Pants—The Continuing Saga

I ran up a muslin of the StyleArc Linda pants using the stretch cotton I bought at Hobby Lobby. The bad news is that the pattern needs some adjustments to fit me properly. The good news is that I am getting better at figuring out exactly what I have to fix. I had the husband take a photo of the front and back of the pants while I was wearing them. Based on the wedgie I was getting, I suspected the rise was too short. The photos showed the wrinkles. I checked the photos against the wrinkle chart in one of my fitting books and that confirmed my hunch.

Here are the Linda pants next to my favorite Noble Outfitters work pants. I love the way these fit. The difference is obvious:

I considered adjusting the crotch seam on the Linda pants—the white chalk line—but looking at these pants next to each other, I think I need a more drastic revision. I am going to enlist the husband’s help in getting an accurate set of measurements before I try again.

It’s no wonder I hate low rise pants. I feel like the poster child for why ready-to-wear looks so awful on most women.

I signed up for a two-hour private lesson at the Sewing and Design School in Tacoma a few days before Thanksgiving. That’s where Kenneth D. King teaches, although my class is with one of the other instructors. The private class can be anything I want, so I asked for help with drafting a pants sloper for myself.

Some day, when I make my way out of this pants maze, I’d like to get back to making more sweaters and tops. I have that Stretch & Sew pattern for the saddle-shoulder sweater, but I’m also kicking around making a Juniper Cardigan by Jennifer Lauren Handmade:

This cardigan has a saddle shoulder detail, as well, and comes in two lengths.

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We had stellar weather yesterday, so I worked out in the garden. We finally got a frost, I think, but it wasn’t hard enough to kill the tomatoes completely. The Blue Boar Berry cherry tomato plant is still churning out ripe ones. Go figure. I brought in a bucket full of the last of the tomatillos and tomatoes. I cut the cabbages and made “egg roll in a bowl” in the Instant Pot with one of them for dinner.

I’ve been watching Michael Snyder’s Pacific Northwest Weather Watch channel for the past week. It’s been a battle of computer models. The GFS (North American) model has been steadfast in its prediction that we will get cold air from Canada mid-week that will bring snow. The European model had the cold air staying above the border—and no snow—but it capitulated yesterday and is now in agreement with the GFS.

The husband replaced the mixing valve on the hot water heater yesterday and fired up the wood boiler. I will hang up the rest of the insulated curtains today and we will wait to see what the weather throws at us this week.