M is for Moto Joggers

Hi there! I have the pleasure of being one of the stops on  the blog tour for the M is for Moto Joggers from Hatchlings Patterns. I love that the jogger pant trend is still going strong. I have a few pairs of me-made knit pants that are starting to be on their last legs because they get so much wear. I am not much of a leggings person (unless I am wearing them to work out or under a dress in an attempt to avoid wearing tights) so this style of pants is great for days when I want to wear something super comfortable that isn’t my pajama pants.

Right away I was drawn to the cool (optional) knee detail on the pants. It looks like a design that you’d find on ready to wear pants.  The pattern comes with the option for 4 different lengths. I set out to make the full length pants with the knee detail, but I ran into a problem at the cutting stage. I didn’t pay enough attention to the width of my fabric when I bought it and I could not find a way to fit my pattern pieces on to my fabric. The only way I could make it work was to crop the pants by about 5 inches. This is sort of mid way between the full length and the cropped length of the pattern. I find that I usually pull up my sweat pants to a few inches above my ankle, anyway. My fabric mistake turned out to be OK, because I really like this length!

I love how the knee panel is attached. It is essentially a variation on the burrito method that is used to attach the inner and outer yoke of a button down shirt. All of the raw edges are enclosed for a nice clean finish. Unfortunately the rest of the seams on my pants are not nicely finished since my serger completely hated this fabric. I constructed the pants fully on my sewing machine with a zig zag stitch and my walking foot. I chose to use the stretch stitch on my machine for the rows of stitching on the knee panel instead of a longer straight stitch. I didn’t want to take a chance on popped stitches when I bend my knees.

I left off the pockets to keep the pants a bit more steamlined and not add bulk to my hips.  I ended up lowering the rise by about half an inch. This was unplanned, but I made the ridiculous mistake of attaching the knee panels to the waist on one of the legs. I was so annoyed when I realized what I’d done! I did not want to unpick so I cut the panels off of the top and shortened the rise of the other pieces to match. I like where the rise hits on me now so it was another happy accident.

If you can avoid making silly mistakes this is a really quick sew! There isn’t a separate waistband to cut out. The elastic is attached directly to the top of the pants then folded over and topstitched. There is an option for a faux drawstring but I left if off since I knew I wouldn’t be tucking anything into these pants.  I think the reinforced knee panel is something that I will use the next time I make pants for my sons. My older son always gets holes in the knees of his pants and this would be a fun, stylish way to try to prolong the life of his pants.

I am super happy with my new pants and I think I will be wearing this very outfit quite often! I made this tee shirt earlier in the year and I’ve worn it over and over but it hasn’t made it to the blog yet. It is the cropped view of the Linden sweatshirt with added bands. It’s an idea I used after seeing this post from Kelly at Cut Cut Sew. (I think I should have made the neck band a little bit longer to eliminate some of the puckering at the neckband. Mental note for next time!)

I recommend this pattern if you’re in the market for some comfortable shorts or pants! (And it’s on sale through the end of the blog tour on October 31!)  Thanks so much to Liz for having me as part of the tour! Please check out the other stops on the blog tour this week:

Oct 26 – Paisley Roots, Sew Not Perfect

Oct 27 – Create 3.5, Miss Castelinhos, Fa Sew La

Oct 28 – Whisk ‘Em, Nap Time Creations, Made By Sara

Oct 29 – Friends Stitched Together, From A Box, Made By Jaime

Oct 30 – Max California, House Of Estrela, Made By Amanda Rose

Oct 31 – Rebel and Malice, Ma, Me, Mi… Mo

~Teri