Misty Sewalong

Thanks you to Alicia over at Pandora Sews for hosting the Misty Jeans sewalong!  I really liked the pattern, by StyleArc when Alicia posted about the sewalong, and they had extended the size range so my measurements were included! So I bought the pattern and planned to sew along.

I made a muslin first of the size 38 with no alterations. This size was seemed like it might be big in the waist, but I wanted to be sure I could get it on over my hips.   I figured I could make the elastic the correct size for my waist and I would be ok. When I got to the trying on stage, they were really big in the leg, so I took out a lot of volume, on the outside leg seams only and only below where the pocket seams were.

Here are photos of me in the practice pair, which I made in $2/yd stretch denim I got from the FabricMart brick and mortar.

I am not dissatisfied with how these look, but I am forever having to pull them up.  

So then when I was going to make my "real" pair, I slashed the pattern and took 0.75 inch out of each pattern piece.  when I tried on this pair, the legs fit much better, but they seemed a  little tight in the torso.  This pair also needed pulling up constantly.  When I took photos of that pair, which I am reluctant to share, they seemed to somehow be simultaneously baggy and tight.  The back bagged, but it also pulled in the crotch.  I think I need to do a full tummy adjustment, because the tummy area is pulling too much of the pants fabric forward, making the back crotch too short.

OK, I will post the back view photos, but the front looks like a giant spotlight being targeted on my gut, so I will not post that one!

I really want to get this pattern to work out, I feel like these could be a great go to pant for my lifestyle if I can work out the fit issues.  I am currently watching the Craftsy class Plus Size Pant Fitting, and will apply what I learn there to this pattern before I try again.

Here are some closeups so you can see my topstitching, etc.  I could not see the topstitching very much on my first pair, so on my second, I used a stitch on  my machine that basically lays 2 straight stitches side by side.  This made the topstitching much more prominent.

This is the pocket of my second pair:

Front detail of the second pair: