Monday, January 15, 2007

Jalie Redux or Thanks Kathleen Cheetham!

What a day! Mid January and the thaw is over ... not that we really froze to begin with up here. IT has been hard to believe that I live on the same latitude as Moscow! We got about 4 inches of snow today. Not much, but enough to make people really silly when driving! Even so, I was only 10 minutes late for the second interview only to find out they were expecting a phone call asking to delay. Really? And how serious a candidate would I be if I had to do that considering it was only 4"? And considering that I learned to drive in this type of weather on the Atlantic seaboard?

The interview went well, I got very good vibes off of this as I did not see any others being interviewed, unlike last week. Not to mention that they were going to call me tonight with the results. But I am out this evening with Scouts, so they have to wait till tomorrow to tell me!

What did I wear, curious divas want to know? Hee hee ... nothing new I am afraid. Headache last night stopped me from doing anything more. So, the cardigan topped a RTW silk knit top in a nice teal worn over my Jalie pants. As I noted in my review of these pants, there were some fitting issues that needed addressing. I have since altered them a bit. A few issues back in Threads there was an article by Kathleen Cheetham on altering the back of RTW or already completed pants. I immediately thought of these pants and decided that this was a way to fix my back problem. So, here is the before shot:

What I did was to remove the excess by pinning a horizontal tuck along the widest part of the back, tapering to nothing at the s.s.. Measuring the tuck (about 2 1/2" YIKES), I then lowered the waistband the same amount, cutting off the extra fabric. I will alter the pattern to reflect the change in the back pattern piece. I also made the vertical adjustment, pinning out a 5/8" vertical tuck from the bottom of the crotch area to the knee. As per the article, I then removed this amount from the back inseam only, tapering to nothing at the knee area. That I have to do this is not a surprise to me as I had originally added a bit extra to the crotch points and I think this is only removing that excess. I still have to hitch the pants up a smidge (as I am doing in the photo), but doing any further changes at this weight will result in a sever wedgie! So, I will live with the slight excess until I drop a few more pounds. Here is the much improved after shot:


Now the debate is whether or not I use the same size next time! I seem to have taken a lot out doing these fixes. Is it worth starting over again when I know how to fix this size? The other thing I have noticed is that the waistband placement needs to be lowered at the s.s. as it has a curved appearance right now. Something else to do in the next version! I think I will stick with this size for now. Maybe when a few more pounds come off I will downsize (pun fully intended!) And yes, that is the HP Cherry Blossom coat in the background, resting on Mindy. I still haven't hemmed it. You have to be in the mood for handwork, you know? And awake, too!

2 comments:

  1. Much improved Lorna ... looking great! I think that instead of lowering the sideseams, you need to raise the center back, and possibly "dart" out any excess waistband width at the CB seam in it. The sideseams look like they're hitting you in the right place. And NO! I wouldn't start over with a new size ... you've now made this one YOUR size.

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  2. Anonymous2:09 am

    Excellent changes to the pants, Lorna. Hard to believe that they are the same pair. How do they feel when you sit down? Each pair will be different ( different fabric, slight deviations in cutting, etc) So if these work as weel sitting and bending as they do standing it might be time to move on to a new pair.

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