Kiki Balloon Pants
Love the pants, loved the drafting, did not love the instructions. Photos with text overlayed, in an online presentation format? I tried exporting the pictures to a PDF, but it didn’t work great. And it didn’t address the text over photos problem - we’re talking about a light weight font over denim twill, very challenging to read. Thankfully instructions were on the short and thin side, so there was less eye strain, at least.
The size chart was detailed. No cutting layout nor mention of which fabrics should be cut from what (pocketing vs fashion fabric). The pocket pieces had different names in the instructions than on the pattern paper. Few seam finishing instructions, which I don’t mind.
I did not try to follow the fly instructions for the above reasons, and instead defaulted back to Ginger Jeans instructions, minus topstitching. It’s a bit too bad because the drafting is quite lovely on this pattern and I think Claudette’s methods give great results where I was able to understand what the pattern called for.
The pockets instructions gave a nice clean look - my one complaint here is that the pattern pieces are marked as having a 1cm seam allowance, but in fact the french seamed edge uses 2cm. This is clear enough from the instructions that i got it right, but still took a bit more puzzling and second guessing that I was correctly interpreting than I’d strictly prefer. I’ve since made a note on the pattern pieces.
Speaking of pattern pieces, I altered this pattern following Top Down Center Out, and it worked a treat. Helped me realize that the design is for short/capri ish pants, which I lengthened 4”. Other alterations were made, but the thing about top down center out is you’re just sort of tilting the pattern and adjusting outseam, so what the changes were are more vibes than anything.
Next time: Try the fly instructions, maybe on scrap first. Figure out pocket bags cutting so there’s a facing at the back!
Pattern: Claudette Joseph Kiki Balloon Pants
My measurements: 31 inch waist, 39 inch hip
