Bootstrap came out with pant blocks in the last month or so and I was ON that! Easiest place for me to start is the pull-on pant block. 

Pant fitting is a bit scary to me because I've had so many unusual fitting challenges - full thighs measure same as full hip, curvy booty, sway back, shallow front crotch depth. The most I've felt successful at with pants are my happy pants, which are a variation of the Cake Espresso Leggings which are darn close to a drafting it yourself. 

The measurements I entered were exact dimensions of my body. Actuals, rather than any positive or negative ease accounted for. Because the pattern allows for a choice of stretch between 1% and 5%, and I chose 5% stretch fabric option on the pattern, I figured it would also remove some ease when it drafted for my body.  

To minimize waste, I created a working muslin in bike short length. I copied the pattern so I could shorten it as I desired and keep the remaining leg bits for making a capri, then full legging length later.  I measured the inseam length of an existing pair of comfortable bike shorts, then marked accordingly on both front and back pieces. 

To compare, I placed my fine tuned Espresso Legging pattern, that I've used many times before, atop the bootstrap pattern. Whoa! Was I surprised. Do you see how much smaller the back (or half since the espresso's have no side seam) of the espresso is compared to the bootstrap pull on knit pant? My espressos could be a bit more snug along the legs anyway. Fabulous how the back crotch curve nearly matches the one I created through many trials on the espresso! That tells me I'm really close!  Score!!!!!!!!  The excess ease in the knit pant block also indicates to me that it was not designed to be a legging with negative ease, but rather a more casual dress style pull on pant, like something for Ponte.  Not bad by any means. Interesting. 

Honestly, I'd rather have a pattern that fits exactly with too much ease that I can reduce.  ​Why is that? Because, the quick and dirty way to remove that excess ease is by folding out along the grainline. Basically (and loosely) along the centerline of the body.  I ended up taking out about 2" of ease overall. That reduced thigh, hip, waist, etc. all in circumference by 2".  Which means I created 2" of negative ease. Make sense? ​

They fit super well! In fact, I took photos in the mirror immediately and sent them to Kelly Hogaboom, The Vegan Tailor, with my exclaims of delight of how F'n awesome Bootstrap is! :D It's great to have sewing friends you can text at strange hours of the day or night with squeals of joy or cries for help over sewing trials and tribulations. 

I went after 2 more pair of leggings now that I'd had decent success with the bike shorts. Ok, whew. I won't be wasting fabric now. So I dug into my new Fabric Mart Nylon Lycra, and some Marcy Tilton knit chainlink print I bought at Sew Expo from Marcy & Katherine a few years ago. 

If you look closely at the image below, you'll see that my pattern has marks along grain for 1-1/4" and 2". Those are how much I took out of my exact measurements to create the negative ease. Pretty cool, huh?  To go from bike short to capri to legging, I just tape on and cut off as needed. The paper I use for patterns is Costco Butcher Paper. Brilliant stuff. Very durable!

I attempted to pattern match the pants the same way I did the Bootstrap Fashion Bias Trim Princess Seamed Sleeveless Top #41951 I just made by getting the bottom print to match. But, unfortunately, it didn't work out as planned. Besides, the knit had skewed some as it washed, so the grain of the print and the grain of the knit were askew from one another. In the photo above, the knit grain leans diagonally up to the right compared to the direction of the print which appears to be vertical. Sigh. I also turned and cut the pieces on the cross grain as I felt that allowed enough stretch while simultaneously offering the best (and most flattering) look of the chain link. 

How am I so productive? I tend to draft a bunch of stuff one night, the next night I cut multiple patterns, followed by mad fury sewing the successive days and evenings. 

I sewed up the pink supplex capri length after the bike shorts. It was super stretchy 4-way.  

The black fabric has less stretch and doesn't recover as well as the pink supplex. Because of the lack of recovery I expected to need to do more fitting.  

In leggings I've made, I've noticed that I tend to have funny wrinkles and excess fabric which bunches up behind the knee. That showed me I could take in the area of the knee more. So, I estimated knee point by marking with a pin on the black chainlink pair, then marked the knee on both and took them in 1/2" on one side only. I didn't want to go too far. Look at the photo below. The far right straight line is my original stitching line. The 2 angled lines which look like a highly exaggerated "< " (less than sign) also known as a near 180 degree angle, (probably 175 degrees), are what I modified. That turned out to be a much cleaner, closer fit. 

Something else I've learned to prepare for with any legging is to be ready to adjust hem length. Often, even if I measure exact length, fabric behavior can cause me to need less or more fabric. In the case of the black leggings, I cut off around 2-1/2" from the hem. Then, to be safe, I allowed for a 1" hem. That way, if it shrinks more when I wash them (I already prewashed at least once if not twice), I'll have a little something to work with. I also kept the cut off bits which could be reattached later if needed. 

Since I made 3 different pair from one pattern using 3 different fabrics, I thought you'd appreciate seeing the fabric up close and it's behavior on my body. ​

These bike shorts are PERFECT for under a skirt. The color will be unassuming and not quite, but closely blend in with my skin. I wanted to see just how "nekked" one looks in this color & fabric from a distance.  I also wanted to see how see-through of a fabric it is. Quite see through and quite nekked it seams. I would not wear these in public without wearing a skirt or dress atop them.  

