similar to Lutterloh

but probably lower budget is this patterning system I found at a yard sale a couple years back, Perfect Pants Plus by Tom Johnston and Company.  As far back as I could Google I could find no mention of the company, Mr. Johnston, or the patterns. I wonder if the Lutterloh people went after them for copyright violations.   Both systems have paper-doll sized patterns and illustrations that you enlarge to your own very personal size by taking your measurements with a regular tape measure (PPP used metric).  After cutting out and taping together their special (and fairly imprecise!) measure, you pin the measure down and spin it around to mark landmarks from which to draw your pattern.  It seems feasable, but a little tricky.  I've had the thing for a couple years but until this week never pulled it out to try any designs.  I went looking for some fitted shorts to break up the monotony of all the baggy ones I'm going to make this year.  I thought these were cute:

There are no construction instructions, and it looks like no facings because I think these need some at the waist. I did look dubiously at that crotch curve.  Then I jumped in, risking only a piece of paper.

It was not a thing of beauty.  This looks different from the doll illustration.  The crotch curve is even more shallow, and the waist comes way more in, the hips are jutting out from the thighs.  Perhaps it would fit a life sized 60's era Barbie. So, instead of wasting more time trying to adapt this to me, I got out the sloper and slightly modified it.

They are both closely fitted with darts. I just straightened the curve down from the hips on the sloper and made them short length.  I'll probably use an invisible side zip. They are cut out and in a pile with 2 drawstring shorts and 2 tank tops.  I'm finding if I spend separate time cutting, I'm happier when I sew.

I'm not giving up completely on this pattern book though.  Besides the circa early 70's fashions for women, there is stuff for men, boys, girls, and babies.

The little kid stuff just tickles me pink, probably nostalgia for my own Mom-sewn carefree days before lycra and mortgage payments.

I've been spending more money online fabric shopping and will give some opinions along with some show and tell of shorts and tops next time.  I also decided bag this!! with the blank-ed pdf printing and purchased a pattern to be shipped, a vogue that doesn't come in my size but I wanted bad enough to commit to grading up.  I promise it isn't a bikini.  I haven't sufficiently recovered from the dose of full body-photographic reality I went through with the last post.  Also, in between trying to figure out how to make patterns work and with which fabrics, lawn mowing, window washing (5 out of 48, but it really is progress) I managed to slip in one day of this....

Lewes Beach Delaware, on the Bay so the waves don't knock the preschoolers around.  This one still wasn't too much about that salt life yet.  Give him a year.