It took a lot longer to figure out what I wanted to do with these than the sewing itself actually took. So much advice from all over the internet but it turned out that these are actually fairly close as the pattern was written. One thing that's really nice about Jalie patterns is that they go from children's sizes all the way up to my size. Still, based on advice I left an inch seam allowance all around and I ended up using most of it most places. In fact I still need to add quite a bit more on to the height of the back and fix various wrinkles but overall they're definitely wearable.
I first tested the pattern on some pants for Ms.5 out of ponte:
The fabric is an as inexpensive as possible stretch black denim from Joann's. It's very stretchy so I wonder if the jeans will relax a lot.
I pinned them at the seam lines and tried them on wrong side out. Ouch - does every one else get full of holes and scratches when they do this. I finally sewed them and tried them on wrong side out. There is still not enough room in the back. I need to read up on how to get rid of the wrinkles and still have enough room.
The calf was sitting funny so I sewed the front at the original seam line but the back all the way out to the edge:
I'm glad they have a wide waistband. When I tried them on, I realized that I needed more to try to keep the back up (since I had no plan to undo yet again and re-cut the yoke). I ended up doing a 3 stitch zigzag to sew 1.5" elastic to the inside. I sewed it stretched ~10%.
I don't have a serger, so all the seams are zigzagged, but I worry that won't be enough. This really wants to unravel. The top stitching is a triple stitch with a regular charcoal colored all purpose thread. The back pocket - I saw something like it online. It is basically couched (?) crochet cotton. I do hope the white cotton does soak up the black dye from the fabric.
The button and the elastic came from Walmart. I'm not sure how well either will hold up, but they're good for now.
They're done:
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