Productivity : New Look 6380

I’ve surprised myself by making a pair of pants and two skirts in a few hours, all from one pattern!

New Look 6380 is a Knits Only pattern for wide-legged pants and 3 skirts in different lengths. All versions have an elastic waistband.

Pants

I needed a pair of pants to wear around the house in evenings and on weekends (my Atlanta Falcons fleece pyjama pants get a bit boring), so decided this would be my first attempt at a casual knit pant. Think wide legged yoga pants.

Fabric:  Robert Kaufman Laguna Stretch in heather grey. Cotton Jersey (95% cotton, 5% spandex) with 50% 4-way stretch. Lightweight, but enough body to be a bottom weight.

Adjustments: By mistake (or maybe it was hopeful thinking), I bought the A size of this pattern, which only goes up to a size 18. So I added an inch to the waist (grading to the size 18 hip). Since this pattern only has a few pieces (front, back, waistband), it’s easy to make adjustments.

I have a true 32″ inseam, and although the pattern indicates that the the finished length is 32″, it is not – so I added 2.5″ to the length and there really isn’t a lot of length to spare.

Cutting and sewing was quick and easy. I actually did all of the seaming on my serger. I used my regular Brother machine to baste the waistband, and hem (using a twin needle).

Fit:  These are super comfortable, super fast pants perfect for very casual wear. Because they’re knit, and they are supposed to fit, I found these easy to fit. That bit of stretch makes up for a lot.

Skirts

We headed off to the Caribbean for Christmas and I have realized that skirts are cooler than shorts, so used the same pattern for a couple of short skirts. The skirts were sewn on the serger, except for the twin-needle hem on my regular machine.

Fabric:  Art Gallery Morning Walk by Leah Duncan. Cotton Jersey (95% cotton, 5% spandex) with 50% 4-way stretch. A bit lighter weight than the pants fabric, but just about perfect for a skirt or pair of leggings. Not heavy enough for pants, IMO.

Adjustments:  I made the same waist adjustment as on the pants. (The pattern shares the waistband pieces so that made things easy.)

Again, I have long legs, and I also don’t have the beautiful legs of a 19-year old – so I added 3 full inches to the skirt. As it is, the skirt is still short, but with this extra length I felt comfortable. This was about the perfect length for walking around islands.

The second version was made exactly like the first, except I added the ribbon tie in the waistband as suggested in the pattern. (The ribbon is placed in the casing with the elastic.)

Fabric for version 2 was another Art Gallery jersey knit – Sprayed Blooms Subtle – with the same content as the other skirt. This particular fabric had a tiny bit more heft than Morning Walk, so it was even better for a skirt.

Fit: The fit for the skirts was just about perfect. Although the pattern is designed for knits, there is enough wearing ease that both skirts are comfortable to wear. Put simply – the skirt isn’t skin tight.

I would definitely use this pattern again. All 3 garments were cut and sewn in a full Sunday of football. Not bad, considering I spent about 3 of those hours fighting with my sewing machine and serger. And I will absolutely buy Art Gallery fabrics again. The prints are just beautiful!