Fitting pants

My last pair of pants were a bit high waisted, and in general felt a bit too wide. Could be the linen, as that fabric tends to get bigger, but I was not completely satisfied and convinced that I had the right pattern.

I had spent a lot of time and muslins (didn’t blog about those this time) and still the end result was not quite what I wanted. Then I realized I have one pair of linen pants that I continue to wear in summer, it’s wearing/washing/wearing and I just feel very comfortable in them. It’s a pair I copied from RTW a few years ago. I put it on and evaluated it more critical: fit was good, fabric still in good shape, so not to be taken apart, only the back was perhaps a bit too high in the waist (which does not keep me from wearing it). The back in general seemed allright, with no strange wrinkles.

Conclusion: time to make a copy again. Unfortunately I had thrown the pattern away in a cleaning frenzy, so I had to make a pattern of the pants itself.

I started this before my little vacation, and finished it today. Think it’s one of the best I made. The first picture shows the color the best. It’s a linen too, a fabric I simply love in summer, the wrinkling is just a part of it.

For the waistband I used Petersham that received from Veronica: a big thank you again!

I didn’t interface the front side of the waistband, it’s not very firm, but just the right thing for these pants.

Before inserting it I put it into hot water to make sure it wouldn’t shrink any more and then pressed it in shape, as described by Sandra Betzina in her book Power sewing. A great way to finish the waistband.