After the success of my first pair of Linda pants, I quickly made a couple more.  (These were finished a couple of weeks ago; there has been no crafting whatsoever during the past crazy week I have had).  They really show you the difference that changing fabrics can make.

I don’t ever tuck my tops into my pants, although I do sometimes wear fitted tops over them. But you can see in the next photos how these ones fit around the stomach/waist/bum.

There’s not hiding that pot belly – or my undies lines – in this pair of pants! Despite what the photos tell you though, they aren’t actually too tight. It’s all about the fabric.

They’re a very stretchy woven, not particularly thick, and quite clearly show every single curve, bump, and line. Over the course of the day, they bag out and stretch quite a lot more during wear. Surprisingly comfortable and wearable, but in my opinion not even slightly flattering around the middle – so it’s a good thing that you can’t see the middle in actual wear! The other pair are made in a much thicker stretch woven.

These ones are holding things in place much more smoothly! Here’s the back view:

Way improved. Both fabric were from the Darn Cheap Fabrics $2 per metre table a little while ago. So, now I’ve made this pattern three times. Each time I have used exactly the same pattern pieces with the same length alterations, some folded out above the knee and some folded out below. Each time I have used a stretch woven (although each with varying degrees of stretch and recovery and varying weight overall). And each pair fits quite differently.

This is a great pattern for work pants – I’ve been wearing all three pairs – but I’ll remake the brown pair in an alternative brown woven when I find one of a thicker weight. Interestingly for me, I’ve used both the navy and the brown before to make the Elle pant and have worn both pairs many, many times.  The more fitted style seemed to work better for the lighter weight brown woven than this looser Linda pant.  More to ponder!  So much about sewing for yourself is trial and error, and learning from experience.  Just when you think you’ve got wovens all figured out, along come the stretch wovens to add excitement to your day – not to mention the variety of knits that are available now!

And if you’d forgotten my first pair of Linda pants, here they are again:

Great in a substantial stretch woven with plenty of stretch. The pattern did recommend Bengaline – I suppose that I could have gone with the recommendation! Instead, I shopped my stash.