Sister-in-Law Fleece Pants
Mere moments after I unveiled my first attempt at fleece pants, my Stylish sister-in-law determined that she had to have her own pair. There was just enough of the same purple-grey heavy fleece left, so I set her to tracing out the pattern in her own size. She really is a trooper—she tackled tracing her first Jalie pattern with only a minimum of “OMG WHICH LINE AM I ON?” and had her pair cut out in record time.
Unfortunately, in her efficiency (and my distraction), a couple of problems we should have foreseen came home to roost. The first one being, she traced the pattern in her real size, not upsizing. (This makes sense in that she will probably want to make the pattern out of something not fleece at some point, of course.) And, I had intended to perform a rather larger version of the Gigi alteration* I did on the kids’ shorts made from this pattern last summer.
What I should’ve done on Stylish’s pants pattern, too.
However, this kind of slipped our minds in the excitement of cutting and pinning.
Stylish tackled the stitching and even topstitching (much facilitated by using the blind hem foot as an adjustable edge-stitching guide on the Memory Craft. Which, I should say, has generally excellent attachments, although I am not fond of its zipper foot.), and got the hang of it quite quickly, with only a little confusion over the construction order. (Did I mention this was her first pair of pants ever?)
Unfortunately, when we got to the try-on point (and I’ll refer you back to my Pink Suite post if you need construction details, or just go to the Jalie website and read the instructions yourself), the same issue that I had was happening: dangerously low rise, especially (actually, only) in the derriere.
Some quick thinking was in order. The pants were stitched up, lacking only the waistband. Unpicking fleece… um, not happening. Obviously we had to alter the waistband.
Jalie 3022 Last-ditch waistband alteration. AKA “What I did instead.”
So we did.
And, while it may not be the most elegant solution (and no, I don’t have a good shot of how it looks… I didn’t really want to pester my SIL to allow me to post photos of her butt on the internet), it works, and she has worn them every bit as much as I have over the winter.
So Stylish!
And she has already bought fleece for her next pair…
*Gigi is the pet name of the incredibly sweet lady who is the mother of both Osiris and Stylish. She also has a marked pear-shape, which she passed on to Stylish, and even Osiris in modified form (he has a very curvy butt for a guy). Tyo is well on her way to developing this shape as well, although in Syo’s case it seems to be a bit moderated.
Tanit-Isis Sews 
Awesome pictures! Stylish seems like a fun person. 😀
I think your solution to the low rise would actually look interesting, especially at the back. I have a pair of sweats that do this neat seaming detail that looks similar to that. I say nice job, and the recipient looks happy with them!
I don’t think it looks bad! And judging by the amount she wears them, I’d call them successful. And they are particularly well suited to skating…
Oh how interesting …. I shall tuck this alteration off in memory for future reference. Thanks T.
Hopefully it will be of help, although even better would be if it weren’t required. 😉 I’m glad we managed to make them work!
Nice save!!!
Thanks!
OMG, your SIL is so adorable. She has your photo personality!
Hehe! She is, isn’t she? I’m so excited she’s doing some sewing!
I had to make the exact same last-minute patchup on my Maria Lounge pants – not because my fabric wasn’t stretchy enough, but because my butt is bigger than that pattern expected! 😛 Glad that great minds think alike… and glad that your SIL can wear her pants comfortably now!
Cool! I am really glad it worked out—I wasn’t entirely sure it would, but stretch is forgiving, I guess. 😉 I think Stylish would’ve needed some kind of save, regardless—Jalie does not seem to draft for the most curvacious seat. 😉
Excellent problem-solving-on-the-fly, and they look great! I’m starting to plot winter clothes now that we’re in autumn, and I might have to borrow this idea.
Borrow away! I’d love to see a wave of fleece-pants sweep the cold-weather internet. 😉
They look great! I can’t even imagine how warm they must be.
Great solution to the low rise situation. Funny how we get used to posting butt photos. I guess non-bloggers may be surprised if you asked them if you could take some rear photos! : /
Yeah, we do get comfy with some funny things, don’t we? They are super warm—maybe even a little too warm. But on a cold winter morning, there’s no such thing as too warm! 😉
Oh my… I am so living in a warmer part of the world… The very thought of ‘stylish’ and ‘fleece pants’ in the same sentence is alien to me…
That said, I fully understand the need to stay warm and both your sister-in-law and your daughter look very good in their versions.
Different stretch ratios can be really annoying and may make an otherwise easy project quite a problem. Good job on solving the rise-issue with that waistband alteration!
And of course, it’s always good to get more people sewing!
Yes! I sewed with fleece when I lived in Wisconsin, and in northern Indiana. Even then we did not face the kind of winter cold dear Tanit-Isis feels, in the Great White North. The shaped waistband was a brilliant design decision, especially for a pear-shaped person. Shaped waist yokes are much kinder to small waists than darts, I’ve found (not my own waist, anymore, alas). Fleece is a miracle fabric, but central North Carolina doesn’t need that kind of miracle right now.
Well, let’s just say that the bar on “stylish” is a little lower in Canada in the winter. 😉 It doesn’t help that most of the clothes available are manufactured for a warmer climate, either. But really, I think these are about as stylish as fleece could possibly get. 🙂
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I have nominated you for the Liebster Award http://tailorfairy.com/2013/03/04/liebster-award/
why, thank you!
LOVE fleece pants! I too live in mine. May I ask what pattern program you use to make your wonderful patterns and tech drawings (as above)? Mine look like a third grader made them. Thank you!
Inkscape all the way, baby!
http://inkscape.org/