Today I’ve gotten my review of the current darling pattern of the indie sewing world: the Bisque Trousers by Vivian Shao Chen.

The Bisque trousers cater for a maximum waist size of 105cm (41.5 inches) and hip size of 131cm (51.5).

The Bisque trousers have definitely been doing the rounds of the sewing community at the moment. They come in wide leg, tapered leg and shorts variation.

From talk over on instagram, I’ve seen some people talk about needing to size down for the Bisque trousers. Another thing I’ve read is the need to drop the crotch a little further in order to have a genuine dropped crotch.

For myself, I went with the size recommended for my measurements, without any adjustments. For me, that’s a size 18.

For the tapered version (view A), this is the size 18, straight out of the pack. For the navy version (view B), I did indeed add one inch of extra length at the rise to drop the crotch little lower.

My Bisque trousers

My tapered Bisque trousers are made using a stretch cotton I have had in my stash for years. I bought it during a visit home from from The Drapery in Adelaide.

It has languished in my stash for a couple of years for two reasons.

The first is that I never wear anything olive green. It is completely not my colour at all. But I feel in love with the strong lustrous hand feel of the fabric and really wanted to buy it in both available colours – navy and olive.

Which I did and then promptly did nothing with for years. What is at about walking into a fabric shop which drives my instantaneously into “need this right now’ mode?

I wish I could say that this was an isolated incident but I have a bit of a weakness for buying the same fabric in all the colours! What can I say, I’m a well-trained consumer. Does anyone else out there succumb to “I can’t decide so I’ll just have it all?”.

I wish I could say that this was an isolated incident but I have a bit of a weakness for buying the same fabric in all the colours! What can I say, I’m a well-trained consumer. Does anyone else out there succumb to “I can’t decide so I’ll just have it all?”.

Then I recently bought the sweater I’m wearing in these photos, which has some olive green in it and realised it would be a great chance to put this fabric to use.

The second reason I haven’t gotten around to sewing this fabric is that I bought it with the idea of making more Sasha Trousers by Closet Core Patterns.

I’ve always felt as though I am “supposed” to have trousers like Sasha in my wardrobe. That it is just a staple wardrobe item. But, I’m realising more and more that I just don’t like to wear trousers tight and straight.

And, the freedom of sewing is that it’s become clear to me that if I never want to wear tight, straight pants every again, I simply don’t have to.

So, in a moment of liberation, I abandoned the Sasha trousers plans and this fabric was destined to a new fate as Bisque trousers.

Now, the disadvantage of buying a fabric with one pattern in mind and sewing a totally different one is that I totally didn’t have enough fabric!! I had to cut these out on the cross grain!

So this fabric does actually have horizontal stretch to it, but I had to cut it out in the direction that it doesn’t stretch, to make it all fit. Normally it’s a big no-no to use a stretch fabric on the cross-grain, but it was alright here as I was sewing a pattern which didn’t call for any stretch.

But, I have to say that my machine was especially finicky while sewing this and I often had problems with tangles threads and odd stitching which vanished on my very next project. So I’m wondering if sewing it all in an od direction might have been connected to this? Or maybe not, correlation is not causation after all.

For my tapered Bisque trousers, I also had to use a different fabric for the pockets as I really didn’t have enough of my main fabric.

The wide leg blue version is a simpler fabric story. It is a scrumptious wool blend from Meter Meter. It’s a mix of wool, silk and polyester and it’s filled with beautiful little flecks and shades of blue tones.

Sewing the Bisque Trousers

The Bisque trousers were a pretty straightforward sewing experience. The pattern’s elastic waistband is formed by folding over, so there aren’t many pieces to deal with.

The Bisque trousers come with with options for a pocket made entirely out of your main fabric or a pocket made out of a lighter fabric. The pockets are great and roomy, and there is also a patch pocket for the back included, although personally I preferred to skip this on me. I’m always wary of back patch pockets on high waisted loose pants. It can be hard to get the placement and proportions right.

In the instructions for the Bisque trousers, I have to say that I found myself a bit muddled with parts of the pocket attachment construction, so I preferred to wing this part and just attach it in a way which felt instinctive, which I found easy to do.

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The fold-over waistband and the hems also reminded me how much it has been a huge improvement to my sewing since I have started to systematically pre-press all hems and similar while my pieces are still flat individual pieces. It makes everything come together so easily later on!

All-in-all, I really like the way these Bisque trousers have turned out. The gorgeous deep pleat is just perfect. It’s so strange how one tiny feature can be so important but this pleat is just everything!

I had started out thinking that I would like the wide leg version of the Bisque Trousers best (TEAM WIDE LEG FOREVER) but, I have to say, that I now understand why the tapered version has been so incredibly popular. There is something about it that works well in terms of shape and proportion. So don’t tell the blue version, but the tapered pair are my favourite too.

Speaking of proportion, the pattern does indicate that it is intentionally cropped and that is absolutely true. When I sit, there is plenty of ankle flash happening, so either be aware that that is the look, or extend the length a bit.

The tapered version of the Bisque trousers definitely bears some resemblance to the Miller trousers by Paper Theory, which I’ve made before. In case you’re up for a deep dive comparison with a view to figuring out which one is best for you, I came across this utterly fabulous blog post over on the Crooked Hem. It can tell you everything you need to know on the Miller vs Bisque elastic tapered show down!

It’s so nice to see the elastic waist has gotten all grown up and work appropriate and, I must say, I’m fully onboard for pants like these to become permanent.

How you fallen for the Bisque trousers charm? What’s your preferred version?

If you want to see more of my sewing adventures, you can find me on Instagram here.