True Bias Hudson Pants

The Goal: I’m going on a road trip this month! A trip that involves several hours in a car and a lot of hiking at my destination. It’s also November and I notoriously own a grand total of two pairs of pants. Both jeans. Yeah, I need some more pants. Mission accomplished!

(I realize black fabric is difficult to photograph so I upped the exposure on these pics to make the details easier to see)

The Pattern: The Hudson Pant, True Bias‘ first pattern (her second, the Sutton Blouse is out now!). I figured this would be a good pattern to use, it’s like a fancy knit track pant. Comfy enough for lounge wear (or extra long car rides), cool enough for everyday wear (like checking into a hotel after extra long car rides), and I figure it would be ok for outdoorsy activities (like a lot of trail walking).

Plus, pockets! Plus, ankle cuffs so no cold wind blows up your pant leg! Plus, stretchy waistband!

The Fabric: For my first pair I knew I wanted something solid and plain, something utilitarian. But that doesn’t necessarily mean cheap. I found this French terry at Austin Fabric Co-op for $22/yd. Luckily this pattern doesn’t require much yardage.

Still, $30 for what are essentially really nice sweat pants seems like a lot for me. No regrets, tho, this stuff is awesome. It’s a rayon, cotton, spandex blend and it is won. der. ful.

The Changes: None, except for one mistake. I sewed the button holes for the drawstring but then accidentally sewed the waistband on backwards and I sure as heck wasn’t going to seam rip out black serger thread on black fabric so, uh, no drawstring for me.

I made a straight size 6 based on my hip measurement. I figured these are supposed to be slim fitting knit pants, not skinny jeans so I didn’t bother with any fitting. For a casual garment like this unless there are big major problems like too short crotch length or something it’s really not worth messing with. But if I really wanted to I’d probably adjust the back legs. A common issue I face with having stick legs attached to wide hips is excess fabric in the thighs.

The Results: Well, I don’t think I’ve taken these things off since I made them. They’re great and super comfortable. I’ll definitely be making more, maybe even woven versions.

As for the pattern itself it was great. I had no problems with printing or understanding instructions. Illustrations and directions were clear.

This is a pretty simple pattern and a great way to jump into pants sewing if you don’t want to feel discouraged by crummy fit problems. Also, with so few pieces, I whipped these puppies up in a flash! Gotta love (relatively) instant sewing gratification.