At any rate, I used the pattern from the jeans that I cut up. The fabric was a suiting fabric that I'd gotten from my grandmother (again, thanks, Grandma!). I didn't mind using it for a test garment because it's a distinctly 70s era bluish grey color, which is not something that I'm sure I can bring back into fashion...
I cut out the pieces of the pattern and sewed it all up (it probably took me about an hour, since it was my first attempt). When I tried on the pants, I couldn't even squeeze the front closed. It's a little hard to see on the picture, but it was crazy how much the side seam bent. I couldn't believe it. Especially since I got the pattern from a pair of pants that fit me.
So, when I realized that my original pattern would in no way work, I altered it and added an inch and a half to the side seam on the front piece, for a total of 3 extra inches.
My second pair was significantly better than the first. The only problem that I really had with them was that it was really pulling at the crotch. I ripped out the center seam and moved the stitching line for the inside seam about 1/8 of an inch to give me some more room. I did the same with the outside seams because I didn't like my underwear lines showing through so much.
The last version looks much better. I decided to go ahead and finish the pants so I could have some experience with it before I just went ahead and did it on my important fabric. I did have a little trouble at the front where the underflap and the fly meet the normal seam. There's a weird little puckering effect. There's also a few spots where I wish I'd taken a bit more time to pay attention to where the stitches fell, but I'm not too worried about it. I'm still really proud of my first pair of pants!
I still don't understand why there was such a problem with the pattern. I understand that jeans are more durable than suiting fabric, so it just makes sense that they'd be able to hold in my pudge better, but it just seemed like a lot of additions that I had to make to the pattern... At any rate, I had enough fabric left that I can use it for the second test of the jacket and the vest pattern. I'll probably finish the vest the way I would normally, too, so then I'll have matching vest and pants set. I'm pretty excited about it, even though it's going to be in weird 70s colored fabric...
It sometimes happens that different fabrics react differently to the same pattern, this means that maybe the problem is not the pattern, although, if the pattern is from a pair of jeans, the pattern is different from a normal pants. I do not know if this has sense for you. What matters is that you can get on testing and altering what it takes to reach the goal.
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