One of my favorite people on this planet is my sister from another mister Amanda. We met in graduate school more than 20 years ago and have been close (despite physical distance) ever since. She’s hilarious, generous, a wonderful dancer (hehe) and a freakin’ genius! There’s just one small thing that irks me about my girl. When we vacation, she will walk you to DEATH! No, seriously – I recently came across an article about women who walk the world, from city to city , and immediately sent it to Amanda. These women are called flâneuse, which is the feminine word for flâneur, or ‘one who wanders aimlessly’. In a hilarious twist of fate, a week after learning this term, I was asked to test the latest pattern from Friday Pattern Company – the Flâneur Pants.
The Flâneur Pants are wide-leg woven pants “perfect for both strolling through the countryside and exploring a new city.” For my test pair, I used leftover cotton double gauze from Blackbird Fabrics. They turned out soft and flowy, but I would love to remake these pants in a heavier fabric. One of the things I truly appreciate about Friday Pattern Company is the streamlined patterns. Everything is so impeccably designed and well thought-out, that I don’t spend much wasted time on their patterns. For instance, these pants took me about six hours to sew – and I am not a fast sewist!
The Flâneur Pants have side and back patch pockets, an elasticated back and a zip front fly. Sounds like normal pants, I know. But, the Flâneur Pants don’t have a side seam! Instead, they are sewn together only at the inseam. I’ve never seen pants designed this way before, but it’s perfect for showing off striped or print fabrics. No more pattern matching headaches! I sewed both sets of pockets as detailed in the instructions, but I may play around with omitting one set of pockets or changing their location. The current placement doesn’t feel as intuitive as I’d like.
Despite this being my second project using this Windowpane Organic Cotton Double Gauze from Blackbird Fabrics, I haven’t reviewed it. The reason for that is simple – it’s sold out and I didn’t want to gush about how wonderful and seasonally perfect this fabric is knowing that you, gentle reader, couldn’t get it yourself. That just seems so rude!
