With all of its modular elements, there are already so many variations of the Opal pattern you can create yourself by simply swapping between the pocket, waistband, and length options. Don’t forget, there’s still plenty of room for your own creativity and ideas! We love a good hack, and Opal is the perfect base to experiment with and let your imagination go wild! We’ve got some amazing ideas for you to get even more inspiration from!

Be sure to tag your hacks with #MNopal and @megannielsenpatterns so we can see what hacks you come up with yourself!

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Well everyone, we’ve made it! This is the last hack tutorial for the Opal Sewalong and I think it might just be my favourite – it’s the elastic hem jogger hack!

It’s super easy and creates a whole different look to the tapered leg view of Opal. Depending on your fabric choice the cinched ankle style can range from sporty to chic, and it’s so simple to do! It’s basically the normal hem that we covered in the previous hemming post of the Sewalong, but before the hem is fully stitched, we sneak in with the elastic!

Here, let me show you!

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Next up on our list of hacks for Opal is the drawstring waistband hack! Drawstrings are such a simple way to add a little extra detail to your waistband and also mean you get to play around with fun things like different types of tapes, cords, ties, and even toggles and tassels if you like! Whether you want to add a functional drawstring to your Opals or just get the look of one with a sneaky faux drawstring, I’ve got you covered in this tutorial. I’m working with the standard elastic waistband of Opal today, but don’t forget, this drawstring hack could just as easily be done on the paper bag waistband too! Everything we go through below will be the same, with the only difference being the paper bag waistband has a couple of extra steps compared to the standard waistband.  You can check out the paper bag waistband tutorial here for help with those!

Ready to get started? Let’s go!

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So now we’ve gone through all the main construction steps for the Opal pants, it’s time to try something a little different with a few hack ideas! With all of the modular elements of Opal, there are so many opportunities to have fun mixing and matching, and even creating your own looks just by moving things around. And that’s what I’m doing today! This fun cargo side pocket hack uses the patch pocket that is already included in the pattern, but rather than using it as a back pocket, we are going to relocate it to the side of your pants instead! It’s such a simple change, but it can create such a different look!

Wanna see? Let me show you…

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Well, folks, we made it! We’ve come to the final step of the Opal construction! Can you believe how quickly everything came together?! This last leg (pun intended) is nice and quick too, so you’ll be wearing your new pants in no time. So let’s get on with it! [Read more…]