I did test these by dancing in them in a very hot place. They worked really well.  They are: 

• Comfy
• Easy to pull on and off for frequent bathroom trips.
• They didn't wick sweat a bunch, but they also didn't hold it to my body.

Next up were the Supplex nylon lycra capris. The listing on Fabric Mart's site (click the fabric photo below for link). said it was heavier hand. However, I ordered 3 types of supplex and of the 3, this one is quite thin. It feels much like a thick tight to me. And true to form, it looks like a tight on my body - revealing, thin, .  I love how sumptuous it feels on, though. It's like wearing jammies! 

The capris are: 

• A beautiful color
• incredibly adaptive to movement
• have great recovery
• more revealing than I prefer (I can see my flubber and panties as though my body were painted this color instead of wearing fabric)
• soft next to the skin

I would totally make tights with this fabric. Though based on the website descriptions, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between this and the firmer type of supplex. If you can find this and you like or need ballet leotard or tights like fabric, get some. From what I can tell, this is the only one of it's weight. I'd classify it as mid to light weight, definintely thinner than the denim blue supplex. 

I FEEL like a dancer when I wear these. And I wore them under dresses, as is all around on the recent girls weekend where we made drums. The girls loved them and made several nice comments. That's a sign of a good piece I'd say. Even with as revealing as they are, they have their place!

Last are the cotton knit chain link in legging length. I wasn't so sure about these. I originally bought them with a sudden burst of passion, confidence and inspiration that they would be leggings. Katherine Tilton agreed they'd be perfect for that. But, then my confidence waned and they sat in my stash for a while. 

After I spent some time walking thigh deep in salt water this summer dreaming of surfing again, I decided I am part mermaid. So there!  I love mermaids. I mean, heck! I already paint them, have had art shows using them, channel them, why couldn't I too be one?!  Still a little tenuous, I put the query out to Instagram and had resounding yes's! 

Since I mentioned the fitting issues above, below are the photos post adjustment. Be sure to take a look at the fit around the back of the knee. And keep in mind that I know I'm not winning any awards for pattern matching.  The print on this fabric is a little bit resistive, but dang it conforms and recovers much better than I anticipated. I'm so happy! Mermaid happy!

Best compliment on these? My mom said, "You need to make 10 more pair of those." Yeah, we have a winner! Woo hoo!

Oh lord, the moment I saw this bootstrap princess seamed bias trim top #41951 I knew I had to make it. But what fabric to use? 

I hunted and hunted. Scoured my extensive stash, yet could find no satin. Nothing with a slightly heavy body other than linen and denim. Nah... not really my thing for a high backed neck top. You see, I have an average, but shorter neck. I like freedom of movement and no fabric getting in my way at the back of my neck.  Then, I remembered trying to pattern match some seahorse print fabric by Tula Pink. It was a B*tch to match in garments. Was I ready to pattern match again? Why not, I'd already let it sit half cut for a couple years. It couldn't waste it nor ruin it more. 

Along the way, I felt like the single bias neckline trim wouldn't be drown in all the coral color and wouldn't really stand out well. So, I made up my own bias trim for the armscye. I quite like it!  After stitching each seam, I also serged the raw edges.  That makes the Buddha happy too you know. ;) 

I have quite enjoyed having and using this little measuring gauge I bought from Bravo Bella. It's most handy on hems. 

Notice the pattern matching along the horizontal plane? That's perpendicular to the adjoining seam you see above. Damn I am good. How did I do it? By matching up the pattern of the print at the hemline on a cut piece. I used that one piece for each and every alignment before I cut. Worked like a charm!

I like having my paper tape double to check the way the garment will look on my body along the way. I want things to be pleasing to the eye. This was the stage I chose to add in the bias strips on the armscyes.

Look at that pattern matching! BAM!  Who's the rockstar?! ME!

​Oh, I should mention, this is 4 pieces with 3 seams in the photo below.

Here I am, wearing the finished piece. Notice how the pattern matching is so critical even from a distance? A little bit of a jog and it would create disharmony in the piece. 

The bias strip is lovely, though it kind of gets in my way. I don't have a terribly long neck, but I like freedom of motion. I found myself folding the bias strip to slim down the collar portion.

Once I mastered the pattern matching, this thing sewed together like a dream. The ONLY issue was the space alotted for the bias strip attaching to the sides wasn't low enough. The pattern is a bit of a puzzle at that junction between upper, lower front side, bias strip and side seam to the back side. It all has to fit together. So, to adapt and keep pressing on, I just took a quick tuck. I think it adds to the flare and it definitely keeps the bias strip out of my range of arm motion.

Isn't that fascinating how the pattern appears to arc in the back? I like how the bias armscye strips show up when my hair is down and the bias strip collar isn't visible. 

This top is totally unlined and made solely of quilting cotton. I really like it and could see making another for a nice summer top.  Though, I might

• lower the neckline in the front a little
• taper the bias strip
• or lower that bias/front/back side junction in order to allow for the full height of the bias strip. 

​What do you think of it?  Would you have done something different with the bias junction?