Finished Project: StyleArc - Misty Jeans (v2)

I just did something that I almost NEVER do: I made the same pattern twice in one month. Seriously, I consider a pattern to be a big winner when I keep it in my "queue" pile and don't put it away after finishing it, but diving right into a second version is pretty much unheard of for me. However, I've been wearing my first pair of Misty jeans so much (and also wanted to make some fitting tweaks) that I wanted to get another pair into my wardrobe ASAP.

StyleArc Misty Jeans - v2

For the basic pattern review, you can read the post that I wrote about the first pair that I made. I'll use this post to cover the changes that I made for this pair, and will post a few side-by-side pics to compare the fit of each pair.

To start, I added functional pockets this time around and got a little fancier with the top-stitching, using white top-stitching thread. Out of the envelope, the front pockets are only a mock pocket with a facing and no pocket bag. I realize that by design, this is meant to cut down on bulk in front, but I really like having a place where I can quickly stick my phone at times. And if you know me, you know that function wins out over bulk reduction every time.

Functional front pocket

Back topstitching and pockets

So let's take a better look at the fit on these. I used the exact same denim (I'd bought a 5-yard cut) as I did for the first pair, but I made a few new pattern alterations this time around:

• Shortened the jeans by 1" above the knee and another 1" below the knee.
• Did a 1/2" full tummy adjustment using Kathleen Cheetham's method.
• Added a 1" wedge at the CB seam (to give more vertical length), tapering to nothing at the side seam.
• Did a 1/2" knock knee alteration (this was meant to get rid of the "X" wrinkles at my knees in back using Sandra Betzina's method. (There were a handful of different ways to do this alteration I found through searching the internet. Sandra's seemed the easiest, so I figured I'd try her method first.)
• Moved the back pockets in and up a touch.

Let's see how the new jeans compare to the previous pair from the front. Note that I've lightened these photos to better show the wrinkles/details:

New Misty jeans on the left; Old pair on the right

As you can see, the length alteration that I made took care of a lot of the wrinkles around the knees that you can see in the old pair (on the right). My shirt is covering the area where I was getting the "tummy pull" distortion on the right, but that is fixed now, too. I do think that the CF/crotch might be slightly too long now, and I might shorten that by a touch the next time that I make these. Overall, I feel like the fit from the front is an improvement.

And here's how they look from the back:

New Misty Jeans on the left; Old pair on the right

There's definitely an improvement in that the knock knee wrinkles aren't nearly as pronounced in the new pair. I wonder how much of the improvement is do to the length fixes that I made in this pair, but in any case, the new pair looks better.  The back pockets also look better in the new pair. Some of the knock knee alterations also incorporate a bit of a full inner thigh adjustment, and from looking at these photos, I think that would be worth trying for my next pair.

So...I'm getting there.  These still aren't quite at the point where I'd just buy a cut of stretch denim and sew them up straight off of my TNT pattern pieces, but I'm pretty happy with my progress. I am sure that you will continue to see more posts from me about new pairs of Misty jeans in the coming months!