If you’ve been reading along you’ll know that I made the Papercut Anima Pants (here), and loved them, although they seemed too big. Instead of making another pair (which I will may do), I thought I’d give the True Bias Hudson Pants a try and see if I liked them better.
Well I didn’t! Am I the only person in the sewing universe who didn’t like them? Then I thought about it. I used a very stretchy woven fabric, but perhaps it wasn’t stretchy enough, or drapey enough? I felt they were too short, quite low rise, and I didn’t like the shape much. Here they are
I did like some aspects – I thought the pocket was neat, and I liked the fit at the front. I decided that the part I really didn’t like was the length, and found myself obsessively looking at all the versions on line, most of which were also quite short, which is ok for certain body types, but I don’t like the look on me.
On reflection, and to be fair to the pattern, I thought I should make another pair and do a comparison with the Anima pant. In my view, the only way to do a proper comparison is to use the same fabric, and I just happened to have enough left to make this second pair!
A quick reminder of the Papercut ones – yes, baggy!
And now the Hudsons in the same fabric. I laid the Hudson pattern on top of the Anima pattern and it was quite interesting – the backs were pretty similar, but the Hudson fronts were significantly narrower. The Anima legs were a whopping 7cms longer than the Hudsons, but I think they need to be shortened on me. I stayed true to the Hudson pattern but lengthened it by 4cms, and this has made all the difference. 
I also like the faux fly on the Anima pant, but this is an easy fix for the Hudsons and I’ll be adding one to the pattern when I next make them. Interestingly, this pair sits higher on my body, which may be the stretch. Whatever the reason, they are much more comfortable. I eliminated the drawstring in this version. 
I made the same size as the Anima pant as I didn’t want sizing to skew the experiment. Because the front is narrower, the back legs come round a bit further, which I’ve decided I like. 
So, which is now my favourite? Well, if I put aside the beautiful presentation of the Papercut patterns, the faux fly, and the fact that there are more opportunities for coverstitching (although I have some ideas to address this particular problem with the Hudsons!), I announce the Hudsons as my new favourites. I shall be making more of these, and I have some black wool in mind, which will be awesome in the winter.
Both the khaki and the grey fabrics are from Potters.