A Touch More Successful

I have been working on creating a pair of pants that fit, and this time I tried Vogue 2907....for no other reason except many moons ago I had cut a pair out, sewn in the front pockets, and then walked away from it.

I should have returned to Vogue 1051, but they are soooo similar, I figured that whatever fit issues that I worked out on Vogue 2907 could easily be translated to Vogue 1051. That and...I already had 2907 cut out.

The first version I made from some HORRENDOUS black WalMart denim. Seriously, does anyone ever find good fabric at WalMart? I see people on the forums on PR compaining about their WalMarts discontinuing their fabric departments, and all I can say is "good riddance." I have NEVER found a deal at WalMart. I find plenty of cheap fabric, sure. But what kind of deal is cheap fabric if it is garbage and completely unwearable. Seriously, I prewashed this demin and it PILLED. WTF, yo! How the hell does denim PILL??? I have sweaters that pill, rayon jersey that pills...but DENIM? Seriously? Seriously.

But, since this was a muslin, who cares, right? I can still work out fit issues on pilly fabric. It also gave me an opportunity to practice inserting zippers in flies and working on seam finishes.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, however you may look at it...I will never have to be upset with the pilled denim, because the final product was completely unwearable. The hips fit, with a bit of extra ease, but the waist band was HUGE!!

I also used some leftovers from the shirt I made for my nephew for the pockets and the inside of the waistband:


But, these were clearly not going to work. So, I slapped a hem in them, ran them through the washer one more time (fortunately removing most of the pilling) and put them in the bag for Goodwill (does anyone else do that with their wadders? I figure just because it doesn't fit me, doesn't mean that it won't fit someone else. Plus, I sew well. It doesn't look Becky Home-ecky. Someone might be able to get some use out of it. It feels wasteful to throw it away).

Second version, I decided that I would work on the waistband. I took the waistband pattern piece and started putting tiny pleats in the tissue, so it would curve in over the hips. Since I am not shaped like a 12-year-old boy (which is apparently the Alice + Olivia target market), if I cut the pants to fit my hips, I have about three extra inches in the top of the waistband.

I picked up some 100% cotton "sportswear fabric" at Hancocks. I don't know what exactly "sportswear" is, but I assume it is twill. Since that is what it looks like.



While this made the waistband the right size, it did make some little wrinkles and pulls in the waistband itself. NOT that that will keep me from wearing them, I never tuck in my shirt. I also need to work out a bit more of the fit issues in the area just under the rear end. I may need to work on the back curve to fix that.

I would also like to add some height to the back center so that my panties don't peek out. As a side note, my panties peek out of the top of RTW pants, too. It's just that if I am going to put all this work into a pair of pants, I would like a pair that covers my bum. But, because my bottom is round, it drags the center back down.

On the plus side, these are completely wearable. They don't pull and are not indecent across the backside. The little pulls in the waistband are a minor issue, and can be fixed by starting the decrease in the waistband further down the hip...rather than taking all the extra room out of the waistband, take some out of the top of the pants.

Since these are something that will get worn, I went ahead and finished them completely. I used a rayon with a surf motif for the inside waistband and the pockets, and did flat-felled seams throughout. The flat-felled seams in combination with the khaki twill gave them very much the look of chinos, so they will be nice for casual Fridays at work.