Slouchy Plaid Pants

Pattern: Vogue 2981, View B

Inspiration:
For these pants I had no particular inspiration other than lusting over plaid pants and pants with a menswear slouchy flair to them for two years.

Size:
My size according to pattern envelop is between 8 and 10 for hips and 12 for waist. I cut size 10 throughout. My overall fit-size conclusion: as opposed to other Alice & Olivia pants, I did not find this one running big. I suggest you go with your true hip and waist size, leave bigger SAs at the CB, and adjust as you muslin the pattern. Due to the shape of the WB, I find that it is almost necessary to make a muslin, if only with very short legs – to check for the overall hip and waist fit.

Alterations for fit:
Took about a total of 1.5” away from the side seams at the waist and blended at the hips
Shortened the pattern with 0.5” at the shortening line just above the hipline
Straightened the hip curve to an almost straight line (I do that with all patterns)
Lowered the back at the CB with 3/8” and blended at the back waist notch
Made a 0.5” deep back dart
Took 0.5” from the WB at the sides
Moved very slightly the front pleat towards the side seam
Had to take more from the CB seam (the pant part) to match the shape of my body (this is inevitable with any pattern though).
These might seem like a lot of alterations but it was really tweaking to achieve a better fit. The front and back crotch I found to be drafted nicely.

Design Changes:
Front pockets changed to iseam pockets.

Fabric:
Subtle plaid on gray background. As far as content, there is more polyester in the fabric than I would have liked but I was not sure how I would like neither the style, nor wearing plaid for bottoms, hence, decided to go with a minimal investment.

Construction:
Pant legs are lined to just below the knee.
I changed the front pockets from slant to inseam, seemed like it went better with the plaid fabric.
I have my own way of making front fly zippers (reversely engineered from some high-end RTW pants) that I always used instead of the pattern instruction. When making these pants I took photos of each step of making the closure, so hopefully some time soon will post the tutorial, if anyone is interested.

I also changed slightly the belt loop design. I stitched each belt loop 1” from the top edge to allow for inserting a skinny belt. This is actually a very minor design change but for me it made a lot of difference.