Simplicity 8655: Mimi G Style High-waisted pants

These pants have been on my radar for a while. I’ve been skeptical about anything with a high waist. Why you ask? It’s because of my shape. For my body style, which is short-waist-all-legs, high waisted pants or skirts seem as if they would only exaggerate my shape. But I trudged on and I’m so glad I did!

This pattern from Simplicity is a part of the Mimi G Style line, S8655. They are a slim fit through the ankle and feature pin-tucking along the front and back seams. There is a side zipper and back pockets.

Let me just say that this pattern needs a true stretch bottom weight fabric to be successful. So first…I made a muslin in a grey denim without all the finishing detail that fit fine. Thennnnn I made these in a white denim from Mood Fabrics, that had a minimum amount of spandex to qualify it as stretch. As in 99% cotton, 1% paltry, a measly, lonely little 1%.

To get the slim, snug close fitting look, you need a certain amount of stretch, so this fabric wasn’t the best selection. Wish I had paid closer attention to that, but the pants are still a success because I compensated by edited the heck out of the fit! I got them a snug as possible while still being able to slide into them without grease. Lol! Thank God cotton relaxes with wear.

I love the look of the pants. Construction is a breeze and Mimi G posted an excellent follow-along tutorial on the complete construction process. Her invisible zipper installation method is the easiest and most polished method I’ve seen and it’s my standard process now.

As an accent, I chose to use a denim yellow thread for my pin tucking and back pockets. (Hard to see in the pictures, but trust me it’s there.) I wanted the pin tuck visible because they add a visible focus down the center on the leg…i.e. an optical illusion to slim the leg.

The back view shows a good fit with the original pocket design. The front view shows the drag across my stomach and an odd crotch depth that pulled when I walked. The pattern calls for a square pocket, but I mimicked the shape of traditional jean pockets. I also removed an inch in the length just below the waist which raised the crotch depth. My alterations took care of both issues.

But despite my fabric selection brain-block, I love the pattern! It not a difficult sew and it has a curvy girl in mind.

These are now a part of my summer collection and play along nice with the other pieces. I’ll be sewing these again in a legit stretch denim next time.

Note: I paired these with version of two of Vogue pattern #9242 in this mustard crepe from Fabric.com.