Jilly Jean's not my lover

Have you ever taken on a project that has just felt dead in your hands? That's me and the Jilly Jean from Style Arc patterns. I made a muslin ages ago, but the fabric I choose was so unreliable it told me nothing (it kept stretching and stretching).

So I made it up in a better quality denim and made some tentative adjustments. I realised I had bought one, maybe two sizes too small. In case you don't know, Style Arc patterns are traced from a sloper, so you only get to choose one size. I based my choice on the hip measurement - but I should have used my waist, which is much the larger (comparatively) of the two.

I decided my initial adjustments had been all wrong, so I unpicked the jean (because I liked the denim) and resewed it, using the Style Arc original pattern. It looked even worse!

I threw them in the bin.

A day later, I pulled them out of the bin and unpicked them again, recutting them according a pair of jeans that fit me well. Then to make up for the lack of width, I attached a 2 cm "galloon" (as Burda charmingly calls them) to the side seams on the front.

The 2 cm galloon extends the whole of the front:



Much better, wearable in fact, but still, there's a wedgie: a whisper of denim that tries to sneak its way up into the crevasse.



I'm not above unpicking and redoing the back but I don't know what to do - let fabric out, take fabric in, scoop out more, scoop out less - pants fitting is such a nightmare.

Any suggestions very welcome, if no-one knows, I'll post on Pattern Review. Those ladies know everything.

The front, after a full lower abdomen adjustment (seriously that's the official label for 'big fat tum') top tucked in for your viewing pleasure:



I am happy with the back pockets though - this is a motif I'd like to explore more.



I like the shape of this leg, the pocket bags and the way the whole thing is drafted is such a pleasure to put together. I am not in love with the fit, but then, I bought the wrong size and my denim probably isn't stretchy enough to sew as drafted.

Let's call it a draw.