Today I’m sharing my review of a very simple but lovely pattern with you – the Ninni Culottes by Named Clothing in knit fabric.

You’ll have to forgive me for how difficult it is to photograph a black garment, especially in the middle of winter, but hopefully these can give you a general idea!

These are basically my personal equivalent of tracksuit pants or joggers. I wear wide knit pants around the house very often! Which is why I decided a classic black pair would not go too far astray!

The Ninni Culottes cater for a maximum waist size of 118cm and hip size of 142cm. I think that the very simple design would actually make them pretty easy to expand the size if needed. My Ninni Culottes are a size 42. I chose the size according to my body measurements and didn’t make any adjustments for the fact that I would be sewing in a knit, rather than a woven fabric, as designed.

These Ninni Culottes are inspired by a pair of Uniqlo RTW elastic waisted pants that I wear all the time. I own the RTW ones in navy and in an orange-type colour.

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When I saw this self-stripe ottoman knit from Meter Meter, I knew it would be perfect to recreate these much worn wide-legged elastic waisted pants. To have the ribbing in this direction, I cut the fabric perpendicular to the selvedge, which is perfectly possible since the fabric has the same stretch in both directions.

I actually sewed a pair of Ninni Culottes in the same fabric in mint green last year. I never blogged them because they didn’t seem “special” enough (and, if I’m being honest, because I didn’t like the way the photos turned out), but they are a much worn wardrobe item. I’ve worn them 24 times in the past year! Given the quantity of clothes I own, that makes them one of my most worn garments.

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It was precisely because those mint green ones are so frequently worn that I decided I wanted to remake them in black.

One thing I had learned from my green pair, however, is that the waistband and pockets are too bulky in this ottoman knit fabric.

So these were two things I wanted to fix in this black version. One of the great joys of sewing is that we can learn and improve, making a new version even better than the old. Sewing is a super power after all.

The Ninni Culottes is one of those infinitely easy designs. It is just a very wide straight front and back pant leg, with a waistband. For this version, to reduce bulk, I skipped the waistband entirely and added 4 inches to the top of the pants. I then inserted the waistband by sewing the elastic directly to the top and folding it over twice.

I actually messed up by maths here and should have only extended it three inches, as I’ve created a bit of a dropped crotch here.

In terms of leg length, this full length version is a three inch extension to the leg length compared to the Ninni Culottes as designed.

The only other small change I made was to sew the inseam pockets with a more lightweight knit, again, only needed due to the bulkiness of my fabric.

All in all, this still isn’t a glamarous make, but it is an infinitely wearable make that will see me through all kinds of trials and tribulations of daily life in wide-legged elastic comfort.

And sometimes that’s just what we need!

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