How to: Grade Between Sizes on Lisbeth Pants

Continuing on with the tutorials for the Lisbeth pants, today we are talking about grading between sizes. If your hips are a size or two smaller than your waist, or if you need some extra room in the thigh, grading between sizes may just be the fix.

One word of caution before we start, I do not recommend grading down at the waist for View B (pull-on pants) of the Lisbeth pants. The waistband of View B is drafted to be as tight as possible and already may be difficult to pull on for some. Going down in size at the waist and keeping the hips larger will likely result in pants you won’t be able to pull on.

But what if you need to go down a size or two at the hips? Let me show you how to do it.

First, print off the pattern turning on the layers of the two sizes you will be grading between.

For the adjustments, you will need the front leg, front pocket bag, back leg, yoke pattern pieces. You will also need pocket facing and the pocket opening facing optional pattern pieces if you are using them.

Front Leg Adjustments

1. Place the front leg on top of the front pocket bag, lining up the top and side edges. On the side seam, starting a few inches below the waistband seam of the larger size, draw a curved line blending the side seam of the larger size into the smaller one.

2. Trim off/cut out both the front pocket bag and the front leg pattern pieces out following the new side seam lines. Don’t discard the piece you trimmed off the pocket bag.

3. Flip the piece you trimmed off the pocket bag onto the other side of the pocket bag, lining it up with the bottom of the pocket bag.

4. Trace it and cut off the excess. Alternatively, you can fold the pocket bag in half and trace the new side seam from the adjusted side.

If you are planning to use the pocket opening facing and pocket facing pieces, you will need to adjust them as well. To do so, lay the pocket bag on top of the pocket opening facing and the pocket facing pieces, and trace the new side seam lines onto them. Trim the excess off.

Back Leg Adjustments

1. Draw in the stitching lines along the yoke attachment seam on both the yoke and back leg pieces. The seam allowances for the Lisbeth pants are ½” (1.3 cm).

2. At the side seam, line up the yoke and back leg along the stitching line you just drew. This seam will not line up perfectly because the yoke has some shaping in it. That is okay, just the part at the side seam needs to line up.

3. On the side seam, starting a few inches below the waistband seam of the larger size, draw a curved line blending the side seam of the larger size into the smaller one. Your line will start at the yoke and end at the back leg.