continuing my saga with the clover, here is muslin #3. yes, i made a second muslin and no, there are no pictures because i made them in brown fabric & you couldn’t see ANYTHING except the fact that i was wearing shorts (shorts muslin ftw!).
i have stopped hyperventilating about using up my stretch fabric in a thousand muslins, as i had a fabric epiphany the other morning & realized i had an entire stack of this awful polyester that i can’t seem to get rid of for some reason. there is just the right amount of stretch, and several yards of it – which, if i remember correctly, cost me something like $5 for the whole stack at a thrift store. why i have kept it for so long, i can’t tell you, except that obviously fabric hoarding *does* have it’s benefits 🙂 so anyway, i’ve got plenty of fabric to keep making muslins. yay!
to be frank, the only thing keeping me cranking these out is knowing that once i get it perfect, i can use this pattern over & over… and also as a block for other pants-fitting needs.
i don’t think i’ve quite reached the wearing point yet, but i know i’m close. what do y’all think? so far i have shorted the front crotch by 1 1/4″ (I KNOW. and it looks like i need to shorten it more!), added approx 3/8″ FBA, and lengthed the back crotch an extra 1/2″. oh, and i tapered the legs about 1/4″ down the sides. excuse the lumps at the hips – that will be smoothed out in the final pattern.
i may take the waist in a smidge more as it’s the smallest bit too loose
i still get a little excess when i stand a certain way… not sure if that’s something that can be adjusted out, or if it’s just the nature of wearing tight-fitting pants like these.
excuse the panty lines, but hey – the fit looks good back here, no? can i also add that i think it’s hilarious that i need a FBA top & bottom? hahahaha
these were originally going to be a ~wearable muslin~ but i don’t think i’m quite there yet. i do see a light at the end of the tunnel, though!
in other news, here’s a sneak peak at another project i’m working on:
ceylon in green wool. it’s been on the backburner for a week or so because i decided to hand embroider the yoke on a whim. i like the way it’s looking, though!
LLADYBIRD 
Oh, Oh! That Ceylon is going to be fabulous!
I have so much respect for you doing clover. You are magical. That dress made me super excited though. I can’t wait to see it finished!
Drooling over your embroidery! It’s going to be fab once it’s finished. 🙂 It looks like the pants are getting closer, and like you said, once you get the fit down you’ll be able to reuse it over and over, so don’t get discouraged.
That dress looks gorgeous!
I have held off on ordering the Clover pattern because I think I will be making a LOT of adjustments 😦 Maybe my New Years resolution will be to make them!
i think everyone will need to make adjustments, but mostly because we are all shaped SO drastically different. the clover sew-along & pants cheatsheet have been super helpful, so at least you won’t be going at it alone 🙂 i definitely recommend buying it! once you get the fit down, you can use it to adjust other pants slopers. plus, the actual construction is really really easy, so you can knock out a dozen pairs. worth it, i think!
I think the clover trousers are looking pretty good. Just a few small tweaks I think! That ceylon looks stunning…I can’t wait for more close-up pics 🙂
You’re almost there with the clovers!!! I love the blue fabric too! And your ceylon is going to be the best!!! How amazing is your embroidery!!!
They look much better! I am working on these as well and I had to make similar alterations to yours. I’m petite overall but I’ve got a round butt ;).
I made two muslins and thought I had eliminated the crotch wrinkles, but when I switched to the slightly stretchier fashion fabric they reappeared. When I tried more of the same alterations to eliminate them, I feared I was entering camel-toe territory and had to give up! I can’t figure out how to get rid of them without making the pants looser.
Like you, I shortened the front crotch a lot. I eventually began to wonder if I had altered the style of pants by lowering the waist so much. It looks like it your waistband is still higher in the front than the back, and perhaps it is dipping down in the center back. Making the back waistband higher might necessitate deepening and/or lengthening the darts.
I just finished making my clovers – and yeah, I made something like 3 muslins! But I agree that its worth it because they really are like a pattern block once you get the fit where you want it. Honestly I haven’t seen a muslin of these yet that haven’t had some crazy crotch issues. I took almost 2 inches off my front rise when it was all said and done! I also had to take in the hips quite a bit and narrow the leg. The butt was fine though!
The one thing that I couldn’t seem to get rid of though was a bit of excess fabric at my… pelvis? Not really my hips, not my tummy, not the crotch, but that area where your legs join your torso… no matter how much I shortened the rise and did Flat Tummy adjustment I just couldn’t get that extra bit of fabric out!
In the end I actually don’t mind it in my final pants and I think I’m just being picky!
Good luck with your clovers!
Just finished my Clovers but boy, the fitting and alterations involved – you look like you done – Great work and what a wonderful wardrobe