Flower Pants

Pattern: Colette's Clover
Fabric: Stretch woven
Cost: $20

For my second pair of Clover pants, I had a long list of tweaks and changes: Adjust the front! Adjust the sides! Lengthen the back! But instead of going through all the alterations, I decided to trace the Colette pattern and then trace over that with some ready-to-wear pants that fit me pretty well. That, combined with some additional fitting, gave me a pretty good fit.

They are not perfect so far, but here are the changes I made:

Modifications

I'm bow-legged! It turns out that the legs on my RTW are a lot more bow-legged than the pattern. Updated with those changes, a lot of the bag and sag was eliminated from the legs, and they look much better!

Fly front - I also combined the Clover pattern with the Juniper fly front and pockets. This caused some problems because I was also trying to modify the fit (see picture below), but I went back and changed them and they almost work now. I think with my next version it will be great. I also seem to have managed to sew the fly-front in reverse (twice!), but hopefully I'll get it right this time. 

Left side - baggy; Right side - fixed

Waist fit - As for those waist fit modifications, I took out some of the curve out of the hips, and pinched the waist in at the butt (small waist adjustment). Then I cut the waistband straight instead of tapered (which I figured out on the third try), and it all fit pretty well. Again, one more version and I think I'll get it! 

Waistline - Finally, I adjusted the back to sit higher up, and the front to sit a little lower. I must have a high ass crack!

Still to Fix for Next Time

Fit in the Knee There is still a little bit of bag here and there, and I hope to fix that by adding more curve to the knee area.

Making pants has definitely been a long process for me. I find that these wearable muslins keep me happy in the meantime. For now I have lots of stretchy fabric, and I'm realizing those are much better for fitted styles (even more fitted than above). After that, I think I'll be ready to transition to the not-so-forgiving non-stretch style. Wish me luck!