Vogue 2948 Sandra Betzina pants

Pattern Description: Tapered pants have front and back princess seams, contour waistband and left side or back zipper closure with button tab. A: topstitch detail and front pockets. B: contrast strip trim, forming piping. I made view A

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes

Were the instructions easy to follow?
Sandra's instructions are really excellent. Two things that I take a slight issue with are her instructions for the invisible zip, and attaching the facing at the zipper edge. SB has you insert the zipper when the seam is open, which makes matching a crossing seam nearly impossible. Unless I misunderstood the instructions, when you sew the facing to the zipper tape you should remove some of the end of the facing to make it lie right when you turn it back to the inside. The instructions tell you to sew it in an 1/8" seam, which leaves too much of the facing to have it lay flat when you turn it out. I ended cutting off about 1/2" to the end of the facing.
What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I liked the slim style, and the cf and cb princess seams which makes it easier to fit, especially if like me you have a very flat rear end. The faced contour band was a really good shape for me and fit well.
Fabric Used:
I used a linen lycra blend from Manhattan fabrics that's been in my stash for ages. I wanted brown and had this, but honestly, I avoid fabrics with a lot of lycra these days. This fabric is so stretchy that it made fitting harder. I kept having to take it in and it is still too big. I will see what happens when I make these again in fabric with less stretch. The good thing about this fabric is that it wrinkles much less than plain linen.

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made:
I had a tnt pattern and between weight gain and my constant fiddling with the fit, I totally screwed it up, so I decided to start from scratch. This pattern had been in my stash since it came out a couple of years ago and since I didn't have to trace it, I decided to give it a try. I had just bought Patty Palmer's dvd on pant fitting using the Palmer Pletsch tissue fitting method and decided to follow it and the Pants for any Body book step by step. I am lucky to have a 3 way mirror set up that makes fitting myself easier. As they recommend, I used a larger size so that I could take a tuck in the back and still have the side seam in the correct place. However, I wore them the other day and they are too big. I also need to remember to sit down when I am fitting to make sure that the waist doesn't dip down too far. I had to take in the back inseam so much that the back crotch became too short, which I would have caught if I'd sat down while I fit them!
Alterations I made:
flat rear end
short front crotch
low rear end
lowered the side seams, lower on my straighter side
took in the back inseam quite a bit, but I think that this had a lot to do with the amount of stretch in my fabric.
I used a different method for installing the invisible zipper. Most methods for installing an invisible zipper tell you to sew it in before sewing the side seam. Well, it works, but try and get a crossing seam to match up! I prefer using Els' method that she has posted on the Sewing Divas.

It sounds like a lot, but I could find every wrinkle I had in the book and thus find a solution. I have made many pants muslins over the years, and this was more accurate and easier to do.
Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I definitely will sew this again, and I highly recommend this.

Conclusion:
I don't remember the last time I made a Vogue pattern pair of pants, but these Sandra Betzina pants are wonderful. I think that they are flattering and they are comfortable to wear. Not just because of the stretch, but there is no pulling on the front leg when I move. But, as I said above, I'll take them in a bit more the next time I make them.