Vogue 8774

Hello!  My semester from hell is finally over and I am back to sewing!  I bit off  more than I could possibly do and stay sane.  My full time job as an instructional coach, teaching 2 classes at South Dakota State University and taking a graduate level class was a lot.  I should have known better, but I really need to learn to say no. It is finally over and I can get my life back.  Yay!

I purchased this fabric earlier this winter when I was visiting DD1 who lives in Delaware.  I loved it when I bought it but had no plan.  DD1 said, "Pants, mom.  Pants."  Really?  Pants?  I asked again and she insisted so here is my review for this Vogue pattern made with this wild fabric!

Vogue 8774, rated Average.  Description: Fitted, tapered or straight-legged jeans (below waist) have shaped waistband with hook and eye closure, carriers, front and back pockets, back yokes and binding for front fly zipper closing.  Topstitching and narrow hem.  Purchased belt.

Pattern Sizing: AAX (4 to 10) C5 (10 to 18).

Fabrics: Denim, lighweight canvas, velveteen.  Lining lightweight twill.  My fabric came from the home decor department, which DD2 promptly said she they looked like drapes.  Hmmm...., what do you think? 

Notions: one 7" zipper, one hook and eye closure and heavy thread for topstitching.

Yes, despite the fact my fabric is busy, it does resemble the pattern envelope.  At least I think so anyway!  I started with a 16 but took these in quite a bit at the waistline, a little in the hips and some in the thighs.  I made view A.  The pattern envelope doesn't have them cuffed, but it was so dreadfully humid today, I decided they needed to be. 

Directions: I thought the directions were really good.  Especially for the fly construction.  One of my beefs with patterns is that the fly doesn't fully cover the zipper however this pattern compensates for this!  Yay!  I thought everything was logical and put together in an intuitive manner.  There were a few steps I eliminated but more on that later.  

Likes:
1.  The one piece shaped waistband.  Comfortable and hits me at a great location wear wise.  Sort of at the top of my hip bone and doesn't dig into my waist.
2.  The fly construction.  As I stated previously, the fly covers the zipper completely.  Unlike some other patterns I have tried.  For this reason only, I will be using this pattern again!
3.  The back yoke, I like this.  It gives more shaping and ability to make a swayback adjustment easily.  Plus, I think it gives the pattern a sort of designer look.
4.  Belt loops that attach to the yoke.  I like this feature.  It makes the attachment of those easy and gives the pants a different look.  I don't think the loops are too long at all, despite what some other reviewers have said about this feature.
5.  Length.  Even though I cuffed my pants, they hit me just at the top of my foot.  Perfect.
6.  Although I didn't do this step, I do really like finishing off the fly facing with the bias edging.  I see this in higher end RTW all the time and do appreciate the extra little detail.  I do agree with other reviewers that this makes the denim rather bulky, but you could use a fabric that is rather light weight and it wouldn't necessarily add bulk.

Dislikes:
1.  This was my only dislike regarding the pattern.  If you choose to topstitch the design on the back pockets (view B) you should use interfacing?  Really?  I've never heard of this before. I didn't use all the rows of stitching but I did make one line of the design so no need for the interfacing.

Modification: I made my usual 1/2" swayback adjustment by shortening the seam between the back yoke and the waistband.  I think I could have gone another 1/4" at least and may try that next time.
As I said earlier, I took in the waistband about 1" and the hips about 1/2" and the upper thighs about an inch.  I really like the fit.  They are comfortable and don't gap anywhere.  

Recommendations:  Oh yes, I do recommend this pattern.  I like the fit, it was easy to put together and fairly fast.  I cut this out in an hour or so and stitched it up in about 3 hours.  For a puttzer like me, this is FAST!

I will be making more of these!
Thanks for reading!
Sue