Pattern: McCall 8099 ‘Lina’, view B.
Fabric: Lightweight (and hard to photograph, apparently) polycotton corduroy, bought locally
Pattern notes: I bought this pattern in a recent McCall’s sale. I feel a bit ‘what is up fellow kids’ / teenage throwback making baggy cargo pants, but to be honest it’s pretty much because I have a new remote-first job and can’t foresee wanting to wear non-elasticated pants very often. They also feature six whole pockets, including some fun voluminous pleated bellows-style ones wrapping the side seams.
The sewing was straightforward and pretty fun; I referred to the instructions to form the bellows pockets and did my own thing otherwise. I decided to add a faux cut-on fly to give the front a bit more detail; I also added a hammer loop to one of the rear pockets and lowered the position of the pockets accordingly. Finally, the inseam of view B is slightly tapered; I decided to straighten this out as I wanted more of a straight-verging-on-flared leg look.
Fit notes: I made size medium after hunting down the final garment measurements on the pattern piece (I will never understand why the Big 4 don’t put this extremely useful information on the envelope or instructions sheet for easier reference, rather than burying it on one of the pattern pieces…). My current hip measurement is 38″ and the medium’s finished hip is 41.5″ so unlike most Big 4 patterns they’re not comically oversized: they feel relaxed but not loose.
Another irritating omission is that nowhere it’s mentioned that view B has a cropped hem, and this is hard to tell by comparing the view diagrams alone. I instinctively added 2 inches while cutting as they looked too short for the full-length pants I was after, and had to take a baby hem to keep them full length.
Thoughts: I think I’ll wear them a ton, purely because they’re so comfortable, pair well with my summer uniform of Birks and a tank (here with a very quickly whipped-up Blomma Tank – pattern available for free on Paradise Patterns’ email list), and make me feel like a grungy 14 year old again.
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