Oliver & s Knit Pants Review

I was lucky enough to pick up a couple of Oliver & s patterns for $2.  Amazingly this pattern goes up to size 12, so it would work for a tween. 

This time I tried the knit pants. Sophia said she wanted some black yoga type pants that she could wear for one of her dance classes.  I looked and looked for some black knit with a little spandex in it that would work, but wasn't able to find anything. So we settled for pajama pants instead.  The pattern is a great pattern, but knit pants with an elasticized waist band wasn't really my tween daughter's thing. She's kind of outgrown them and prefers her jeans.  

And here is my review of the Oliver & s Knit Pants:

You can find the pattern on the Oliver & s website and either purchase the paper pattern or download the digital.  This pattern goes from size 6 months to 12 years, with the pattern being divided with 6 months to 4 years on one and 5 to 12 years on another.

Materials Needed: For the pants you will need up to 1 1/4 yards of fabric that is interlock, jersey, textured knits, lightweight double knits or matte jersey with at least 25% stretch. You will also need 3/4 inch elastic long enough to go around your child's waist.

Skill level: On the Oliver & s scale, this pattern(top and pants) is rated as 2 out of 4 scissors for difficulty. The pants themselves are not that difficult and from start to finish went together in about an hour. I would say a beginner, comfortable working with knits, would find this pattern on the easy side.

 I picked this pattern because both the top and the bottom seemed like comfortable things my daughters would wear. Plus every time I've sewn with a pattern from this company, I've loved and come away having learned something new. The fact that I was able to buy it for $2 didn't hurt either.  As I sewed it up, I did do a size 8 waist and a size 10 length. My previous experience with Oliver & s patterns is that they run a little small. This time was a little different though. I picked those sizes based on my daughters measurements, but the waist was a little big and the length was a little short. The waist can be fixed by adjusting the elastic though. Other than picking the 2 different sizes, I sewed the pattern as instructed. And again the instructions are clear and easy to follow.

The Good: Quick and easy to sew. The instructions were clear and well put with detailed pictures and helpful hints (what I've come to expect from Oliver & s). I also really liked learning how to put on this type of waistband. Plus my daughter says they are really comfortable.

The Bad: On the envelope it is listed that you would need lightweight fusible interfacing for the pants but there is no mention of it on the pattern pieces or in the instructions. I probably wouldn't have used it anyway, because I don't like putting interfacing in waistbands that have elastic, but it was confusing to see it listed as a notion but never mentioning it again.

The Ugly: This part is more my personal opinion with a little of my daughters as well. The style works well for a yoga type athletic pants, but not really for a casual pants for this age group. It also made great pajama pants. My daughter pretty much said she wouldn't really wear this style to school though, unless maybe it was in solid black. We chose this fabric with the intention of being pjs and that worked though. The other thing was the sizes didn't seem true to what my daughter measured, so I would double check the next time around with actually taking my tape measure and measure the actual pattern pieces as well.

So with all of that being said, I rate this pattern  and 1/2. It was very easy to make and my daughter thinks that they are very comfortable, but had that mistake about the interfacing and I just don't think they work as casual pants for this age group...but for pjs and athletic pants they work well.