PANTS FITTING ISSUES...(detailed post)

...I can't believe that I didn't make a single pair of pants during the fall/winter season.  If you'll remember, it was back in September when I became completely involved with my Carnival of Skirts - that later turned into a sew-a-long -  and I didn't stop until mid-January when I began completely involved with making over my fabulous pea coat.  Boy didn't I enjoy wearing all those skirts ALL WINTER LONG!  Now I find myself in desperate need of new pants.

Last weekend I tried a new pants pattern - didn't work, caused disgust, trashed them immediately - don't even want to talk about that pattern.   So now I'm coming to terms with my old TNT pant pattern.  Yes, it's an OLD pattern, but I've been able to come up with some pretty nice looking and fitting pants from this pattern.  I wore a pair made from it a few weeks ago and a sewing friend asked if I made them.  She said that had she not known that I make the majority of my clothes, she would have thought they were RTW.  I trust her judgment not only because I was flattered, but it did serve to help with my confidence level.

When I make this pattern I turn the front tucks into darts for a more modern appeal.

Every pair made from this pattern have not been a total success, but the majority have.  Yet, I call it a TNT.   BUT if I still have to work out kinks, wrinkles, or other fitting issues IS IT TRULY A TNT PATTERN???  So I went back to the drawing board with the same old pattern - determined that when I need a new pair of pants, I'll be able to pick this thing up and simply whip up a pair - voila, yeah just like that!

So I:

•  re-traced the original pattern
• cut a new muslin without any preconceived alterations- starting from scratch
• extra tedious work - yes!  But I plan on it being well worth it  

  What does it matter that my pants are made alike?  I contend, especially when time is of the essence, that correct fit, good construction, and quality fabric is really all that matters with this particular garment. 

Here's a picture of my major pants fitting issue and what I'm doing to eliminate it:

Pockets are sagging a little, but I can fix that by stabilizing that area during pocket construction.

It's odd, but this pattern fits me perfectly in the back.  But as you can see from the front, I'm plagued with diagonal wrinkles that extend from the crouch to the side seam.  Here you can see that I've  following Peggy Sagers advice:

• working with a muslin I've pinched out the wrinkles, pinned up the excess (right side) in a diagonal dart, and then stitched the dart in (left side). 
• Peggy (see, now I'm acting like I really know her personally) suggests disassembling the muslin and using it as the actual pattern rather than chancing error when transferring the alteration it to the original pattern piece.

Next I'll:

• mark all basted seam allowances that I've altered to make a better fit, 
• then remove all the basting stitches, completely dissembling the muslin, and
• use the muslin pieces as my pattern. 

I won't make a second muslin because I think my diagonal wrinkle problem will be solved.  I have three pairs of pants planned as my next sewing projects, one pair being (believe it or not) floral. 

Maybe by mid week I'll have a new pair of wrinkle free pants...