French Navy Xanele Longs trousers

A rare instance of me making a pattern close to it being released, and its a good one! This is the Xanele Longs trousers by French Navy Patterns, an expansion pack to the shorts of the same name. You have to buy the shorts as well, although she is saying she will release the trousers as a stand alone at some point. There are two versions, a full length tapered one and a slightly cropped wide leg one.

I'm a big fan of elasticated waists, and actually I wear them exclusively when wearing trousers these days. Sometimes with elasticated waists the front can look not great, with some bunching around the crotch area. Half elasticated is a good solution, and I've made the Pietra Pants which do just that a few times. Fitting is more challenging for that though. I have an overhangy stomach, and from googling the fitting advice for that is to lengthen the rise. But I get sone random bunching under the overhang as it is, and with the Pietras I actually ended up shortening the rise which was a big improvement. So I'm not sure!

Anyway, the Xaneles are fully elasticated, but because of the pleats, the fabric sits properly. Someone on my instagram actually commented that they liked the flat front, which is pretty impressive given it's elasticated all rthe way round! They are deceptively smart looking.

I've already made a short version and have fabric for another long pair.

Pattern: French Navy Patterns Xanele. I made style B, the full length tapered one

Fabric: a chambray from the Organic Textile Company, bought off someone on Instagram who was selling it for the clothing company they worked for. It’s heavy-ish for a chambray so perfect for trousers. I had 2.5 metres, you need 2 for these.

Size: Size G according to my hip measurement.

Instructions: They are great, really good diagrams and lots of detail in the steps. It gives you two options for sewing the waistband, but it doesn’t explain what the difference is. I used technique B, the stitch in the ditch one, cos it’s probably a bit neater - though I never quite catch everything and then have to go over it from the back again anyway. So who knows!

Alterations: 2 inch full seat adjustment as I always do.

Future Alterations: I might make them a little bit more tapered next time

Items work with the trousers here are dress from the charity shop I’ve chopped into a top, and a short sleeve and a long sleeve Wiksten shift top