Soft Pants Era
The fabric featured in this post was kindly gifted to me by Minerva as part of their Brand Ambassadors program. All other supplies and materials were purchased by me. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
It’s no surprise, if you look at my other blog posts and social media, that I love a matching set. When I saw this rib knit on Minerva, I thought what could be better than a rib knit lounge set. The best thing about a lounge set is that it feels fancy and comfy at the same time. Somedays of course we want to wear the t-shirt and sweats we’ve had for 20 years, but when you want to relax at home and run a few errands, a matching set is the perfect vibe and feels effortlessly put together.
This fabric is part of Minerva’s core range, which means you can get a bunch of colors in the same great fabric. About a year ago I did one of those color season analysis (I’m a spring!) and so it's great to have so many color options to choose from, especially when you have a specific idea in mind. As seen in my previous post this fabric is SUPER stretchy, 70% across the width and length to be precise. This is great for comfort, but keep in mind sometimes when sewing if you are accidentally stretching the fabric while you sew, you can be left with some wavey looking seams. Some tips are to test out with scraps, double check your machine settings, and use a nice steamy iron to shrink those seams back up after sewing. This fabric is also OEKO-TEX certified, 90% cotton and 10% lycra. Overall very soft and comfortable.
For the top I used the Concord T-shirt from Cashmerette patterns. Because this fabric has such a great amount of stretch I actually sized down. I’ve made this t-shirt before in a cotton slub with minimal stretch and I made a size 8. For this lounge top, I wanted to have that 90s’ baby tee look so I sized down to the 0 to keep it nice and fitted. I love how it turned out. One of my favorite parts of this fabric is that the edges stay super nice and clean when cut, no fraying at all. So instead of adding sleeve cuffs or hemming the bottom I left it raw and I really like how it turned out. Just looks so simple and clean, plus less work, always a win. The pants were self drafted and I did have to take them in after I sewed them up the first time due to the high stretch in the fabric. I love the straight leg I’ve been seeing in RTW lounge wear, so that's the look I was going for. If using a pattern, just double check what the stretch requirements are and size down if needed. Some other great patterns to use would be the Kila tank, Lola tank/dress, Axis Tank, Appleton Dress, Nikko Top/dress.
Although much of life has returned to normal since the beginning of the pandemic, I still find myself drawn to more comfortable clothing choices. I think just to create a little ease in life when things are tough. I do have a bunch of denim in my stash I need to use up, but this set will keep me super comfy while sewing! Have you gone back to denim and hard pants? Or are we still in the lounge wear vibe? Let me know!