Rachey Comey Divide pants Vogue pattern
Thése pants took forever! But I wear them alot so it’s cool!
Rachel comey divide pants (vogue 1688) are a very cool fit and amenable to all the movement a girl could ask for - high kicks, sitting comfortably, sertainly everything I need. I don’t know that I would have chosen this pattern had the Comey name not been on them - Vogue just has a way of picking styling that feels off and the cover makes it look much less fashion-y than every Comey photoshoot would demonstrate.
After perusing other blogs, I decided to size down in these a smidge (some blogs recommend multiple sizes, so your mileage may vary) to a size 14/ 28 inch waist.. I proceeded to cut the pattern as written and assembled one leg plus a length of ban-rol waistband for fitting top down centre out style, feeling fairly confident I wouldn’t need to cut extra space at the top or sides due to the oversized nature of the pattern per other folks. The size 14 ended up being perfect imo, except I should have thought to lengthen it.
That one leg assembly was a big enough project as I opted to flat-fell all the seams, and both front and backs of each leg are three pieces. The fabric I used is a somewhat scratchy and fray-y polyester (I found the purchase record - $5 for 2.8 m from a local sewing person just about 3 years ago), so I wanted to limit that as much as possible, plus I like clean seams and top-stitching could be used to draw attention to all that seaming. Of late, I’ve switched to an even more labour intensive technique for flat-fells wherever I expect it to be tricky, as I did here.
First, I seam normally, then press with everything together, then press open with the seam to the desired side. I then trim the side to be enclosed down about halfway using duckbill scissors. I then sew the wrapping seam allowance to the enclosed seam allowance, wrapping and finger-pressing as I go. Note that I’m doing this free of the main fabric body and just to ensure nothing flips out on that last pass. I press the seam again to have everything in place, usually with a clapper at this point. Finally I top-stitch from the outside, catching the seam bundle to the pants. Not only did I do this on all 16 of the diagonal seams, but I did it for inseam and outseam too since the pants were wide enough to accomodate it.
I love how it looks and how nicely the seams match - both nice drafting and execution!
Since I want to minimize how much I wash these (and thereby release microplastics en masse), I also made a separate lining - basically a silk pants slip - that can be the main piece to be washed. This also has the effect of reducing any sensory unpleasantness the fabric otherwise imparts (they are wearable without it though!)
The other sensory protection bit is I did the waistband in two parts, and the inside and the pocketing/fly shield etc are all done in an old bedsheet’s cotton. The waistband interfacing is ban-rol as I prefer a stiff and solid waistband to prevent rolling. I didn’t enjoy the fly process on these and while it looks good overall, I don’t think I secured the bottom of the unit particularly well. I do like how wide the shield part is though, and the internal button.
As mentioned briefly, I do wish I had cut these a bit longer. I’ve never liked to wear a cropped length, and as is, I reduced the hem as much as humanly possible by adding and just turning a hem tape to keep as much length as I could. They still feel short to me, but are pretty much as designed (pattern art has them hitting a bit above the ankle).
I think the only other thing to mention is that those pleats are so, so deep and I quite like the wide belt loops!
Pattern: Vogue 1688
Size made: 14 (Waist 28)
My measurements: Waist 30/31 ish, hips almost nonexistent lol
Modifications: Did not extend waistband past fly. Reduced hem depth by using hem tape. Skipped the back welt pockets in the interest of doing SOMETHING the quick and easy way.
Next time: ADD LENGTH
