internet, i know we are close, but we are about to get real close with this post.
starting with my butt.
i just finished up my clover muslin, and i need help with the fitting! help! help!
there are lots of wrinkles at the crotch & sides, and the butt is straining. the waist & legs fit great, as do the hips (minus the butt area). i’m thinking i need a swayback adjustment, which is just confusing me because i’ve *never* had swayback issues with clothing – both patterns & ready to wear. huh.
here, have some more pictures.
this does not show in the pictures, but there is a small pool of excess fabric at my lower back.
what do y’all think? swayback or something else?
also, if it’s a swayback, how much am i supposed to add/remove? the diagrams on the coletterie are great, but all they say are slash and spread. need some guidance here, plz.
on a related note, the fabric for these pants is a mostly-decent stretch poplin i bought from fabric mart for something like $2/yard. it is kinda sorta see-through, which means future pants will be underlined – not a problem, since the pattern called for about 2x as much fabric than actually used wtf. also, no love for fabric mart – i had some problems with my post office, which resulted in the package being returned to sender (ok, i put the wrong zip code on the address because i am forgetful), and when i emailed fabric mart for a solution, it took them nearly a week to get back to me. in the meantime, the post office found the package, corrected the address, and had it shipped to me in less than 24 hours. i am not planning on ordering from fabric mart again.
enough about fabric mart, let’s talk about my pants!
LLADYBIRD 
Hope you don’t mind if I chime in! It looks to me like (other than the butt issues), you just have too much length in the front, which wouldn’t be a swayback issue. It might be that you have a shorter torso, or just the way your hips are shaped, or any number of combos of body part variances! That’s going to cause the bunching at the crotch and hips.
Here’s what I would try: pinch out a horizontal pleat all the way across the front (somewhere between waist and crotch). Do the same on the back, but taper it towards the center back, since you have tightness there already. So on the back, you’ll be removing length at the side seam, but not at the center.
Once you’ve done that, do a full butt adjustment. I just did one of these myself, and it made a huge difference for me! I think the fabric pooling at the back could just be a side effect of the tightness at the butt. The full butt adjustment makes the darts bigger, which could help.
ah, thank you so much for this comment! very very helpful, i will definitely try these for my next muslin 🙂
I think I just have to wait with making my muslin to see how you solve ‘the butt-issue’… I’m convinced I would have the same problem in that area and my first thought was a swayback adjustment too. But hey, a ‘full butt adjustment’ sounds so much better, right? No flat butts here!
D: There are so many adjustments for this pattern on their blog… I dunno. All I can do is wish you luck!
i just hope i don’t have to make a million muslins – i will run out of stretch fabric! argh!
I think you need to let a the crotch a little and lengthen the back crotch just maybe 1/4 inch and that would do the trick. Good Luck!
thank you for your help! hopefully muslin #2 will be the winner 🙂
I’m ‘seconding’ both Sarai and DeDe…
The butt area does look a bit too tight which is causing some wrinkles, and also seems to be pulling down the center-back waist line.
The front issue definitely seems to be a crotch length/depth issue since that’s where the lines are all pointing to. Either the crotch length is too short or the depth is too shallow.
I think once those two issues are fixed the lines at the hip area will either go away, or you may need to take in the side seams around the hips.
I’m wondering if you lengthen the crotch/or deepen it that the butt area might get better also. But I don’t think it would resolve it fully.
Sunni has a few posts about these issues too:
http://www.afashionablestitch.com/2011/sewalongs/in-which-i-finally-talk-about-the-word/
http://www.afashionablestitch.com/2011/sewalongs/discussing-at-length-crotch-length/
http://www.afashionablestitch.com/2011/sewalongs/fullness-waistlines/
& more…
the crotch length makes a lot of sense, come to think of it – i’ve made shorts before, and they needed a shorter crotch as well.
looks like i will be doing some slicing & dicing when i get home.
thanks for your help!
Yikes, pants are so much work. I am no expert, but I was thinking the same about more back crotch ease. That made a pair of past shorts fit waaay better with little other improvements.
I also bought that Fabric Mart poplin. Yes, it’s a LOT thinner than I expected, thinner than the stretch poplin at JoAnns, at least. I found some cheap clearance stretch suiting at Jo-Anns to line the final pair though. Fabric Mart was supposed to email me when the fabric shipped. Never did so I had no idea when it was coming. However, the knit I bought at the same time ($1.99) is luxurious even after the prewash. As long as they have that kind of sale I think I might order from them again. I’ll just now know what to expect.
Can’t wait to see your next muslin, you are so close!