Is it pants yet?

The answer is a resounding NO!

Pants are so frustrating, aren't they? My custom pattern block described in my last post was pretty close the last time I worked on them (last summer), but it still wasn't the ultime perfect that I'm after.

After more discussion with the Fitting Fairy God-dess-mother and book/article research, I decided I need to either lengthen the sideseam or lengthen the inseam. I plowed ahead and decided to start with a lengthened sideseam trial. I had to pick one, right? We were questioning whether the diagonal wrinkles were pointing to a need for more sideseam length which meant it was Trial and Error time (heavy on the Error, as I found out).

I traced and altered my pattern yet again. I cut out the test fabric with 1" seam allowances and basted the seams with a 1/2" allowance. Tried them on and ... no cigar. Too baggy in the legs to really tell a whole lot. But hey, at least the lying crotch smiles were gone. I called it a night and vegged in front of the TV watching Tivo'd shows with fitting books spread all around me.

Today is another day. The kids are home from school in anticipation of Turkey Day tomorrow and since there's nothing truly urgent to interrupt my time, I've decreed it a day off for me too and a Pants Work Day. I re-basted the seams with the full 1" seam allowance and ... those same blasted diagonal wrinkles were again looking back at me in the mirror. Sigh. Not the crotch smiles, though. I think I've banished them for good by using a pattern with the correct center back angle for my backside.

I ripped out the inseam on one leg from just below the crotch to just above the hem and this time I saw perfection staring back at me. The only problem: I can't exactly walk around town with my inseams gaping wide open. I re-basted (again) the back inseam with a smaller seam allowance, keeping the front at 1" to see if it was a simple matter of needing more ease in the back. It wasn't. The diagonals were back.

Time for another scissors and tape session. I removed the added sideseam length from last night and traded it for increased inseam length. Between inner thigh fluff and underlying bone structure, my gut has been telling me I need a knock-knee alteration. I.e., adding more length to the inseam. I ignored said gut last night, but today I'm listening. I added more length between crotch and knee. I hope my gut is right. I'm just about to cut out another muslin and sew it up.