High Waisted Skirt - V8425, View A

I apologize for the see-thru cami... but don't have another picture at this time!

Pattern: V8425

Inspiration:
Rebecca Taylor Pencil skirt retailing at Nordstrom for $250.

Size:
My size according to pattern envelop is between 8 and 10 for hips and 12 for waist.
After consulting measuring the pattern I decided on cutting size 4 in the hips blending into size 6 at the waist. The WB is cut in size 6. Also, I did some reshaping at the side seams due to me not having much of a hip curve and ended up downsizing the pattern at the hips with a whole size.
In conclusion on sizing, this pattern runs big. My advice: do not go by the size as on the pattern envelope, rather decide on which size to trace after consulting the finished garment hips and waist measurement (indicated on the pattern) and cut your muslin with 1” seam allowances at the vertical seams.
Also, a conclusion I arrived at: when making muslins for particularly fitted garments I find it more accurate to work with some cheat heavier weight cotton, instead of muslin. What I have observed on both pants and skirts is that in these instances muslin stretches and gives a wrong idea of fit, at least with me.

Other alterations:
I performed a petite alteration by shortening the pattern with 1.75” at the shortening line.
Drafted lining pieces:
Redrafted the CB seam to allow for the pleat
Eliminated the front and back vertical seams and converted then into waist darts.

Design Changes:
I tapered significantly at the hem (app. 4”), blending to nothing at the hips.

Fabric:
Japanese Woven fabric – “Roam If You Want To” - from http://www.gorgeousfabrics.com/.
The fabric has no stretch in either direction. Ideally, for this pattern it should have some crosswise stretch.

Construction:
I followed Laura’s advice and used boning in the waistband. The facing of the waistband in underlined with black cotton pocketing and the underlining is interfaced with fusible woven interfacing.
The skirt is lined and the lining is anchored to the shell at the back pleat and to the side seams.
The front and back vertical seams, as well as the waistband horizontal seams are pick stitched by hand (somewhat of a surprisingly calming activity, actually) with black buttonhole twist.

My gripes about this pattern:
Sizing: I truly believe the Big 4 should work on sizing their patterns better so that they a/correspond to the respective body measurements and b/reflect the intended style.
The pattern does not include lining. IMO, this style DEFINITELY needs lining. While lining a skirt is no rocket science, the back pleat makes it a bit more difficult and separate pattern pieces for the back lining as well as some directions would have been very helpful.
While boning is not a must in this case (although, if you are less that a six-pack person, it is kind of a necessity…), I still think that the pattern should at least have included a suggestion to bone the waistband.
It just seams to me that Vogue took the easy road with writing the instructions for this pattern. They are not bad by a long stretch, just not good enough.

Pattern re-use idea:
Completely by accident I came across this dress by Rebecca Taylor, again. It is called “Faux Two Piece Dress.” While I am not a ruffle-person, I love the visual of separates and the fact that it is a dress. Also, how fabulous is the back exposed zipper?

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.