Jalie or McCalls jeans? Alterations to both patterns

I'm so glad Spring break is over and I can finally get back to my sewing! Now that all the kids are back in school, and my workload is still very minimal, I can work on my jeans again.

Alterations have been finished on both pattern. Here's what I did after comparing each pattern to my favorite pair of Levis.

Jalie was the same in crotch measurements, so I'll start with this one first. I wanted a little more width in the upper legs and hip and considered tracing another pattern. Instead, I just added the extra generous 1/8" to the side seam from waist tapering to the knee. Most of my baggage is unfortunately located in the outer thigh, so that's where I added the space. If you click on the pictures, you can see the addition of blue alteration lines.


I also decreased the length by chopping off 4 inches from the botton. When I measured it out, the distance from crotchline to knee was pretty close to my measurements, so I made no length changes above the knee. I also made the adjustments necessary for the yoke/pocket/waistband pieces.

McCalls alterations are a little trickier. First I retraced a size 10 since 14 seemed way to big for stretch jeans. 10 was much closer in measurements to my Levis. After lopping off 4" from the hemline, I adjusted the back crotch length, adding 1 1/2" to make it a little closer in length to my Levis. I also tapered in 3/4" on both sides at the knee to add some shaping. This alteration was tapered from 2" below the crotchline to the knee, then back out to 0 at the hem. I added a generous 1/8" to the sideseams for a little extra space at the hip to waist. Thigh measurements were actually close enough that I didn't feel I needed to make any adjustments. Again, if any adjustments affected the pocket pieces and yoke, I made those as well. Click on the pics below and you'll be able to see the blue adjustment lines.


Yippee! We're getting to the good part.

Ready.... set..... CUT!