So I’ve made a pair of Flint Pants from Megan Nielsen.

Again!

Cuz this pattern is just tops.

The only problem is that the Flint Pants spoil you. After this level of comfort and class, you won’t want to wear any of your other pants again.

If you want a more detailed review of the pattern, I’d suggest my post on my first pair of Flint Pants. But, now, since these pants are a TNT for me, this post is more of a Flint Pants photo fest and fabric feast!

Geometric print??

This lovely lightweight linen in geometric block print is from The Fabric Store. I have to confess that I would have previously described this as an “Aztec” print, or at least Aztec inspired, until I read this thought-provoking post by Gillian of Crafting a Rainbow about boycotting fabrics with a name or motif which appropriates another culture.

This isn’t something I had really thought about much before. And I do think ‘geometric’ is probably a broad enough category that there isn’t any cultural appropriation going on with this specific fabric. Nonetheless, I think it’s better described as a geometric print than in any other way.

The Fabric Store. Love. Forever

And onto the linen itself, as usual, it is absolutely delightful.

Would it sound over the top if I said that it felt like I was wearing a cloud on the lower half of my body?

When I originally bought this fabric, I’d had the Bondi dress from Tessuti Patterns in mind. Then I also saw that Katie of What Katie Sews made a great Grainline Alder dress out of this fabric. Seeing how well Katie’s simple, sleeveless dress worked actually inspired me even more for my original Bondi dress plan.

But then I started going through an “I don’t love the sight of my upper arms on display” phase. So I decided I wanted this to be something else. In a mad rush of pre-vacation sewing – because if this fabric doesn’t deserve to be worn on vacation, I don’t know what does – I decided it would work as Flint Pants. And that the Flint Pants would be a nice, easy achievable sew on the evening before we were leaving!

Luckily, I wasn’t wrong.

And I’m super happy with this little foray into the world of printed pants!

It’s also actually my first foray into printed linen, which is feel is a bit of a revelation. The print helps to disguise the wrinkles a bit! I’ll even wear these pants two days in a row without ironing in between. I would never be able to get away with that in solid linen!

Pattern-matching challenges!

I’m definitely of the “pattern matching is an optional extra, rather than essential” school of thought.

Three cheers for non-perfectionist sewing!

But, I really wanted the larger white zig zaggy part (great description, Beck!) to line up.

However, I did something immensely stupid in the process of trying to achieve this goal.

For some reason, during the process, I was obsessed with the notion that I needed those zig zags matching at the side seams. I actually completely forgot about the fact that the side seam isn’t really, visually speaking, the most important seam in a pair of pants.

I literally had a moment where I said to myself (we all talk to ourselves while sewing, right?), “OK, Beck, just quickly serge this crotch seam together, then we can get started on the pattern matching challenge down the side”.

Forgetting, of course, that a matched-up crotch seam, is itself pretty darn important!

Then I turned those pants the right way out, looked at what I’d managed to do with my already serged crotch seam and thought “ooops”.

I contemplated unpicking.

But, who am I kidding? I’m never going to unpick serging.  Never! What I actually contemplated was cutting off the seam and re-sewing it. Thus, making everything just slightly tighter and pinch-ier!

But then I decided that comfort was more important than pattern-matching.

And you know what, I still love these pants, warts and all. And no one but me gives a damn about precisely where my zig zags and diamonds fall.

Flint addict

These pants have gotten a lot of wear, already. I just feel so breezy in them. They definitely had multiple wears during Me Made May:

And while cropped pants and life in the Netherlands don’t usually go hand-in-hand, things have been un-seasonally warm here, which has been lovely. I’m trying to focus on enjoying it. You know, ignoring the fact that it’s probably a sign of the coming climatic apocalypse. If anyone ever reads this blog in the future, after the majority of the human species has been wiped out, they will likely wonder why we are crapping on about sewing while we know that the planet is heating up all out of control. Still, here I am, still nattering on about sewing because I don’t really know what else to do about the apocalypse …

But, leaving reality aside, I still totally love this pattern! Definitely the most comfortable and easiest fitting pants I have ever made (possibly even owned!).

Tip time

And, finally, here’s a little extra tip.

I’m generous like that.

Since I’ve made my Flint pants with a button closure on the inside of the waist, I’ve taken to sewing an extra couple of buttonholes into the inside of the waistband. Since my weight fluctuates a lot (especially at certain times of the month), I find it really useful that I can use the tightest buttonholes on ‘normal’ days, but with my extra buttonholes, I can also loosen it a bit when need be. And no-one sees my secret spare buttonholes, since it’s all tucked away on the inside of the waistband.

Sewing is a super power, right?