Ralph's Pants #3600 ~ Silhouette Patterns

I'm a bit all over right now.  Basically experiencing sewing and fitting overload, not sure what I want to concentrate on.  I'll get back to that in a bit with some rambling...

I decided to today to work on a pattern I've owned for a few years but never sewed up.  It's Peggy Sager's Ralph's Pants #3600.  It's very similar to a pair of slacks that fits me pretty well.  I've been watching her webcasts and she talks a lot about the draft and it made me realize that for the most part, I can buy pants that fit (obviously not all fit, but I don't struggle with pants) so I thought I should try what I have already.

Here's the photo, a straight forward, lower waisted, curved waistband sort of pant style:

I made up my muslin based on the size 14 which is a 41" hip when seated.  I did attempt to measure my "so-called" best fitting pants, but I wasn't exactly sure where to measure, and they came out to 43" and I just know that's too big at the hip.  My hips aren't the problem, my waist is.

So here is my straight up size 14 muslin.  I believe I'm happy with the front, the back at the center crotch looks good.  A bit high at the center back, not sure if that's just the lighter-weight muslin or not.  I'm seeing dragline on the side photo, pointing right to my upper hip area, and the thigh is obviously too loose there.

I think maybe my best choice is dropping down a size, to the size 12, which should help in the thigh and rise (in the back), but I'll have to possibly delete the 2nd back dart.  Is that where that drag line is pointing to???

Or maybe I'll just start with pinching out a bit of fabric and seeing what I come up with.  The do appear to be hanging straight in the back, just a bit extra towards the outer thigh.

This is where fit gets a bit confusing.  I feel I'm close, the muslin felt amazingly good, and if I sewed it up as is they'd fit as well as any other pants I have.  So I know I'm close.

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I said I had a bit of a ramble....

I signed up for a bunch of Craftsy classes and am already going bonkers with fit issues.  When my sewing mojo came back I decided to do it right and really learn to fit.  But as I fit, I feel overwhelmed.  I don't like feeling like I'm over-fitting.  I'm not sure where the happy medium is.  I do know we all feel like this at times and learning to fit makes each of us feel deformed.  I know, I know....we're not deformed, but it is difficult, and things we'd never notice in RTW we pick apart in our own sewing.

So I am going to do my best not to get overwhelmed and work on it, but also work on finding patterns that work for me.