Saturday, April 7, 2012

Pants - Phooey

Can I start by stating that I really don't WANT to post these ? Yeah, I'm going to anyway. What follows is the result of making a muslin in a stretchy fabric, GUESSING the necessary changes for a non-stretchy final fabric and sewing with fingers crossed. Take it from me - DON'T DO IT ! :-)

Yesterday I jury-rigged an underflap for the fly. No idea if I did it 'right' but at least there is one installed now.
I also got the waistband pieces cut out and interfaced.

This morning, I decided the goal would be to get everything basted so DH could get a couple of daylight pics.
Instead of working hidden down in the basement, I pulled out one of my Singer 99s and set it up in the sunroom. Got some practice in on threading, winding a bobbin and adjusting both tension and stitch length. Hubby thought to snap pics while I wasn't paying attention...

...and the pants. First up, the back, I'm still pretty ok with the crotch seam. I used the 1" Center Back seam as given on the pattern. This seemed to work to my body shape. There was also a 1" SA at the top of the back inseam - I think that one's ok too. BUT, the side seams had a 1" safety net and I only sewed them at a 5/8" SA. As you can see, they're too tight from the hips all the way up to the waist. There are diagonal wrinkles on both sides but worse on the left (high hip ?). I'm going to start with letting out the sideseams to see if any of the wrinkles drop out and go from there.

Next two - the sideseams. Pros - Seams are straight. Cons - too tight and you can see the back diagonal wrinkles.

...and the front. Pros - no vertical wrinkles/folds at the top of the front inseam, no camel toe. Cons - too tight.

All in all - I believe these were a much better starting point than the Burda, or even the Ottobre (capris made a couple years ago - mucho wrinkles !). Sure there are things to fix but maybe not so much once I loosen up those seams.

Maybe a better fitting pic tomorrow...

1 comment:

  1. These pants look pretty good actually, it looks like only a little tweaking could make them perfect. When I see the diagonal lines, it immediately makes me think: must drop side seams! So, if I could be so bold, as well as making them a smidgen wider, I'd also add a little extra height to the side waist. That ought to get rid of the diagonal pulling....
    Happy Easter!

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