Fabric Tragic Vs Trousers Round 3 - Floral Colette Clover

In which I reveal my crazy but supremely awesome floral pants.....

Wait for it.....

Ta dah!

So I'm up to version three of these bad boys - version 1 here, version 2 here! To briefly recap version one were a little too tight, even with seams let out, with front crotch mumble pant issues. Version 2 were way too big - and this is the crucial thing with this pattern I think - the degree of stretch in your fabric of choice makes an enormous contribution to the fit. I think my fabric in version 1 only had a tiny amount of stretch which lead me down the garden path for future versions.  Version 2 had way too much stretch and version 3? Still too big! But I was prepared to take them in, and take them in I did! Each side seam I took in a whopping 7/8 inch (which actually meant a total of .... 2 x 7/8....uh..... 1 and 6/8th inch??) and I honestly think over my hips I could take in some more. But they are done, and the fabulous fabulous floral digital print hides a multitude of fitting sins!

So the nitty gritty - the fabric was a gorgeous stretch cotton sateen from Darn Cheap Fabrics in Heidelberg - $12.95/m I think. From 2 metres I have quite a bit left over - might be able to squeeze out a pair of Iris shorts from the left overs. It is a crazy mix of yellow, purple, burgundy, green, some blue - very much what I would normally never buy and for sure, never a pair of RTW pants (I only just bought my first pair of coloured pants last year - salmon pink cords, and printed jeans this year so this is a massive change in style for me!). The fabric was lovely to sew with. Hopefully it washes and wears well.

I tried hard to not have too much of the lighter yellow flowers right on the chubbiest part of my thighs and bum - and was reasonably successful!

So my final changes/alterations:
- I cut a frankenpattern of size 8 and 10 - size 8 in the inseam, and crotch length, but extended the crotch depth to the depth of a 10 (see Version 2 for pattern changes), and size 10 waistband and side seams. For those that care I am about an AUS 10 in the waist and 12 hips/bum depending on brand.
- I ended up removing a total of 7/8th inch from each side seam plus the side seam of the waistband as mentioned above.
- I added about 2 inches of length by slashing mid calf PLUS cut out the size 12 length - and it was only JUST ok - I did the hems with bias binding, so basically a 1/8th inch seam allowance which was a bit disappointing - I really wanted to do a little split in the side seams following this tutorial - I did it on my Burda pants wearable muslin, and its awesomely chic.
- using the technique described on Coletterie I finished the lower edge of the waistband with bias binding rather than turning it under the seam allowances. It looks great and very profesh. To do this I trimmed 4/8 inch off the bottom of the waistband, attached some bias with a 1/8 seam allowance, pressed it under to the wrong side and then stitched in the ditch from the right side of the waistband. It caught most of it. Eh. Next time I need to use wider bias. I think it was 1/2 inch..... I actually remembered to add in a label too this time. Always handy to remember which is the front and which is the back....

Fit wise I am very pleased with them - they are comfy, not too tight and no mumble pant action. The floral hides a lot though I think! They do dip down a little in my centre back - not enough to show crack or anything, but I wonder what that means - I know I need to do a sway back alteration quite often on tops, so maybe its due to that - I do have massive lower back/arse curvature as seen on my paper tape dress form stunt double. I still haven't trimmed the crotch seam - I thought I might wait until I have worn them for a few hours and see if it needs to be taken in at all. I've pinked all the other seams because its quick and easy, and I will wash these on a delicate cycle - I'm sure the seams will hold up just fine. 

Bum view for education purposes....

 I really love how these have turned out - they are very fun. I'm wearing little boots for these photos but they look equally good with sandals and thongs (in the comfort of my heated bedroom) but I did brave the freaking freezing cold to model in a singlet too:

So. damn. cold. Stupid blog photos. 

These are totally going in the bag to New York. Did I mention I was going to New York - only 3 weeks, 6 days to go (uh which means 3 week and 4 days til wedding!).

I'm giving myself a little Clover break for now - the next version I want to make will be black - I'm looking for a nice fine stretch pinwale cord or velveteen, but that will have to wait till after NY. From now on its trousseau sewing all the way - I have my first Banksia currently under construction....