The holy grail of +size jeans patterns?

Hi everyone!

How are you doing? Here, we are enjoying the climate. In my part of Europe, we had almost no winter this year (which is quite wrong) and the roses are starting to bloom in my garden! I had to work in it to clean up the dead branches etc. That means less time for sewing and for blogging! But, I still found some time to work on the Burda jeans muslin!

My first impression is very good. They feel very comfortable on and they look as I was expecting. The choice of size 50 was a good one. Please forget my cranky face and messy hair, the photos were taken way too early on a Sunday morning...

I decided however to make a couple of adjustments to make it even better. If all goes well, I would use them as a TNT pattern. I followed instructions from the wonderful "Fitting and Pattern Alteration" bible.

-          Back darts: the back waist is gaping a little bit so I widened the dart of 1cm and adjusted the waist band piece accordingly

-          Back waist band: it is a curved one, but not curved enough. I removed 1.5 cm on each side.

-          X knees (that’s how I can them J ): I pivoted the leg to compensate for it

-          Length: I removed 5 cm at the knee because they were a little bit too long

 

-          Lower stomach: I adjusted for the kangaroo pouch at the crotch. We’ll see how it works, I have never done it before

-          Calve adjustment: my calves look like they belong to a bicyclist, so I widened the back

Here is the result!

It looks like a lot of adjustments but they were all minor in dimension. I decided that I should go ahead with the fashion fabric.

This is the point I am at now: The pieces are cut and traced. I have also cleaned up my serger to serge the outside seams and other bits (pockets, zipper areas, etc) but I cannot find the foot pedal anymore :S I still need to purchase a zipper!

I have also been looking for information about jeans and sewing. I have never done any and, for some reason, I do not feel at ease starting this without pointers. So far, the sewalong from Peter has helped me a lot! I would also like to take the Craftsy Jeans course  but Mister Husband thinks the cost is too high for what it is. I guess he’s right, but the videos would help a lot.

That’s it for now and I am really looking forward to the result!

Do you have any recommendation or useful links?

The One with the Pants

Hi lovely ladies and gents!

A lot is happening on and around my sewing table. I am finishing off two Duffle Coats. I am sure you can all guess which ones.

But I would also like to start planning my next project: the trousers!

*tududuuuuuuuuh*

It is always an interesting topic for me as I have never found a pattern that works for me. Trousers are even hard to find in stores and this is due to my body proportions. I tend to accumulate volume in the lower stomach area. It makes it very hard to find flattering pants. So far, the only thing that works is jeans. This works especially if they are pretty snug.

If you google: "body shape fit trousers", you end up with the same things over and over again: what shape are you? I have never figured out which shape I was.

Am I a hourglass? With bust and hips larger than the waist? Yes, but no, the stomach area is not proportional…

Am I a pear? With hips measurements proportionally larger than the rest? Yes, but no, the width is not due to the hips and my shoulders are quite large…

Am I an apple? With a stomach proportionally larger? Yes, but no, I do have a waist and a generous bust.

Of course, it is not necessary to be classified in one of the categories, but without classification, it is quite hard to find a recommendation... When I was smaller, I was a clear hourglass. But I just tend to store the fatty cells below the navel. And this is not fun to fit on pants patterns!

I found this article quite fun and interesting. I am more related to the third shape below.

In the past, I have tried a few basic patterns but I was never happy about the overall look. The only pattern that works for me is the Juniper from Colette, but still, this is a lesser evil. The profile view is very flattering. I love the way that the waistline stays put. The hips also look very nice. The front view is ok but you can see the trouble area. It kind of looks like I have pouch with baby kangaroos. But this pattern minimises the effect. I am not sure how I feel about the legs width. I sometimes love it because it is very comfortable and feels ladylike. I sometimes hate it because I feel like I am mounted on two pipes.

On another note, I quite like this version of the Juniper. I used an old fabric from my Grandma’s stash. And of course, I had to use pink buttons!

Now! I decided that if this pattern almost works, there must be some other ones! This is also the reason why I want to experiment! To me, the safest way to go is to try a jeans pattern because I know that it usually works for me. I had been looking for one for a while and I was never satisfied until I saw the plus size version from the February edition of Burda. It is quite simple and has a nice and subtle bootleg.

I am going to draw out the pattern a size smaller than mine to make sure it is snug enough. I guess that it will pass or fail the muslin test! I will of course let you know how it went. I am very curious.

Does anyone of you have the same issue?

Do you have a “go to” pattern to recommend?