Increasing the waist and hip on a vintage pants pattern

[lilmissltapParticipant]

Hello professor pincushion!

I need some serious advice. I recently purchased a vintage pattern for some cool palazzo pants. But I will need to make some alterations for them to fit me.

According to my calculations, I will need to widen the waistline by 5 in and hips by 3.5 in. The waist on the pattern is 28 and the hips are 38. My measurements are waist 33 hips 41.5.

I was hoping to use the pivot method, but since I have to add such a large amount I don’t know if that’s possible. I may have to use the grading method.

Further adding to my confusion is the fact that this particular pattern does not really have side seams, there is just a center seam up the front and back and for pattern pieces.

Does this mean that I need to divide the amount I need to add to the waist and hip by 8 and then add to each piece?

Or only divide by 4 add to the front and back pieces and leave the side back and side front piece alone?

Or divided by 4 and add to every piece?

Thank you so much for your help and suggestions!

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[lilmissltapParticipant]

I think I may have found my answer here:
https://www.professorpincushion.com/forums/topic/altering-princess-line-pattern-using-pivot-slide/

This may be a good topic for the Sewing Classroom, it seems like a common question 😀

Thank you!

[professorpincushionParticipant]

You can try the pivot and slide. I would just do a muslin to test your fit after you make your alterations. Because you’re increasing both the hips and the waist, I think pattern grading would be a better alternative though.

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