Tracing off a pants pattern

These are shorts, but they are going to become a pants pattern.

This took most of the working day (about four hours) (not including sanity breaks to pet the cat, eat some lunch, feed the kids)

I almost think it should be 'marking off' a pattern, as I am making marks rather than tracing lines. I will connect the dots (which often end up in different colors) later. 

I found out that it is better to spend an extra hour making sure it's all lined up right NOW rather than redoing it over and over again in muslin form. The jeans project would have taken fewer iterations to get to a medium good fit if I had taken more time with the original pattern.

Get some pins and some cheap white fabric. I recommend sheets from the thrift store. 

In this case, the cheap white stuff is from a youth production of Julius Caesar. 

Yes, old togas.  

I don't need one big piece or the same weight of fabric. A bunch of pieces I can write on will do.

You will need a lot of straight pins. 

I stuck a long flat mailing box in to keep things as flat and straight as possible. I could roll the piece back and forth to get the wrinkles out.

I cut notches at the crotch to make sure I got the correct curve.

I pinned all through the center and with the pins facing the same way to reduce the self-stabbing. This is the closest to quilting I will get.

I made dang sure I marked the pattern on the SEAM LINE.  Seam allowances are not a part of this right now.  I have no idea how wide they will be. I don't need to confuse myself with that right now.

Figuring out where the dart is going to be. Smoothing the fabric back and forth. Yawn.

Need coffee.

Need to get the cat off the window sill.

Break done. Dart marked on the seam line.

Oops, not enough fabric to get to the seam

I'm not washing these; add a strip with doublesided tape!

Mark where the pockets are if you like them. If you don't like them, ignore them. Don't forget the added fabric for the pocket facing if there is one. And trace the pocket bag as a separate item JUST on the seam line (even the bottom part).

Repeat on the other side of the leg. Each piece gets its own piece; doubling them up leads to madness. Make sure to make  the different waist band parts and fly pieces and MARK them as to which/where they go. Don't add seam allowances until you're making the pattern itself.

Yes, this takes time. And it beats drafting a whole new pattern you won't like. Take your time, take some breaks, this is brain/hands work at it's finest.