I’ve made up these pants three times over the years.  The first was a pair of brown linen; the second pair were in a wool/viscose tweed and this is the most recent version.

I do not have the first two pairs.  I seem to avoid muslins in favour of making up, wearing and tossing, but that’s another blog post altogether.

I know I don’t look like I’m squealing like a little happy piggy in this photo, but I am internally grinning like a Cheshire cat about these trousers.  This pair is a keeper.  I wore these trousers a couple of days ago, and was very disappointed.  Actually, the proper word would be disheartened.  After wearing them all morning, they had stretched out and hung horribly in every possible way they could even if I did underline them.  But I am so in love with this linen that I just couldn’t part with them.  So I studied all the photos I took on Wednesday for the MMM12 challenge and made my adjustments. (You can see the only picture I saved of them from that original wearing here). I took in the waist a couple of inches and tapered the excess down to my hip level (about 9 inches below my waist) at the side seams. I still could adjust the front crotch curve and length, but in true mezzo style, I’ll do that adjustment on the next pair.And can I just say that I really love my new linen pants?  I am so thrilled that I have finally made this pattern fit properly that I want to make up another 16 pairs!  After much thought about lining vs. underlining, I decided I’d underline these ones.  I’ve never underlined a pair of pants.  I must confess I have always been afraid of the underlining shrinking or pulling away or making them hang weirdly after wear and tear, but I decided I’d give it a go with this pair.  Actually, this discussion thread and this thread really swayed me in favour of the underlining this time.I used a pre-shrunk cotton voile and underlined only to the knee.  I overlocked all the seams and bound the bottom of the waistband.  I have to say I really am pleased with this entire project.  I may never line linen pants again.  The voile (not an underlining first choice – organza is always touted as being the premier underlining fabric) really makes a difference about how these pants hang and feel.  Lesson learned!  🙂And can I just say how I love this pattern?  It has all the thinking done for me in the instructions for a fly zipper with an underlay.  Every time I’ve made them, the zipper turns out perfectly, and all I have to do is follow the pattern instructions. I love to sew, but sometimes I hate the problem-solving that goes into project.  It’s nice to have a good set of pattern pieces and proper instructions for a wonderful result all pre-packaged and ready for you!  This pattern also has separate pieces for lining the pants, complete with instructions on how to line the fly shield.  Gotta love Vogue designer patterns!  You learn so much!