Melo-Phoenix, batik
Have you heard of Melodia Designs? No? Where HAVE you been? She only makes some the best dance/yoga activewear on the internet, duh. In particular, she pioneered (revolutionized?) the tribal bellydance wardrobe with her richly flared, side-slit dance pants, which in certain circles are the standard for awesome, high-quality dancewear, for practice or performance.
Icarus Melo-Phoenix Dance Pants
I have a single pair, a style which arose from a collaboration between Melodia Designs and Phoenix Rising (an equally cool dance/yoga/activewear line), Icarus-patterned Melo-Phoenixes. DIVINE. Here’s the current lineup, although it looks like Icarus is still available in their standard yoga-pants style. This pair of pants is probably one of my most-prized (and most expensive) possessions. And they are very well-made, with the kinds of materials and workmanship (hello, coverstitch) I can’t nearly match at home. If this kind of gear suits your lifestyle or tickles your fancy, I totally recommend it. In fact, looking at the websites just now I’m feeling all twitchy and consumeristic in a way that I rarely get over cut & sewn fabric these days.
I only have one problem—I don’t fall really well within the size vs. length ranges of these pants. For my Melos, I had to size up to a medium to get a 32″ inseam, which is tolerable but doesn’t give the kind of floor-swooshing grace that really knocks ones’ metaphorical socks off (since really, this kind of pants look ridiculous with socks.) And, while not loose, they’re not as form-hugging as they might be.
And, well, why would I buy when I can make?
Enter Jalie 3022. I was probably thinking of this pattern hack as soon as I saw the fun back-seam that makes this otherwise basic yoga-pants pattern unique—don’t ask me why it took three or more years to actually get around to it.
Melodia vs. Fauxlodia
I traced my flare off the side of my originals (I don’t have time to reinvent the wheel, or the flare, in this case. Yes, I do feel a little guilty about that.), and super-imposed it on the rear seam of my Jalie 3022 pattern. The best part was that, since the flare is a bit short for my legs, it sits lower on my really-long pattern, so the flare starts below the knee, not above, a sleek look I really like (although there’s less skirt-like movement this way than with pants that flared from above the knee.)
Jalie 3022, with back-seam
My fabric of choice here is red supplex, a wicking fabric that Fabricland used to carry, long and long ago. I found a single languishing bolt at my local store, and managed to follow it along through the mark-downs until it was finally at a price I could afford, and nabbed the last three metres. These took about two and a half, which tells you everything you need to know about how much fabric those flares eat up. Nom nom nom.
Flares from the back seam
I did all the construction on my spanky new serger, and finished the back slits and the bottoms with a rolled hem, with my differential feed cranked up to lend a bit of a lettuce-y effect; the stretchy, dense fabric doesn’t ruffle overly well, but I think it gives a bit of a hint. The only topstitching I did on this pair was on the inseam, where I used a triple zig-zag, for added strength. I will probably need to reinforce the seam at the top of the slit, too.
Nettie crop-top to go with
And, of course, what to go with my cute and fun pants, but another Nettie crop top. I haven’t managed to make a fully-fledged bodysuit yet (partly because it’s summer now and not really body-suit weather, so I haven’t felt terribly inclined to try), but I am loving the crop tops for dance practice.
The outfit
I confess, I am all squeally over how they look—better than I had hoped. I was secretly sure that the swoop would be disproportionate, or fall strangely, or something. It was a little long (my altered-for-me pattern is ridiculously long, but I like it that way.)
A different crappy mirror shot
I don’t think any of my photos really do them justice, but if I wait for great photos it’ll probably be next year sometime, so here we go. I just can’t wait for dance class next week. :)