Halla Kids’ Lounge Pants

When your husband’s name translates to “dragon,” Znok creates a dragon print fabric, and Halla Patterns offers you some fabric and a pattern in exchange for a review, you respond with a resounding YES!

First up: The Fabric
I had never sewn with Znok before and now that I have, I am in love! It is so soft, thick, and wonderful to sew. The colors and prints are vibrant and unique. I used a plain (not Znok) green cotton lycra for the inside pocket of these pants and even in the finished product, you can see the difference in quality. Samantha (of Halla Patterns) is now clearing out her fabric to allow her to focus on her pattern business – I was super tempted to stock up on more Znok, but I have to come to terms with the reality that I have SO MUCH FABRIC right now and not enough time to sew it all up. Sigh. Such a sad conundrum.

Next: The Pattern (Kids’ Lounge Pants)
Samantha offered me a copy of her kids’ lounge pants pattern for trying out the Znok. This was perfect timing because my kids have been having growth spurts lately and are rapidly running out of pants. I was initially just going to make a pair for my 2 year old son and maybe a pair for the baby too, but after I laid all the pattern pieces out, I realized I could get three pairs out if I made the pedal pusher version for my eldest. Of course after I did this, Miss 4 saw what I was doing and declared that she hated dragons. Oiy. You will wear the dragons, you ungrateful little…. haha jk.

This pattern has a lot of options: with or without pockets, 2 types of pockets, various hem lengths and cuff styles, including harems (like these ones) and tapered. Because of the options, you really must do what I did not do, and that is read through the entire pattern before getting started!!

The overall fit seems to be great. I did a size 5/6 for my tall and skinny 4 1/2 year old, 2/3 for my skinny, average height 2 1/2 year old, and 12/18 month for my rapidly growing, chunky, cloth diapered 5 month old. She’s my last baby, so I’m going to get mileage out of Znok on her!!! The pattern is a fun one for coverstitching if you include the pocket option. The pattern uses a 1/4″ seam allowance, which is great since you don’t then waste all the pretty fabric. The pattern pieces are in layers in the PDF. Since I have an abundance of paper (thank you Staples and your free after rebate deals!), I opted to print each pattern size off individually, rather than keeping all the layers together and tracing off. There’s a little key on each pattern piece to show you where it goes as you are taping/gluing the pieces together too. I initially didn’t see the grain line on the pattern piece, but it’s there — it’s just smaller than what I’m used to.

Some things to be aware of in this pattern: there are no notches on the pattern pieces. This isn’t such a big deal if you like to sew with pins, but I prefer not to, so I rely on notches to line everything up. I suggest lining all the paper pattern pieces up before you get started and work out where the notches need to be — especially where the pocket edges meet the top and side seams.

Because the pocket is optional and has two styles available, it is not marked on the leg pattern piece, so you need to work out what style you want before you get started and trace it onto the piece where appropriate. Depending on the style, you’ll need to pay attention to how many pocket pieces you then need to cut out. See comment about reading the entire pattern before getting started!!

 

The pattern seems to cater to someone who is familiar with sewing knits, so it doesn’t include tips such as marking quarter points on the bands. It also doesn’t specify in the pattern what types of knit and amount of stretch is required, so you have to make some assumptions. (The fabric suggestions ARE listed on the website however, and Samantha is very approachable if you have questions).

All of the bands are rectangles that are printed out. After I printed them, I measured each one and cut with my quilting ruler instead. I did find the pocket band to be a bit wavy. In future, I will cut that band a little shorter.

I also whipped up the Halla Stardust Shirt to go with my son’s pants. Of course, his big sister wants one of those too.

Overall, these pants are a win for me. My kids love them – my eldest wants to sleep in them, so I guess that works, given they are lounge pants after all! Samantha also sent me the women’s version of these pants too, when she discovered that I have a women’s pant making aversion, LOL. Hopefully I’ll get some sewn up for me in the next month or so – I do desperately need new lounge pants!

Disclosure: I received a copy of the Halla Kids’ Lounge Pants pattern and 1 yard of Znok dragons fabric from Halla Patterns in exchange for this review. Opinions are 100% my own.