Wide leg pants and making a pants sloper!

So, I've been keeping busy, even though the blog has seen little of it!

One thing that my wardrobe has been missing is well fitted high waist pants. I've had a couple that I made in the past but sadly the last six or seven pounds I put on are stuck right on my belly... so I can wear them... but I can't breathe at the same time.

I decided what I needed most of all was to make a basic sloper block, a pants pattern fitted just for me that I could use to alter other patterns for a great fit every time!

It took quite a bit of time but resulted in these great wide leg 1970s pants! (See below for more about the sloper!)

Details

Pattern is Simplicity 6773, year is 1974

Making the sloper, I decided to use Simplicity 6572, which I had used once before, making the "Awesome Hippie Pants" which fit me fairly well... back then. This pattern is also from 1974! (And how cool is that jacket? I really have to make it someday!)

As you can tell by the first trial run of unaltered pattern... not a good fit at all. 

All I did was to grade one size up. 

After a long good gathering of knowledge courtesy of circa five different vintage sewing books, I went ahead and changed quite a bit.

I altered a few things: lowered the curve of the crotch, both front and back. Added more fabric to the inseem, a little bit more on the front than the back. Curved the center front seam a tiny bit to make room for my belly (not pregnant, just chubby - would work nicely for fitting early preggers tummy too though!)

And in the end, they turned out quite good! There is still some wrinkling in the front (going the opposite direction - I altered the crotch curve a bit too much!) but it looks lots better than before.The zipper is a little bubbly because the fabric is lightweight cotton and doesn't hold its shape all that well. But overall, a good start. And it did really help when making the wide leg pants pictured above! I can see a lot more pants, jeans & trousers happening in the future! I sure do have a bunch of fun sewing patterns to choose from!