As promised in my Grab A Cuppa Cardi post, here’s a review of the Pattern Emporium Foxy Legs pants. I made this to go with the cardigan, but really I had bought that black organic French terry from Califabrics years ago for the purpose of making short joggers just like these. I have a really similar pair that I got at my first Disney race and I wear them constantly. Naturally I wanted a second pair. I haven’t seen them at the expos, so the only thing left was to make them myself!
This French terry is super snuggly so the pants are incredibly comfortable. I serged all the seams and I was a little worried that they might rub along the inside of the thigh like my Hudson joggers do, but I think that was due to the serger and the thread (I was doing it on a machine at work with whatever the work machine was loaded with — never again) rather than the pattern. I’m pleased to say I don’t notice the seam on these at all. The pattern is actually very similar to the Hudson joggers except that it has more options: multiple pocket styles, 2 lengths, at least 3 different waistbands, and a decorative side stripe. The cuffs for all lengths are also thinner which I especially like for the knee length.
I measure at a size 12 for my hips and that’s what I made. No adjustments necessary and they fit perfectly. They do offer instructions to modify the calf cuff if you need it bigger or smaller, but I was right in the range. I like that the cuff doesn’t have elastic and rather relies on the elasticity of the fabric so it hugs comfortably without squeezing.
One place I did deviate from the pattern was on the pockets. The pattern calls for a binding strip to be used on the edges. I really wanted just a little touch of sparkle and I had picked up this glittery foldover elastic from OnceUponATimeSupply when I bought elastic for my Heartstrings dress. This elastic is only 5/8” wide so it wasn’t going to work for dress straps since I prefer to coverstitch on it (trust me, I tried on this stuff. It didn’t go well though I’m sure it’s possible, just not at my coverstitch skill level. And yes, technically I could zigzag it, but I don’t want to). So for the pants I actually straight stitched it to the edge. There’s not a lot of tension on that part even with my hands going in and out so I wasn’t worried about it breaking and even with a straight stitch there was some give since I usually reduce the pressure foot pressure when I stitch knits on my standard machine. I might try a chain stitch next time, but this worked pretty well and was easier to control. Overall really happy with how this turned out and I’d probably do foldover elastic again in the future just because it’s so fast and easy.
So yeah, these are my new favorite lounge pants. Well, they’re tied with the ones they’re based off of. But now I have a pair to wear while the other is in the wash. I’ll almost certainly make this pattern again, maybe in the longer length with some custom holiday fabric.
