Chelsea Pants Week!

Welcome to Day 1 of Chelsea Pants Week! Wait, you didn’t see that on your Google Calendar? Well, you’re going to want to pencil it in, because the Greenstyle Chelsea Pants released today, and I’m a total #fangirl, seeing as I’ve made FIVE AMAZING PAIRS already, and have fabric in the wash for at least a few more.

Since I’m well on my way to an entire wardrobe made up of these pants with no end in sight, I thought I might as well start up an official “Chelsea Pants Week” to help justify my addiction, and, um, the fact that I’m going to be wearing the same pants everyday for the foreseeable future. These are the real life problems of a pattern tester y’all. I’ve got no regrets though- and neither will you when you whip up a pair (or a dozen) for yourself.

When I first saw the design for these, I about tripped over myself rushing to my shelves to pull out compatible fabrics. They looked almost exactly like my favorite pair of Free People bells that I picked up on a trip a couple months ago, but with a few details that made them EVEN BETTER (not the least of which was the ability to customize the length to my height- I had to chop off about 4″ from my FP pair to get them to be wearable, sacrificing some of the awesome flare in the process).

The Chelsea pants have a similar dramatic flare and center front seam, but add in a super comfortable contour waistband, cute-as-pie back pockets, a very flattering “V” shape in the center back, and a kick-ass fit. I’ve always been nervous about all the fitting that goes into real pants, but these are an excellent way to dip my toe in the pool- because so much is already going right!

The Chelsea’s are drafted for fabric with at least 25% stretch- and I would highly recommend heeding this requirement. I’ve used stretch denim, ponte, double knit, and stretch cord, all with great success. There’s even a hack for adding in a button waistband if you are concerned about the stretch of your fabric and/or your hips to waist ratio, which I can’t wait to try. While the pattern generally calls for 1 and 1/3- 2 yards in my size (depending on fabric width), I was able to squeeze this pair out of only a single yard of ponte from a Knitpop auction box I received ages ago- I guess there are some benefits to being short!

I shortened the pattern by my standard 3″- split between the two lengthen/shorten lines on the pattern. Looking at a few of the lines on the back, I’m thinking I need to adjust how I distribute the amount I remove- perhaps to take more out above the knee and less below. The knee line is marked on the pattern to make these adjustments easier. I didn’t need to make any changes to the crotch depth, for which I was very thankful. I have also considered making a “flat butt adjustment”, but I’m not sure if its necessary or not (or whether I want to accept having a flat butt….maybe I’ll just do a bunch of squats this week?).

There are a million cute ways to style these- which we will be featuring in a blog tour SOON! For this pair, I chose to go with a loose boho type look, to accommodate all the birthday cake I’ve eaten this week. The Pony Tank by Chalk and Notch patterns had just the silhouette I was going for, so I cut into some more of my favorite Sly Fox single brushed poly and got to work!

This tank is quite simple and the fit is awesome- but I was on the #strugglebus for every.single.step of the way. If there’s something wrong you can do while sewing a simple tank, I did it on this one- sewed my V neck on inside out, snipped a hole in the front while I was cutting my serger tails, etc. I don’t know how I did it, but I persevered and ended up with a tank I LOVE- so it was all worth it. Any time I’m feeling frustrated with a project I’m going to pull this one out and wear it while I sew- to remind myself that unpicking a million serger threads can actually be a good thing, since I have a new nursing friendly top to pair with my favorite Chelsea pants!

While I’m super stoked that Fall is finally setting in so I can wear #allthechelseapants, I’m less thrilled about the photo conditions- the weather featured gale-force winds while I was trying to take these photos, causing all sorts of crazy wrinkling and irritating the heck out of me. My genius husband had the idea of going to the mall for shelter- slightly ironic given the fact that I was wearing an entirely self made outfit, but well worth it! I was worried the security guards might get concerned as we were scoping it out, and it’s a good thing I’m not easily embarrassed by posing in public, but it worked a treat, and the lighting was perfect. I think we’ve found a new indoor photo spot, which is a relief considering the winds are only the tip of the iceberg for the winter to come.

I have been wearing these nonstop, and I can’t wait to share more pairs as the week goes on- so stay tuned! You can subscribe to my blog HERE, and follow me on Facebook and Instagram as well to make sure you don’t miss a post! A sew-along led by yours truly is also in the works for the near future, in case you need a little extra motivation (don’t we all?!)

Grab your pattern on sale here (for 48 hours ONLY).

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