I have to admit, I wasn't really planning on buying a new pattern. You and I both know, I already own #allthepatterns. But when I saw the Love Notions Allegro, I knew the paypal burning a hole in my pocket was going towards this new pattern. Shorts, Capris, Pants AND 2 skirt lengths, talk about value!

But I will say, I was definitely worried that this would be just one more pattern I stash away and never use. Do I REALLY need another pair of pants? Not so much. But I DO need a woven maxi skirt and those side splits were exactly the sort of thing that would make me hit "buy".

Thankfully, the Allegro is SUPER fast to sew up. If you skip the pockets you can probably crank out a pair in less than an hour. The same waistband and pocket pieces are used for both the skirt and pants so you save some time there cutting out pieces.

I made the size Small shorts, and used the medium elastic in the waist band. I followed the directions for blending out the size for my thigh. Despite following the directions, you can see the shorts hem pull on my front leg if I try to move my leg forward. Yet they look sloppy and baggy on my butt. Without being weird, I'm sure you've seen my butt enough times to know that it shouldn't look saggy and sad.

This is a standard problem for me. I have a large quad and thin back leg. So while the circumference is good, I need the space in the back moved to the front. When I go to make these again, I will be making a small back and blending out to the size large on the lower half of the front leg. That should give my quad the added space it needs to actually move AND bring the back hem in around my butt.

These shorts aren't unwearable, but they aren't comfortable on my quads. :( This isn't a pattern issue though. I run into this problem on EVERY woven pants or shorts pattern I try.

Up next the skirt. I whipped this skirt up in less than 30 minutes. SO fast and easy. I went with a medium weight stretch denim, but it turns out, it was just too heavy. But this wasn't one of the fabrics recommended in the pattern, so the mess up is 100% my fault.

The skirt is certainly wearable with my bad fabric choice, but the butt looks all wonky and heavy. I'll likely end up chopping it up.

That said, both items shared here are my muslins. I finished them up so they'd be photo ready, but I'll be using these to base my final versions on. I really love the cuff on the 5" length for my legs and once I get the fit down, I'll have a drawer full of these. The amazing-ness of this pattern is in the value you get for just 1 pattern price. Where else will you get shorts AND a skirt in one pattern? If you want my input, based only off of my test garments, they're worth the investment. Yes, you can like something even if doesn't fit on a first try.