Returning to Pants Fitting: It's a Win!

With summer fast approaching, I need to restock my wardrobe with shorts and capris. I'm certainly not adverse to skirts and dresses, but I do feel more comfortable in pants.

 And so, I've returned to the Sure-Fit Designs pants blueprint. I was pretty happy with the first muslin that I made from this pattern, but the legs weren't hanging straight.

So, today, I made an alteration to my first version and sewed up another test pair. Amazingly, I think they are almost perfect. One leg has just the tiniest wrinkle - perhaps I need to let out the inseam on that side only - just a small amount, but at least then both sides would look the same.

(Warning: These are not the most flattering shots ever, but I thought they might be helpful to some other plus-sized girl struggling with getting pants to fit properly.)

 

 

 

To make the alteration, I measured down 2" from the crotch seamline and drew a line straight across my pant leg (on both front and back pieces). This line was perpendicular to the grainline. I then cut along that line, leaving a hinge on the inseam seamline. I overlapped these 2 edges at the side seam by 2", which blended to nothing by the inseam. I figured out how much I needed to overlap by trying on my first muslin and pinning out the wedge. I just measured how much I had to pin out to get the legs to hang straight and transferred this to my pattern.

First muslin with proposed alteration pinned out: Front

First muslin with proposed alteration pinned out: Back

For my first 'real' pair of pants, I'm going to just add a fraction of an inch to the side seams from the hip up as the side seam looks as though it's pulling slightly to the back. I'll also add some length to the leg. They are almost the perfect length now, without having taken up any hem at all. This means I need to add a hem allowance to the current pattern. Not a big deal.

Can I just point out that this fit was achieved by the second muslin? That is outstanding, and I'm totally sold on the Sure Fit Designs system. I've got the dress kit and am now super keen to try that one. It might take a little while, though, because I'm going to be busy sewing up some new pants!