Pattern Review: Burdastyle leather trousers, but not in leather

On Monday I (Major Moma) shared an outfit I recently made Abi that had a comfortable 80s vibe.  She wanted a sweatsuit, but I wanted to class it up a bit.  I used Figgy's Celestial Pullover for the top but then had a hard time figuring out what I wanted to do for the pants.

Abi let me know that she wanted more "pull on pants" because they are more comfortable.  So after looking at a lot of my patterns that I had not yet sewn, I settled on a pair in the November 2012 burdastyle magazine.

Name of the pattern: This pattern is named 2012/#155 Leather trousers for girls.

Pattern Source:  You can buy the magazine that has this pattern included in the pattern sheet or you can simply go to the burdastyle website and download it.

Sizes available:  It comes in European sizes of 128-152.  These are basically the full range of pre-teen sizes.

Special materials required:  If you were actually to make these pants out of leather, you need at least two skins of lamb nappa leather.  Who does that for their 10 year old?  Well, I thought grey sweatshirt fabric would work nicely.  But you could try other pant weight options.  Also, a zipper is necessary.

Skill level required:  With the modifications I made (see below) this pattern is an intermediate level.  However, if you were to use the leather, I would say it is an advanced project.

Did you deviate from the pattern?  Yes.  In order to fit Abi's request for pull up pants, I made a couple adjustments.  First, I eliminated a pleat.  The pattern has two pleats on each side of the front but since I was not going to insert a zipper and then add elastic, I needed more ease in the waist.  Then, I sewed the pants' side seams normally.  I sewed the waist facing almost normally.  I sewed it on to the top seam but then left a space to insert the elastic.  I then top-stitched the asymmetric fly down flat.  That seemed to do the trick.

Good:  It is a cute pair of pants with an interesting front.

Bad:  The fly is quite different and I felt awkward trying to figure out the instructions.

Overall pattern rating:  

I give this pair of pants a 3 bolt rating.  It is a difficult pattern and I am not sure yet if I am a fan.  On the other hand, it is interesting and quite trendy looking.