The weather here is not very nice today - and I think we are stuck with dumb weather for most of the week. Luckily, last week was beautiful and my social distancing protocol included some hiking! You know I wore these joggers!!
I used this ponte de roma fabric from Raspberry Creek Fabrics. I had never sewn with ponte roma before and I really loved it! It is so soft, stretchy but stable and super comfy to wear! It's the perfect weight for fall/winter/spring. I think it will be too warm for summer wear - but I rarely wear pants in the summer anyway.
I kind of obsessed over which jogger pattern to use - there are a lot of great ones out there! I finally settled on the Greenstyle Creations Iron Joggers. My biggest hesitation with these is that it is a unisex pattern and I get nervous about trying to fit my curvy self into a men's pattern. I haven't tried making these for my hubby (yet) but they worked great for me! So - if you have this hesitation, you can relax about that!
They have several lengths - not only for fit, but also for style which is nice. Shorts, capris, and pants length, but then you also get to choose your inseam length.
You can choose slant or zipper pockets for the front pockets - I chose slant pockets and I like them. Be careful when you sew them on that you catch the pocket all the way around since the pocket stitching shows it can be hard to recover if you don't!
You can also add zipper back pockets one or two - so that's fun! My only regret here is that JoAnn's only had plain grey zippers, and I wish I had been patient enough to wait to order some hot pink ones online! This would be a fun place to add an accent color! I will have to make another pair....Oh! and I know zippers can be scary...but the instructions are great and I had NO PROBLEM installing these zippers! Easy peasy!
You can choose cuffs on the bottom or not. I love the cuff option and the Ponte De Roma I used worked great for cuffs.
Finally, a note about the waistband. The instructions have you make the drawstring holes (button holes or grommets) in the waistband, then insert the elastic in the folded over waistband and THEN attach the waistband. This works pretty well, with a caution...I'll get to it. After attaching the waistband you sew a channel for the drawstring through all the layers - waistband and elastic. FINALLY you thread the drawstring into your pre-made holes. Unfortunately I didn't think this all the way through and my grommets were a little too small. They fit the drawstring, but not a safety pin, or a knotted drawstring.
Sooooo.....when you pre-make your holes, make sure they are big enough to get your safety pin through. Threading a drawstring without a safety pin on the end is NOT FUN. Just sayin. And I definitely know.... And now you know how to avoid that disaster! You can thank me. ;-)
I hope you give these a try! Stay safe, healthy and sane!!
