You can laugh, but the first easiest fit note is the one I talked myself out of at the beginning – that they are too short. Not to worry, I’ll add long cuffs, maybe with an extra bit of leg even, to these ones, and a couple inches (2? 3?) to the pattern. Another easy note is that I like the shape of the leg, and love the slant pockets. After that, I’m out of my depth.
These first two photos are with the joggers hiked up round my waist. The crotch curve feels comfy, but it feels like there’s too much fabric at the front rise/crotch. I’m sure the horizontal lines at the back are telling me something about bum/thigh fit, but, sewing gods forgive me, I have no idea what.
These photos are now where I actually wear my trousers. Those horizontal lines at the rear have mostly gone, and maybe gone a bit diagonal – are they telling me my thighs are fuller or thinner than the pattern?? Normally my thighs/seat are too big for a pattern that fits my waist. Those lines aren’t uncomfortable and don’t bother me though, so I’ll worry about them another time.
It’s the wrinkles at the front that are really perplexing me. I can’t read if they are smile or frown lines, or drag lines in whatever direction, so I don’t know if they are telling me to lengthen or shorten the crotch, or scoop out or shallow-ify the crotch curve. Going off my best reading of the pictures, they are smile lines, which apparently indicates a need to lengthen the crotch, but should be accompanied by the crotch feeling tight, and it feels the opposite. How do you tell if wrinkles are the ‘too much fabric’ type or the ‘too little fabric’ type? The pants-fitting guides don’t seem to distinguish them. Interestingly, this is the same fit issue I had with the Hayley dungarees and couldn’t pin down (the inseam pockets opening up the waist circumference really didn’t help there), and I also often get this issue in RTW trousers. Do I have less gut than pattern makers expect for my size? Do I just wear my trousers lower than everyone else? Where are you supposed to wear your trousers anyway?? And don’t say waist, cos if that’s the narrowest part of me, it’s up at the base of my ribcage, and I’m certainly not wearing my trousers up there.
It is a fit issue that bothers me to have that excess fabric. My gut instinct, which is completely unqualified and probably distracted by the annoying sensory input, says that the crotch is too low and I need to take a wedge out of the front rise. The fact that the crotch curve on these felt comfy when they were hiked up high does seem to support that.
…
Ok, I took a few minutes to humour my instincts, and basted a wedge out of the front rise, 1.5″ out at centre just above where the curve starts, tapering to nil just before the side seams. And it actually seems to have made a difference!! Some of that annoying fabric is now reduced. I thought 1.5″ was a lot but I think actually I could take out a 2″ or 2.5″ wedge. If I hike them up an inch or so now, the crotch feels like where it should be.
There might still be some vertical lines. They could mean that I need to lengthen the front crotch as well as shorten the front rise (altho it doesn’t feel tight), or that I need to scoop out the front crotch curve (altho it doesn’t dig in), or they could be a product of my basted seam being inaccurate and including some unwanted easing, or they could just be due to the way this fabric falls from its seams. Or something else. Maybe if I addressed those horizontal rear lines and scooped out the rear crotch curve (low seat adjustment), the front lines would release? But I’m overthinking it now, and it’s gone 11pm again, so back on the workdesk they go.
Things to sleep on: do I want to take the waistband off again to remove 2″ from the front waist and see how that sits (that would increase the waist circumference, where taking a wedge out doesn’t, so no probably not)? Do I want to just neaten my basting line and sew over that to take the wedge out? Should I try laying the wedge on an angle (down from side seam towards crotch?) Increase the wedge to 2″? Take a wedge out of the back rise too (pinching it out suggests it would help), and lengthen the front crotch slightly? If I keep that basted seam line, it’s a weird style line, so does that encourage me to embrace the weird and make them into dungarees? Maybe the size is just too big? I chose it based on the waist measurement and then promptly recut the waist, according to the hips I could’ve gone two sizes smaller, but I really don’t think there’s two sizes spare knocking about at the hips/thighs/seat?
to the touch 