The "Flow" Coffeehouse Pants!

I've been experimenting in the sewing room lately because I've been inspired by many of the details you sewists out there are putting on your clothes. I'm ready to make fewer garments with more details and embellishments. My lifestyle and the climate I live in really lend itself to simple, comfortable and easy to wear clothes. The Coffeehouse Pants are just that and are a blank slate for creativity!

These are an elastic waist, straight leg cropped pant. I've made so many of these and I wear Coffeehouse Pants at least 4 days a week. But in all of my makes, I've never embellished the pant leg. I've been experimenting with "couching" which is a technique where you take a fiber, in my case I used scraps of yarn that I had from left over crochet projects, and use the zig zag stitch or other wide stitch to anchor it down.

I used the "trial and error method" (turns out I've used this method A Lot in my sewing career... eh-hem!) with lots of different feet on my machine and found there were actually several ways to do this. I tried (from left to right) the piping foot, regular foot, clear view foot, pintuck foot and open toe foot. All but the open toe foot worked for me but my favorite is the clear view foot (that little arrow keeps me right on track and I'm able to load the yarn under the back of the foot and through the opening keeping it feeding smoothly). This foot or a foot very similar probably came with your machine so you may be able to get by without purchasing something new...although new feet are really fun!

To experiment I used worsted weight yarn, double and triple yarns and scraps of fabric. I'm not gonna lie, it was difficult for me to decide which way to go. I decided to go with the creamy colored nubby yarn (you can see how I loaded it through the foot above) but do expect to make other pairs with the same fabric and different colored embellishments. Already, I made a denim top with black and white yarn. To say I got obsessed with all of this could be accurate but I prefer to think of it the same way my friend Cari did..."Diane, you have your creative flow going."  Yup, that's it, I have "flow". Everybody needs a friend like that!

I used a 4 ox. dark wash denim which really is the weight of a chambray, widened the leg slightly and added a twill drawstring with grommets. I added the yarn to the pockets and 3 rows of stitching 3/4" apart beginning 2 1/2" from the hem. They're comfortable, fun and it feels good to make something creative and unique and "in the flow"!

Here's sneak peek of the top I made with black and white twisted yarn. It's a pattern that's coming out very soon!

The Thanksgiving Sale is here so now's the time to grab the Coffeehouse Pants pattern or ANY PATTERN FOR 20% OFF, no code needed now through the 28th!

Happy Sewing Friends!
​Diane