Amy Butler Lounge Pants

I became a fan of Amy Butler well before I ever got my sewing machine. I love her printed fabric and I think her patterns are really cute and fun. I happened to browse through her book In Stitches one day and I liked the look of the lounge pants. I did a little more investigation on Pattern Review and I liked the look of the pants based on all the pictures I could find. They are described as a wide-leg lounge pant, which I thought would be great - I tend to gravitate towards wide-leg pants in general to balance out my pear-shaped figure. I selected a pink Amy Butler peony print with a complimentary polka dot fabric for the bottom trim.
The "pattern" that is included with the book is just the start of the pattern. You have to add the leg portion to the pattern pieces that are provided with freezer or parchment paper. When you're finished, the pattern pieces resemble very large rectangles with no curvature for the hips. This should have been my first clue that maybe this wasn't the ideal pattern for me. But no, I forged ahead, cut out the pants and started to sew them up using french seams - a technique that I had just learned in sewing class and that I LOVE! Jim was watching me do all of this and commented that "Those look like clown pants babe." I brushed off his comments and continued onward. I knew that I wanted to do something slightly different for the top of the pants. The directions have you just add a drawstring at the top, but I wanted them to have an elastic waist with a drawstring on the outside, enclosed in a casing from a separate piece of fabric - somthing that is done on a pair of RTW sleep boxers I own and I think is super cute. I figured out the dimensions for adding the drawstring casing at the top of the pants, cut it out, attached it and added the drawstring though it before adding the elastic at the waistband. All of that took some time to figure out and execute, but it turned out great! I then hemmed the pants and added the trim to the bottom. Again, it turned out so very cute!
I finally put on the finished pants and well...gulp... they're clown pants. :/ I love a wide-leg pant, but holy smokes, these are HUGE! For once, I don't think it's me making them too big, either, as they fit comfortably in the waist and hips, but the legs are ginormous. I have a feeling that these are cuter on someone who is much less curvy. So, I think I executed the pants well, but this pattern most definitely doesn't work on my body. So sad. :(
Since they were intended to be around the house pants anyways, it's not a huge loss, but I am a bit bummed that this awesome fabric is now a pair of pants that are just meh, instead of something I love. I have a wide-leg pj pant pattern from Simplicity that I found after making these pants that I intend to make up later this winter. The reviews I've read have been positive and one even mentioned that they are a much more normal wide-leg pant, instead of the "sultan" pants from Amy Butler. I'm hoping that they're right.