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Cashmerette - Ahead of the Curve - Magna Pants


Cashmerette 

Ahead of the Curve 

Magna Pants 

I made 2 pair of Magna pants in bengaline, one was a test of the pattern and the other part of my entry into the sewing.patternreview.com 'Endless Combinations' contest in 2022.

June 1st - June 30th 2022
The goal of this contest is to build a wardrobe of garments that will never be wardrobe orphans. Each piece will always have something it can be worn with! Start with one garment, and then each subsequent garment you sew must coordinate with the PREVIOUS garment. No chance of orphan garments with this method! 

EXAMPLE I
1. Sew item A - Blouse.
2. Next item B - Jacket, which must co-ordinate and work with Blouse A.
3. Item C - Skirt, must co-ordinate with Jacket B. It does not have to work with Blouse A - if it does that’s a bonus for you!
4. Item D must work with Skirt C.

Create and sew an "Endless Combination" wardrobe of at least four items that coordinate in the way described above. (A+B, B+C, C+D). There is no upper limit to the number of items in your Endless Combination. 


Magna Pants with Vernon Shirt

Magna Pants with Jalie Tania Coatigan

For this contest I made 6 garments. 
- Waterfall Jacket
- Navy Magna Pants
- Tobin Sweater
- Jalie Coatigan
- Vernon Shirt
- Ames Jeans

Cashmerette's Magna Pants pattern is featured in "Ahead of the Curve" book by Jenny Rushmore. Ahead of the Curve book review

I made 2 pairs of Magna pants both in bengaline with 33% stretch. 
The first pair, was originally going to be just a wearable toile (a test garment you can wear if it fits ok) but this pair has become one of my favourite makes for everyday wear. 
The orange and pink pattern is so bright and cheery I wear them to work and always get compliments. 

The Magna Pants are high waisted, WOVEN, slim leg pants, with back darts and the option to add side invisible zip (optional, depending on your waist/hip ratio) and a narrow elasticated back waistband. 
Suggested fabric include light to mid weight woven with drape like polyester twill, tencil or linen.

Pattern Sizing:
The patterns are printed on several large pieces of paper and stored in an attached cardboard pouch on the back of the book.
The sizing gives both UK, US and EU sizes.
This multi size listing caused me to trace off the incorrect size 16 waistband for my pants. 
Example. UK 16 / US 12 / EU 44.
              UK 29 / US 16 / EU 48. 
So I would be careful when tracing of your pattern pieces. 

These pants are designed for WOVEN fabrics! I used a very stretchy bengaline fabric, it does not have any vertical stretch however. 

The Magna pants are designed for beginners so it is a simple and straightforward pattern. It has a front leg and a back leg piece and a front waistband and a back waistband. So 4 pattern pieces in total.
For the waistband interfacing I used a special stretch iron on interfacing. It has multiple small cuts in the interfacing to allow it to stretch with the fabric. 


Interfacing the waistband

Stretch interfacing on the waistband

Pattern alterations or any design changes
I shortened the crotch 1/2” and the shortening line.
I lengthened the pants 2” at the calf lengthening line.
I moved the back dart position towards the centre back seam 1/4”.

Initially I made a US size 16. This was much too big as I was using a stretch instead of a woven and so I took it in to be US size 10 to create negative ease and a firm fit. 

Pocket bags facings added to the fronts

Finished pockets

I also added pockets using the pocket pattern pieces from the Cashmerette Ames Jeans. 





I was very happy with my wearable toile. The second pair are also in bengaline with a black and navy diamond print. I tried to match the diamond pattern across the pants. I wore them to work for a day then I took the side seams in another inch as they were a bit baggy and let the cold air in! 

The orange and pink bengaline was from Spotlight and the navy diamond bengaline was from Ferrier Fashion Fabrics, both in Adelaide.




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