If you've been reading my blog for long, you probably know I like a harem-style pant. But, you may notice that I like my harem pants to be somewhat fitted through the hips. I am not a fan of a dropped crotch on my body.
I've had this Au Bonheur pattern for some time:
While I liked the detail on the legs of these pants, I was not completely loving the other aspects of the pattern. Then I saw these Kokomarina pants:
The silhouette of these pants inspired me to give the Au Bonheur pattern a try. I altered the pattern to raise the crotch. A lot. I think I raised it more than a foot, copying the crotch from another pattern. (I altered these awhile ago and I can't remember, for sure, which pattern I used.)
I made these using a drapey rayon from Fabrix. It looks grey in the photos but is more of an olive color. They are constructed so that they are, essentially, a partial leg inside of a partial leg. They are not attached beyond the mid thigh and my knees peep out occasionally as I move. It's a bit strange.
Besides raising the crotch, I shortened these to a crop length by cutting off about 4".
Once I had gotten these to the point where they were done, except for the bands at the hem, I was not that happy with them and set them aside for some weeks. I finally decided to go ahead and finish them. I liked them better with the bands. A bit.
My only real complaint is how wide these pants are through the hips. They are approx 8" wider than my actual hips. If I make these again (and I'm not sure that I will), I plan to alter the pattern further to make them more fitted in that area. There is no side seam, so it's an alteration best handled before cutting them out.
