even toyed with the idea of using the last of my fabric to make a matching Ogden cami for a faux jumpsuit – keep an eye on the Instagram to see if that idea ever comes to fruition!!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Marigold month – link your blog in the comments below so I can see what you’ve made!

Trousers: handmade by me
Fabric: Cotton + Steel Rifle Paper Co. Menagerie Rayon Lawn Monstera Midnight
Pattern: Tilly and the Buttons – Marigold Jumpsuit + Trousers 

Though the Marigold Jumpsuit / Trousers pattern was provided to me as part of the #SewMyStyle2018 leader team, and the fabric as a prize from Cotton & Steel fabrics, all opinions expressed here are my own, as always!

• XX Elizabeth