The Valencia Pants: a Make Nine to fill a gap

One thing that's so appealing about the Make Nine Challenge is that it's framed as "a gentle, self-guided slow fashion initiative...". Because it's a self-guided initiative, I decided to take the initiative and amend my 2019 list of makes to mirror my personal lifestyle—and fill a gap in my wardrobe. 

Me Made Valencia pants, ikat jacket and knit top.

The Valencia Pants

One of the needs in my Me Made wardrobe is pants. So, to fill in the "pants gap," I pulled out my Valencia Pants pattern [from The Sewing Workshop]—a pattern I have used before. This pattern was fitted for me in a workshop I took with Linda Lee in 2018, so the muslin making and fitting steps were eliminated for this make. 

While traveling in Kentucky on business, I bought beautiful cotton yardage at Birdsong Quilting, an independent quilt shop in Lexington, to make two pair of the Valencia. The fabrics are:

• a yarn-dyed woven [from Diamond Textiles], and 
• a 4.5 oz/sqm cotton blend [from the Denim Studio at Art Gallery Fabrics].

Left: Valencia pants in yarn-dyed cotton from Diamond Textiles.

Right: Valencia pants in Wicked Sky cotton blend from Art Gallery Fabrics.

Left: Valencia pants in yarn-dyed cotton from Diamond Textiles.
Right: Valencia pants in Wicked Sky cotton blend from Art Gallery Fabrics.

Valencia Pants pattern hack: Patch Pockets
For my lifestyle, I need pockets in pants (otherwise, where do you put your Kleenex or handkerchief?) The Valencia is a one-seam pant (the inseam/crotch seam), so to add pockets to this garment, a patch pocket is required because there are no side seams for a side pocket.

I like to include a little surprise by using a fun print for a pocket lining. The pocket for the charcoal pants has this cotton voile fabric lining called He Loves Me Plum [Art Gallery Fabrics].

Fabric lining cut slightly smaller than the outside pocket piece.

The lining piece was cut slightly smaller than the outside pocket piece so when turned and pressed, the outside fabric would roll slightly to the pocket inside. It takes a bit of pinning and fabric maneuvering to match up the edges before sewing, but it's not difficult.

Pinning the pocket lining to its corresponding outside fashion fabric.

On occasion, I have included a piping or faux piping to a patch pocket to expose a hint of a contrasting lining fabric on the outside of the garment. Getting creative with a pocket lining is a fun and easy pattern hack!

The fashion fabric on the pocket outside is rolled slightly to the inside (lining side) of the pocket.

For the other pants, I used a cotton Australian aboriginal print for the pocket lining.

I add two front patch pockets to my Valencia pants.

Two front patch pockets were added to each pair of my new Valencias—one for Kleenex and the other for my car keys.