Sewing For My Sanity

Simplicity 9235 Focus on phenomenal fit in these fantastic pants

Black women standing on the sandy beach barefoot wearing kelly green simplicity 9235 pants

Let’s talk about how hard pants are to fit. Actually, it’s an absolute booger. Fitting pants can be a disaster. When you think about it, the bottom half of the body is the curviest part of your body and is in the seat of the pants. As a physician, it’s difficult for me to think about the body without getting too technical and anatomical but what I’m saying is, a girl got booty.

Focus on Fitting your Pants

Pants fitting woes aren’t new. It’s a moving target throughout a women’s (and man’s) life, but especially as our bodies change from teen, pregnancy, postpartum, and menopausal lifestyles. Where a person comfortably wears their pants is also a highly personal topic, but there are some key fundamentals to fitting pants. Besides knowing thy self and thy style. There are three numbers you must get right besides the length:

  • The Crotch: short, long, full–you must figure that out; otherwise, it’s wedgy time. Also, remember you need the length and depth
  • The Hip: We don’t want to, but we have to measure it. I must admit I’ve made pants that never made it past my thighs because I neglested to measure at the hip and thigh
  • The Tummy: I know you don’t wanna talk about it,, but we have to. This may be a key place to make adjustments.
  • Other adjustments with other types of pants: Thigh, calf,

Resources for Fitting Pants…yep, there’s help

Features of Simplicity 9235

It’s a pair of wide-leg pants 👖 with one view— that’s all I got! Just kidding! There are pleats to help you get a more sophisticated look. As a sweet bonus, you get pockets and a side zipper.

Fabric choices

All the yummy fabric choices for Simplicity 9235 – Linen, cottons, sateen, cotten blends, Ankara, crepe, gabardine, the list goes on. I mean, it’s a wide-leg pants sewing pattern. Any stable woven fabric will do, although heavier fabric and heavy stable knits may change the shape and feel of the garment. I would not recommend knits of any kind but if you do, it better behave like a woven-ish.

I wanted to choose a printed fabric, but since I picked up this Kelly Green linen fabric in Paris somewhere, I thought it would make a beautiful pair of pants. Very rarely do I sew with solid fabrics. In fact, most of my wardrobe (especially) tops and dresses are printed. For some reason, I own a ton of solid white and solid black dresses. Prints are just fun, so maybe next time when I sew Simplicity 9235, I will use a printed fabric. And you know Ankara is already an option.

Hacks for this Pants Pattern

  • Cuff it— and not like Beyoncé.
  • Do something funky with the waistband (see below)
  • Add a back pocket, like a tiny faux thing

Instruction Mistakes on Simplicity 9235

The instructions on the waistband are overly complicated. I’m not sure 🤔 why it’s unnecessarily cumbersome, but I ended up just doing it my way. The pattern is so easy that ending it with this verbose waistband method felt ridiculous and painful.

There is a better way to finish the waistband. I have three ideas to correct the waistband on Simplicity 9235:

  1. Elasticized the entire waistband by creating a casing. This is the trickiest correction because of the side zipper; you’ve got to get the exact right length of elastic to prevent bubbling and bunching. It’s tricky but possible.
  2. Remove the entire elastic instructions section. This requires a bit of forethought because it WILL change the size, meaning lenght of the waistband.
  3. Keep the elastic but you almost ignore it and turn this sucker like you would any other fitted pants waistband.

Because my pants were already cut, I went with option # 3 but if I had to do it again I would probably omit the elastic.

Petite adjustments and Styling

You know, I adjusted the length on Simplicity 9235 and adjusted it some more. Here are my petite adjustments:

  • Removed 5 inches–distributed throughout the pants in two breaks. Then I removed another 2.5 inches after the waistband was inserted. This is the most important measurement for successfully pulling off wide-leg pants as a petite diva.

Styling tips for Petite ladies like me:

  • Pair it with a chunky shoe. My favorites are my platform sandals from Paul Green and another pair of sandals I have from Monti Fisherman Sandals from Steve Madden. It’s like standing on a stool, but it’s a shoe (I digress). Actually, any heel that gives a good bit of lift will ‘elevate’ (pun intended) your look.
  • Show a little skin-up top and go for a tank top, bandeau, or skinny racerback tank. You can also wear an oversized shirt but tie it so it’s slightly cropped. Even with Vogue 9075, a wide-legged jumper, I’ve never made it with the sleeves so that there is a little more skin exposed on my upper torso.
  • Accent the jewelry up top. I’m wearing this Moroccan-inspired necklace I snagged at Disney Epcot Theme Park. I obviously enter the park to shop and eat.
  • Wear Simplicity 9235 pants high-waisted to give the illusion of being taller.

Have you made some fanstastic fitting pants? Do you have a favorite pants sewing pattern?

Photo Credits: Rakimism Photography