Fitting the Hudson Joggers

Since I’ve had more time to sew for myself lately, I’ve finally been focusing more on pants fitting.  Many sewists avoid it, and of course there is a big learning curve.  To complicate matters, as a result of my exercising, my thigh and hip measurements have changed since my second muslin.  I decided I needed to take a break and step back from those until my body kinda settles into whatever it’s going to do.

In the meantime, I decided to tackle my Hudson Joggers pattern from True Bias.  I had sewn a pair up months ago and wasn’t crazy about the fit.  I had the “smiling crotch” lines, although in reality it looked like a giant V pointing you-know-where.   Awful, but they’re a wearable muslin in that I can still wear them for a workout when no one is looking (especially my mom because she really hates them!).

So not flattering.  I really like the look of these joggers when they fit correctly though, and it would be nice to have a few pairs on hand.  Really all it took was a little searching for my flexible ruler.  After changing my room up awhile back, I stashed it somewhere “safe”.  I finally found the darn thing and measured my crotch curve (yes I know, that word makes many people squeamish, but I’m sorry, I have to use it several more times), and I measured myself.

Next, I took my front and back joggers’ pattern and overlapped them at the crotch seam.  I overlapped the amount of seam allowance given in the pattern, in this case 3/8″.  I then like to sketch the seam allowance (or stitch line) along the crotch seam (you can kind of see the pencil line I’ve erased below) because I want to mark my curve along this line.  Here’s what my pattern changes look like:

My flexible ruler line helped guide me in drawing my new stitch line, and the red line is where I’m cutting my pattern.  Not only am I removing some from the front (single notch mark), but I’m also removing some from the back as well (double notch mark).

I made a wearable muslin in this incredibly soft floral print French terry from Cali Fabrics.  It’s a lightweight FT, but it’s perfect for lounge pants, plus I think it’ll look really cute come spring with an Ogden cami and sandals.  Notice the crotch V is gone after my fit changes?  Looks so much better.

There is extra length as you can see by the bunching of fabric, especially at the knees.  I decided to shorten the pattern 1.5″.  They’re drafted for a 5’5″ person with a 28″ inseam, and I’m only 5’3″.

The back is comfortable and there’s no wedgie which is awesome.  I might shorten them into capris when the weather warms up since they’re a bit too long, but why not enjoy them until then?!

The fabric I chose for my final version is absolutely gorgeous too, a mid-weight rayon/lycra French Terry (FT) with 4-way stretch and excellent recovery and a contrasting charcoal gray FT, both from Cali Fabrics.  I wore them all morning before working out, and there’s minimal bagging at the knees as you can see above.  Or can’t…this fabric is so dark!

Plus no saggy bottom!  The only thing I kind of don’t like is that I assembled these like another jogger pattern I have which uses a different technique to attach the waistband because they’re different types of waistbands.  It caused a little waviness along that seam here, but I’m not too worried about it.  I also used my coverstitch with a single needle to topstitch the casing for the tie, and I’m really happy with how that worked out.  I placed wooly nylon (Maxi Lock stretch thread) in the looper.

Well, I’m no authority on pants fitting, but this worked out pretty well for me.  I’m happy with it and will revisit fitting my woven pants soon.  Do you have any favorite resources for pants fitting?  Any methods you prefer?  I’m going to try out tissue fitting next.  I’m excited and hoping it’s as easy as it looks 😉