Burda 7567

I saw this pattern some time ago online and liked the cut and style of the pants. The legs didn't look really wide like lots of pants do and they had a nice boot cut leg on them.

So off I go to Spotlight to get the pattern but I didn't write down the pattern number. No problem I thought as I knew exactly what they looked like and I'll just look through the pattern book when I get there. To my shock I find that the pattern is NOT in the book. I thought I must be going mad!! So off I toddle home to look online again and then back to the store. Yay, they had the pattern in the cabinet so I was happy. I found out later that this pattern was accidentally left out of the pattern book  by Burda.

I wanted some cargo type pants for my holiday so I sewed view c, however, left off the pockets. I just wanted them plain and simple. The fabric is a linen/ poly blend of some kind.

After quite a few adjustments this is what I ended up with. They are very very comfortable but there are a lot of issues with the look of them. This certainly isn't a pattern issue but my own body shape.

These are a plus size pattern, however, as a plus size girl we all know we all have our extra bits in different places. For me it's my stomach. My backside is VERY flat and low and I think all my butt has gone into my stomach -HA!!!! I also have hyper extended joints due to a connective tissue disorder so fit issues are a double whammy for me. My calves super extend and a lot of the pants get caught up here. I also have a very tilted waist and one hip higher than the other so this makes for a lot of alterations.

The alterations on this pair were:

• added  a 2cm  wedge at high hip to cover my extra fluff here
• a vertical tuck down the whole back leg
• added extra height at the CB waist
• a flat butt adjustment and scooped out quite a bit
• Shortened them above the knee

Now after sewing them up there are still lots of fit issues. Firstly, there are wrinkles on the back pointing towards my knees and also the pants are hitting my outer leg all the way down and I then have a lot of space at the inner leg. The pants are not balanced at all on my legs!!!

 After doing some research I found a blog post by Debbie Cook of Stitches and Seams that talks about these wrinkles Here. If you are a very rare person who doesn't know about Debbie's blog then do yourself a favour and get over there quick as she has some amazing tutorials and tips and sews some fabulous garments.

Anyway I digress...... I think this alteration ALA the Minnott method might just do the trick to centre the pant legs and also to get rid of some of the wrinkles in the back.  I need the legs to be shifted inwards as this is how my body is and all my body collapses inwards due to the EDS.

I don't have the time right now to experiment with this as I have vacation sewing to get done but once I am back I will be giving this a go. I did, however, take five minutes to compare a self drafted pattern to this Burda pattern. The self drafted was a copy of a pair of yoga pants I had bought at the store and had a great fit and I have sewn them up many times. When I laid one pattern on top of the other I could see that the self drafted pattern legs were in fact moved across towards the inseam quite a lot.

Secondly, I need to raise the centre front a cm or two so they sit on my waist better and thirdly I think I will try added more width to the back leg below the knee and see if that stops them getting caught up on my calves.

I don't think I will ever have the perfect fit pants what with having extra fluff everywhere and hyper mobile joints but I want to get the best I can for me. Firstly, comfort and then a decent fit.