Fancy Chi Town Chinos and Tabor V-Neck

Hi friends! Did any of you follow along or take part in the Sew Fancy Pants challenge that was going on in January on Instagram? I made these pants during the challenge but only just got photos of the pants on my body. This winter has not been conducive to taking blog photos! I seriously can’t wait until I can take photos that don’t involve me standing next to or in a pile of snow!

These pants are the Chi Town Chinos (Expansion Pack 2) from Alina Design Co. I have made the pants before and I’ve used the original Chi Town chinos pattern for shorts and a skirt. I really love sewing this pattern!

My pants were inspired by a pair from Anthropologie. I had the camel colored stretch twill in my stash (originally from Indiesew) and I ordered the velvet ribbon from Style Maker Fabrics.

I loved the look of the pants when I saw them and I knew I could replicate them with the Chi Town Chinos pattern. Does anyone else look at clothes in stores and instantly try to come up with a pattern that you can use to make your own version?? I do it all the time!

My previous Chi Town chinos have gotten a bit snug so I went up a size when I made these.  They are a size 12 graded to a 16. I started from scratch with the pattern and made my standard pants adjustments– I lowered the front rise by an inch, Ishortened the front crotch length, added a 1″ wedge to the butt, and did a knock knee adjustment.

All of those adjustments can be found here on this fantastic post from Closet Case Patterns. This post is invaluable if you are a new to making pants or jeans. I have mostly figured out which adjustments I need for my unique body and I can knock them out pretty quickly after lots and lots of practice!

I assembled the pants up to the point of sewing the side seams and did a baste fit check to be sure they were going to fit before I sewed the ribbon into place.

On these pants I sewed a basting stitch 5/8″ away from the side seam on the back leg piece then glued the ribbon down right next to those basting stitches. I topstitched the ribbon down and then sewed the side seams of the pants. It worked  really well to get the ribbon flush with the side seam.

I’ve got a super high level of crafty satisfaction with these pants! The fabric is a nice heavier weight and it’s got just a touch of stretch. One side of the fabric was brushed so it’s really soft (I used that side as the right side of my pants.)

The navy ribbon adds such a fun touch and I love how it coordinates with my new Tabor v-neck from Sew House Seven. I made this top with a cotton/hemp blend jersey from Blackbird Fabrics. The fabric was a great match for this top.

I really like the Tabor V-neck pattern– there are a bunch of different options included in the pattern. This one is the view with the mitered v-neck and the longer curved hem. (I liked this one so much that I made another view, which I’ll show you soon!)

This top is super comfortable to wear and I love how the v-neck makes it a little different from my arsenal of handmade crewneck tees. I can’t wait to try the sleeveless version this Summer.

Thanks for reading!

~Teri