Purple Pain-in-the-Patootie Pants

Hello, traditional waistband pants.  We meet again.  Last time we did battle you defeated me.  I'm here to tell you your reign of terror is over!  I shall stand victorious!!!

Here I am, standing victorious.

Okay, so maybe it's not quite that bad when it comes to me trying to make waistbanded pants for myself.  Or maybe I'm not exaggerating in the slightest.  I'll let you decide which you think is the more likely scenario.  Psst...it's the second one.

image via moonwishesstore.ecrater.com

Back on topic.  This is my final sew along piece for The Sew Off.  I started with an older pattern, McCall's 4839, made considerable alterations, then added topstitching and back pockets.  My body and pants patterns don't tend to get along but telling all the reasons why would take a year.  I chose this pattern because I already had it and looked like it would work well with my fabric.  My fabric has been in my stash for at least eight years.  I bought it to make curtains, which never happened.  It's a great lavender with a touch of metallic under weave.  The metallic shows up better in pictures than in real life.

The pants aren't really this shiny when you look at them.

When using a pattern I can generally trust that cutting to my size will give me a good fit.  Umm...no.

Soggy fit on the pants

I ended up taking the waist in six (SIX!) inches by adding in extra darts, taking in the back waist, andpulling in the sides.  The fabric has no drape whatsoever so each leg was shaved down about four inches to thin them out.  That also made them a bit more trendy, which I don't mind.    The other alteration change I made was dropping the waist down an extra inch in the back and three inches in front.  I have a weird body.

Much better

After making the alterations changes I added the fun stuff.  I was going for a jeans-type look without making them jeans.  I added topstitching on the side seams and center back seam, as well as pockets to the back.  I wanted a design for the pockets, but had exactly 60 seconds of patience in which to design it.  I'm pleased with the result.

Know how hard it is to get straight topstitching lines when your baby insists on sitting in your lap as you sew?  Very.

 The button came from my mom's button jar, which happens to be living at my house at the moment.

 I'm happy to say that I have now conquered the traditional waistbanded pant.  That doesn't mean I plan on doing it again anytime soon, but I got the pants to fit and be fabulous!

The End.  :)