i had hoped to have a finished pair of jeans at this point, but lacking time (and motivation) has me lagging quite a bit. they are so close to being done, but i think—scratch that—i know i need to remove the waistband and cut a new one. and the waistband just happens to be my absolute least favorite thing about pants making EVER. EVER!!! i don’t know why, i just hate waistbands. also, there stands a chance that they will be too small entirely and unwearable for anything other than standing. but before i go there, let’s talk fitting!
if you recall, i started with jalie 2908 and cut a straight size, only making a few adjustments at the waist as i sewed them up. i took a pinch out of the yoke at CB, and a little more at the side seams. for a more accurate adjustment, i took my yoke piece and darted out the excess in three places in order to spread out the adjustment. spoiler alert: this worked marvelously! the shape over my bum is fantastic! adding to that, it seems this great fitting yoke translated into not needing much waistband shaping. who knew?
so onto the waistband… i sewed on a straight piece of twill to draft the waistband and darted out a couple places to get my curve. then i cut my actual waistband on grain (not with the stretch) and over-zealously interfaced it, resulting in so much stiffness i can barely fit them over my hips. so, that needs to be re-done on the cross grain, and interfaced in such a way to allow for a little bit of give. i really think swapping out a new waistband will give me a much better fit, and perhaps a better overall liking of the jeans.
added width to the back piece at the outside seam
one thing about the original draft on the hip line was that my side seam pulled to the back. a hip measurement is only the beginning of the equation. most of my circumference is on my curvy backside, so the hip curve on the front pattern piece was far too extreme. i shaved off about 3/4″ from the front hip side seam and added it to the back side seam. the result is a side seam that is straight as an arrow down the length of my leg. LOVE that.
this shows the outer side seam where i removed width. since the side seam was moved, i also had to alter the pocket placement.
but, my biggest complaint from my initial pants was the excess front crotch flappage i had happening. based on my limited knowledge of pants fitting, i knew the front curve would need to be flattened. this seems to have done the trick! it’s rather counter intuitive to add fabric where it appears too much fabric already exists, but the result is a closer or, i should say, more accurate fit around the front. i also flattened out the curve on the back crotch slightly (again, adding fabric) because my first iteration seemed to be giving me uni-butt. i read somewhere that a flatter curve would assist in shaping the backside. i also raised the inseam by 1/4″ on the front, and removed a 1/4″ wedge from the back inseam to help eliminate the under butt wrinkles.
another adjustment i made was to taper the leg in from the knee down. my cords were definitely too baggy, and i had a hard time stuffing them into boots without them pooling over the top. comparing them to my current skinny jeans led me to removing a full inch which may have been too much…
my fabric may not have quite as much stretch as this pattern requires, which is leaving me with a very tight fit, and one that may not allow me to actually bend my knees. oops. in hindsight, i should have left myself much more SA to account for stretch variation, but alas i did not. the thought of these potentially not being wearable (and having my least favorite tasks ahead) have definitely stalled me out. after all, why waste my time with all that topstitching, etc if they’ll just end up in the donation pile? however—denim stretches. what is initially too small, sometimes ends up as just right, or even too big a wear or two down the road. for that reason, i will finish these… as soon as i get a little more motivated.
—lisa g.
