Schoeller Schussmeister Winter Hiking Pants

What do you do when you impulse buy technical outdoor fabric? Why make pants, of course! The Schoeller® Schussmeister stretch woven nylon / wool fabric can be found at Rockywoods here.

Making these pants is a BIG deal because outdoor technical gear is not very body inclusive. Ryan and I have NEVER fit brands like North Face, Mountain Hardwear, Helly Hansen, Mammut, Stoic, Norrona, Patagonia, Burton, etc. Ryan needs a 36-37″ inseam, and I need a 35-36″ inseam. If a tall size is available, and that’s a big IF, the inseam is 32-33″ for women and 33-34″ for men. Other brands might go up to 35-36″ but only in the XL or XXL sizes, and Ryan and I wear a medium to large. RYAN HAD NO OPTIONS before I knew how to sew, and I could barely get away with wearing men’s sizes.

Of course, these pants are self-drafted, but I want to point out some of the construction details. The partial elastic waistband was inspired by True Bias Dani shorts & pant pattern. I used some medium-weight black yoga spandex fabric I had in my stash for the elastic part of the waistband. The Schoeller fabric is heavyweight and doesn’t gather well. I had to add darts to the back waistband, and I should have removed more fabric from the center back since the elastic waistband is causing some odd puckering. I’ll fix this issue when I make Ryan’s pants. I don’t mind the puckering since these pants will always be worn with a backpack, and you’ll never see the waistband anyways.

For the front closure, I used two size 20 utility metal snaps from KAMsnaps. I hope the snaps work in the long run. There was no way I was going to be able to sew a buttonhole through the Schoeller fabric. Sewing the front zipper was difficult enough.

I used my standard pocket and just made it a zippered pocket instead of a side slash pocket. The zipper is waterproof since the Schoeller fabric is treated with DWR. It didn’t make sense to have a regular zipper that would let in moisture if my pants were water repellant. I used riri DE6 AQUAzip One Way Water Repellent Zippers for the pockets.

The other zipper I added was a vent for the legs, riri DE6 AQUAzip Two Way Water Repellent Zipper. All my zippers were purchased from Pacific Trimming.

I have to have two wardrobes for hiking in the winter—one wardrobe for hiking uphill. I overheat so quickly. And another wardrobe for hiking downhill since I always get cold chills. These pants would be intolerably hot without the vents.

I was worried this fabric would be too itchy since it does contain wool, but so far, I haven’t found the wool to be an issue. The pants are warm and breathable, so I’m happy.

I’m going to be making the same pant for Ryan next. I don’t care if we match like twins.