Nothing quite says fall to me like corduroy…so what better way to start off the season than with a pair of comfy corduroy pants for The Boy?

I turned once again to my tried n’ true kids pants pattern, the Parsley Pants from Made by Rae. I love this pattern because it fits well, is easy to make, and it’s so versatile. Although it’s advertised as a pattern for wovens, I have made many many pairs in knit fabrics – everything from interlock to jersey to sweatshirt fleece to polar fleece to french terry. But every once in a while I go back to wovens for this pattern – and I’m particularly fond of corduroy! I found this fabric at my local discount fabric shop – it’s a lighter weight corduroy that is really quite soft, so it’s just as comfortable as the knit pants I usually make for The Boy (who is extremely picky about such things I might add).

I did quite a bit of hacking on the pattern this time around. First off, I straightened the leg – the pattern has a slightly flared leg, but recently I’ve been making a straight leg version and I like the way it looks. I simply draw a straight line from the narrowest part of the leg down to the hem. I then substituted the patch pockets for a ‘jean style’ pocket (I still don’t know what to call these type of pockets…I mostly think of them as ‘regular’ pockets). These turned out really nice – much nicer than the first time I tried it (almost 2 years ago)…let’s chalk that up to a bit more experience:) It was straightforward to draft the pockets and modify the pant piece – I used the patch pocket as a guide and traced that curve onto the pants piece. This also required adding a side seam to the pants, so I just sliced the pattern down the side along the tuxedo stripe line and added seam allowances.

pockets are lined with a reddish-brown Kona cotton

Oh yeah, and added a faux fly and button and belt loops, just like I did for the last pair of corduroy pants I made.

he’s checking out his nifty button

And back pockets too, of course:)

These are my favorite comfy pants yet! Can’t go wrong with corduroy:) What’s your favorite thing to sew this time of year?

Details

Pattern: Made by Rae Parsley Pants, flat front version
Pattern Changes: straightened leg, added side seam, substituted rectangle knee patches, replaced patch pockets with ‘jean-style’ pockets
Size: 5
Fabric: soft, light-weight corduroy from Fabric Outlet in SF