More than a basic black pant.

Another pair of black pants?

My newest sewing project, another pair of black pants! But wait… these have some personality!

A classic style with a little added detail. An interchangeable detail from romantic to tailored.

I recently found this project I started years ago in my fabric stash, it was cut out and ready to go. I can’t believe I forgot about them, the fabric is gorgeous, the pattern is so easy and such a classic. I could be wearing them!

But there is an upside to the delay… now I have a great idea for them!

The idea came from my idea popper board.

I have a photo of a pant that has a nice detail on the side seam that I wanted to try, and these pants would be perfect for that. I guess timing is everything even in sewing.

My pants were cut from this pattern, I’m not sure if it is still in print. I had made multiple pairs in light weight denims and I loved the simplicity of the style and that it has no zipper or elastic. Though the fabric must have a tad of stretch to it.

So, while working on the pants I had another idea. I had just bought a new fabric that had these great flowers on it. I was amazed how the flowers were crafted so I wanted to take them apart so I could make them myself.

And then my plan was to make a skirt with it. But now I want to add a few flowers to the hem of my pants. Ut oh I may not have enough flowers now for my skirt.

Do you ever have this dilemma?

(I had bought the last of the bolt, so there was no more ☹)

I really think the flowers will look fun, so I cut off a few to see if I wanted to go ahead with them.

At first, I wanted to add them around the pant hem.

When I tried them on, I decided that it would look a little weird and would be much better if they were on a fuller pant.

Maybe I can do that for another design. But the flowers did look good on the side seam. But only two.

Then my design evolved into more, how about adding a piping in the

same fabric as the flowers down the side seam! This is getting complicated….

One rule in fashion design is to not draw attention downward which makes you appear shorter.

You always want to draw the eye up. But this detail is so cute, so too bad!

Now to finish up the leg detail.

I had to add a facing to cover up the piping and seams where the slit opens. And then how do I keep the flowers from getting ruined from cleaning?

I will have to have them connect from Velcro so I can take them off before cleaning. (I just had an evening gown ruined by the drycleaner, so this is in my thoughts)

Then, when I added the Velcro a new idea came to me. How about adding buttons like my original inspiration photo?

I looked in my button box and found the perfect buttons. White, and very flat. I just added some white Velcro dots and walla, a quick-change option!

Now I need to find a top to wear, I think one of my simple black knit tops will work just fine. Oh, and now a place to wear my fun pants, I think they would be fun to dance in!

How can we make a pant more creative? Share some of your ideas with me, I’d love to see!

P.S. Be sure to look for my future blogs, I have a new idea I am working on, it’s a spliced style pant and may be a bit tricky to make but that’s what makes it fun and sew worth it! I’ll share it with you when I get it going!

Also, I have a video for you to check out about the making of these pants on my YouTube channel "Sew Shawnelle" - Future Fashion Designers!