Grooming Help

This weekend I groomed my sister's Cairn and my little mutt. The Cairn turned out nice and I was quite pleased but my little mutt is a different story. He is a poodle/griffon cross, about 9 lbs, stocky. He has thick hair on his back and neck but the rest on his coat if fine, somewhat sparse and wavy/curly. I used a 1/2"comb all over in reverse but the legs looked straggly. So I tried to scissor them ..they looked worse. I shaved his feet and ended up running a 1/4" comb over his legs..still looked bad..and were his hair went from thick to thin on his sides ended up choppy even though I was careful not to go against the grain.
I didn't want him to have spindly little legs and that is what I ended up with and they are very untidy and choppy. I only had a wide spaced thinner and it left marks on his coat too.
How could I do this guys legs next time to get a smoother leg but not shaved? His legs are on the short side and he is..well plump...I think he looks awful on the bottom half. The top half and head turned out great though..Help!!