Happy Pants

I do not shop retail much and I don't wear pants much, but last fall I bought a pair of Pixie pants from Old Navy. Mostly pants look like jodhpurs on me, but these Pixies fit really well  The wise Sewalatte complimented me on them and suggested I copy them.

So I busted out my TNT pants pattern. (listen to me...trying to sound all experienced making pants...its my only pants pattern)

I had already made my no butt, no hips, no thighs adjustments the last time I used the pattern (V1294):

• Fold out the back dart all the way down to the hem
• Shave 5/8 inch off the back inseam, tapering to nothing at the knee
• Shorten the rise

The Pixie pants are slim legged and cropped (though not on me!), so I narrowed the pattern from the knees down.

Here's how they turned out:

Not bad, I thought, until I saw the back!! They are really comfy (the fabric has some spandex in it) and I'll probably wear them anyway. Because they're orange. If the right rainy day comes along, I may even take them apart and work on them a bit more.

In the meantime, I made a couple more changes to the pattern:

• Added back some of the rise (the orange ones feel too low at the back waist)
• Shaved off 3/8 inch from the front inseam, tapering to nothing at the knee

OMG!!! I feel like taking that little bit off the front inseam made a such a huge difference.

Now I have two pairs of pants that fit me well. And I'm proud to say I made one of them. 

2013 Accomplishments

I am by nature a goal-setting, list-making, happy crosser-offer. I had set myself a few goals for last year and folowed through with some, but not all. Lets just talk about what I did do: 

• I did make pants and learned a tremendous amount about pants fitting. I still prefer skirts though!
• I made some dresses. Oddly, I still prefer skirts though! 
• I did make a real warm winter coat and have another in the works.
• I used my homemade app to keep my pattern and fabric stash inventoried and organized. This has been amazingly helpful!!!

I was somewhat surprised to see that I actually made less things this year: 57 , down from 83 in 2011, including: 4 pants, 21 tops, 4 purses, 1 blimp, 2 coats, 3 dresses, 3 vests, 3 jackets, 1 robe, 2 nightgowns, 2 panties, 8 skirts, 2 shorts and 1 cape.

I also had 8 complete flops!

My favorite things:

Butterick 5539

Textile Studio Monaco Shell

Vogue 8888

Decades of Style 2601

Vogue 8624

Vogue 1294

Vogue 8860

Whew! That was a lot of sewing!