Persephone Pants + modified Hilary Top

I made my first pair of Anna Allen’s Persephone Pants in April last year, boldly calling them ‘pair one of possibly a zillion pairs’. I’ve got a way to go but I’m sort of on track with these, my third pair. My first ones were made in a lightweight cotton drill which were ace and have been worn a heap, but the fabric was a bit too thin. Pair two were a pure sewing fail. I used a stretch cotton in the best ochre colour, but a bunch of drag lines ruined that Persephone party. Third time was the charm because this pair are just right, made in a heavier weight Italian cotton called Teal Chino (sold out).

I omitted the pockets on these (as I have on all my pairs) and if you want to make it an even quicker sew, ditch the belt loops too. Through trial and error, I can safely say that these pants definitely work best with a heavier weight, non-stretch woven and the pattern recommends “cotton canvas, bottom weight, twill, denim, duck, non stretch”. Go with that. I wasn’t familiar with the ‘duck’ reference but a quick Google told me it’s “a heavy, plain woven cotton fabric. Duck canvas is more tightly woven than plain canvas.” Who knew?

As we suggested in this post, I also sewed a line between each buttonhole to keep things nice and flat on the fly.

So I made the pants and not long after, this amazing crepe de chine print arrived in store – Stampato Fiore. I most definitely did not have a silk top in my winter sewing plans but with its teal highlights, these two fabrics were screaming to be paired together. Initials plans were to make a shirt but then I saw this lovely peplum-less version of our Hilary Top on Instagram.

I’m always partial to a quick sew and eliminating the pleated peplum on Hilary makes this a really quick sew. I just extended the bodice by another 15cm or so and I also shortened the sleeves to finish just above bracelet length. It’s a perfect tuck-in top for high waisted styles.

So if you’ve been thinking about Hilary but weren’t sure about the peplum, consider making it without. It’s really just as good.