Much Better

Mercifully, I remade the denim leggings with some alterations and they worked. What I mean is, I know they look as they're meant to. I'd show them to you on my dress form but, wait, my dress form is useless to me in its current state. Even my kid came into the sewga room and said: That doesn't look anything like you. There's nothing like spending a bomb of money and, yet, being in limbo. It's moments like this that I wish I had thousands of bucks to blow on a Wolf custom form... BTW, can you believe that company has the nerve to charge so much given the crappiness of its website??

(Incidentally, two things you shouldn't ask me about the status of for the next week or so: the dress form and the bra. The form is in process, but will likely await the purchase of batting and the receipt of extra boob foams. The bra is something I just keep putting off because I have other things to do. I really don't know why I'm avoiding it so effectively. I don't feel stressed by it. Maybe, on some level, I sense that I might be traumatized by another failure learning experience. Maybe it doesn't matter when I do it, and I get that, so I'm just being chill. Really, the jury is out.)

But back to the denim leggings. This time here's what I did:

• I cut the small - and man, was that a smart idea. I don't care if it does say the small fits a size 26 waist, I can tell you that's not true.
• I still had to shorten the crotch length by almost 2 inches.
• I also recreated my "sloper" crotch depth curve on front and back seams.
• I didn't insert the ankle zippers (I wasn't going to waste my time if this version was a fit bust) and the ankles are very snug - when putting the pants on. I have super slim calves - I was going to call them skinny, but I feel that "slim" makes them sound more exotic and lovely - so it's not a problem for me, but it could be on someone more "average" in the calf width.
• They are definitely not long. Esp. once one removes 2 inches in crotch length. If you were tall, you'd need to add length from the get go, crotch length shortening notwithstanding. I'm 5'3" and my hem was a mere half inch. I serged every edge so this was just fine for me.

Thoughts and feelings:

• I don't know that I love them at this moment, though I will give them a fighting chance. They do fit really well in the leg and I suspect they'll look great with tall boots. Having said that, I just can't enjoy the elastic waist vibe. It screams "leggings" rather than "denim". I guess I have a prejudice. I think that elastic waistbands are the purview of the older woman.
• Having said that, I know that the elastic waist will be totally comfortable and will diminish the likelihood of "muffin top". The elastic is 1 inch. I suspect, if your stomach were a challenge-area, you might be able to alter the top of the pants (increase them by 1 inch at the waist) and use 2 inch elastic. How supportive would that be??
  
• I can't advise you if you're a pear - Lord knows, I don't understand you women :-) - but if you are an apple, def. cut one size smaller than your measurements. This pattern fits large.
  

Anyone else made them at this point? Any thoughts or feelings??