The Thing About Pants

Posted by jmn

The thing about making pants is the fit changes over a six month period – my weight distributes just a bit differently so the pattern that worked last year won’t quite fit now even though my weight hasn’t changed much.

I bought some white linen and a medium weight denim several weeks ago. I decided I had to get those white pants done because it’s almost August and I have nowhere to store the fabric till next spring!

I didn’t want to make another pair of pull-on pants. I wanted a fly front which is actually a lot easier to get into. I pulled out my Sandra Betzina jeans pattern Vogue 7608 which I’ve been using since 2015.

My challenge is I have a very flat bum, skinny thighs but a full belly which makes my waist measurement close to my hip measurement. I last used the pattern in May 2019 (the date I noted on the draft) so I wasn’t prepared to trust the sizing of my draft – I figured I should at least lay it against my pull-on pants pattern (most recently used in Feb 2022) and was surprised how close the two actually were. Then I did what I needed to do – I took my body measurements yet again: waist, high belly, hip (at fullest), thigh, and checked them against the pattern. On this pattern I’m a size A through the bum in the back but I need a C from hip to waist. In the front I’m a C from crotch to waist. I checked the grading on my draft against the original pattern to make sure I was close to a working size.

I intended making the dart adjustment in the pants back but I needed to make sure I was getting it centered so I balanced the pattern, front and back, then added the dart to the centre back. This pattern has a back yoke (no waistband), with a waistband in the front. The smart thing was to start by working “Top Down/Centre Out“. I cut out the 2 yoke pieces, the two front waistband pieces, sewed them together, then tried it on. The fit wasn’t bad, a reasonable amount of overlap in the front, so I decided to go ahead and cut the fabric.

I was using my white linen fabric to make a muslin – if the finished garment fit I’m ahead of the game, but as usual, I was prepared to throw out the whole effort if it didn’t work.

I did all the prep work – fused interfacing where it was needed: back pocket facing, front pocket facing, waistband, yoke, both sides of the fly. I serged edges where I wanted to prevent fraying. I made up the pockets, added them to the front (I simplify the pockets by adding them to the top, rather than inserting them from behind the fronts). Now here’s where I deviated from Top Down/Centre Out construction. If this was going to be a wearable garment, I needed to set up the fly front. So I went ahead and put in the zipper, added the fly facing and top stitched the fly in place (Here are instructions for this simple fly front) (Here’s a link to a video.) With the fly completed I added each front waistband piece.

With the front done, I worked on the backs. I sewed the yoke to each back side, then sewed the back dart in each back piece, serged it (1/4″ seam allowance). Added the back pockets to each side. