Papercut Peter and the Wolf Pants, salvage operation

I was sewing these at the eleventh hour before I left New Zealand.  Literally - I sewed until the minute I had to pack up the sewing machine and take it away.  I got all the way to the waistband and at that point there was nowhere to go, they were so huge.  I had really expected a lot out of these pants, and while I knew I am not advanced enough to manage the amazing fit of Lauren's spotted pair, I had even made a muslin!

It was time to take a long break, so I did.   A looong break.  And finally I felt ready to just do whatever had to be done to make them fit and get rid of the butt wrinkles from hell.

-Removed about 3 inches from the front crotch, tapering out at the sides.  This wasn't done quite evenly and one leg is a tiny looser than the other.  But whatever.
-Removed about 1 cm from the upper sideseams, tapering to nothing above the pockets since I didn't want to change them at all.

Those two changes made these pants fit.  Then I put on the waistband and I stretched it out a lot as I sewed.  The fabric has a lot of stretch, and this way the waistband ended up nice and snug - I had removed the zip for the fitting process and just basted the sides, and I called it a success when I had to put the zipper back in!

I still don't consider these the ultimate Peter & the Wolf pants.  They are particularly unflattering due to the pockets visually widening the hips - I think this might be minimised in a finer fabric.  Not to mention the butt, I'm not even sure how to conquer the butt-fitting problems.  But they are wearable and cozy, so I will not be sending them to the secondhand heap quite yet.

Final summary:

Papercut Patterns Peter & the Wolf pants
Fabric: Marc Jacobs Herringbone wool from Mood
Size: XS
me: always an XS in Papercut
Changes: lengthened the legs slightly so they would be full length pants. 

Papercut Peter & the Wolf, take 2 & unfinished...

After my muslin version of these pants, I knew that they would fit in this incredible stretchy Marc Jacobs wool.  Very unseasonal, until I land in Seattle in two months...So, I knew they would fit but I didn't realise at all just how much more stretchy the wool is compared to that totally zero stretch hemp/tencel.  In the hemp pants, the bagginess at the butt was a positive thing because it made it possible to fit in the pants.  In these, hm. 

I left these at full length (hits perfectly at my ankle as a full length pant.) and cut an XS.  Construction was good, although it's the first time I've worked with such a loose weave.  Not easy to get stitches out of!  I didn't quite get my seams lined up for the zip....but then I noticed that I could get the pants on without the zip.  Oops.  Then I realised I had exactly 6 hours until I needed to pack up my sewing machine to go.  There went my concentration.

So lovely people, is there any way to fix this problem that you see below at this stage of sewing???  Otherwise I could call these my lounge sweatpants...I did manage to fit another scrap of this fabric into my luggage but I'm not sure it's enough to cut another leg (for example.)

Without the waistband, a problem is found

The front isn't too too terrible

With waistband - so much room that I could pull them on without the zip!

HELLLPP!  I'm DROWNING!

Papercut Peter and the Wolf Pants

I put these off until after my Thurlows because I wanted to try a full fly and get some practice with pants fitting.  But I was soooo excited and it was hard to hold off.  Then at the last minute I decided to do a wearable muslin made out of leftover brown hemp-tencel.  It's great feeling fabric with zero stretch.  That is a key fact, and maybe not a very smart choice.

I shorted the pattern by 2 inches and made an XS.  I didn't make any other changes although my side seam might have been 5/8 on the left due to my zipper (I'm not actually sure.)  My invisible zip is not very invisible...

lots of extra fabric in the butt - what modification do I need?

These pants are a mixed bag.  On many they are not very flattering because of the width presented in the hips.  Totally the case on me!!  They are suuuuuper tight across the thighs due to that zero stretch, but I think the hemp will relax, so I'm not going to let them out.  And the length is really not flattering.  I think for my real pair, which is going to be made of a stretchy fabric, I will keep the original length.  On me that will make them normal pants-length, and I think that balances out the hip width.  I guess a curved waistband would be nicer, but I don't know how to make one and I'm not too bothered.

The positive?  I adore the pockets.  I love the topstitching.  These pants, when done well, clearly have the potential to look professional.  And they are super easy to make.