Cashmerette - Calder Pants - 4102

Cashmerette - Calder Pants

In August 2022 sewing.patternreview.com had a Mini Wardrobe contest.

For my Mini Wardrobe I made 2 pair of Calder pants, the Vernon shirt in black linen, the Alton top in a black and white print linen and a reversible Kersoe top in Ponte.

My colour theme was black and white print mixing.

Mini Wardrobe rules: Sewing a capsule wardrobe is a great way to make dressing easy. Whether you are dressing for the office, working at home or working out, this contest will help you ensure that your wardrobe is versatile, super easy and customized to your needs. In this month-long contest, participants will sew five items that coordinate to form a collection. The collection must include two tops, two bottoms (pants, shorts, skirt, skort, etc.) and the fifth item is Sewer’s choice – can be another top, bottom, topper (cardigan or jacket) or a dress.

Calder Pants & Shorts, a pants pattern designed for curves! These wide-legged woven trousers feature a flat front, elasticated back waistband, faced in-seam pockets, and three length options: mid-calf, full, and shorts.

Getting a great fit is essential when it comes to pants, and we’ve got you covered with two pelvis options: a dartless “apple” fit, and a darted back “pear” fit for amazing bum shaping.

Pattern Sizing:
12-32 in paper or PDF
I made the Pear Pelvis is size 16

My first pair of Calder pants were a wearable toile. I used a A quick dry microfibre designed for swimwear board shorts, hence the surfboard pattern. I picked this fabric because it had the drape I wanted to test the pattern out and it was cheap.

Also I need practice pattern matching!

I made this wearable toile up exactly as the size 16 pair pelvis is.
I sewed the pocket bag so the right side of the fabric is on the inside where your hand goes.

I hemmed them up 2” and they are still a tad long. I love the waistband, it’s very supportive of a full tummy.

I don’t understand why the instructions tell you to sew the pockets so the right side of the fabric isn’t inside the pocket where you will see it but instead the right side faces the wrong side of the pants?

After making a test pair I fell in love with the floatyness of the design. Picking the right weight fabric is important to achieve this however. This pair, in waffle polyester has enough weight and softness to smooth over the bottom and still float, the other pair I made in linen tends to stick out a bit across the elasticated back because the fabric is crisper.

Fabric Used:
Giraffe printed polyester with a slight texture.
When ironed it did shrink from 2.5cm to 2.1cm
This fabric is from DK Fabrics in South Australia.
Universal interfacing from Spotlight
1” wide ridged elastic

I like the full length more than the mid calf and this linen/cotton fabric is a teeny bit crisp to get the floatyness that makes this pattern sing. It just hangs a little wrong.

Fabric Used:
Safari print cotton/Linen blend from Spotlight.

When constructing the waistband I sewed it as a complete piece and added the elastic. Then I attached it to the pants. I found this an easier method than trying to insert the elastic and topstitch the channels after the waistband was attached to the pants.
I used two lengths of elastic 1” wide and sewed two channels into the wide waistband.
I think this works ok but it tends to fold in half so next time I will buy wide elastic.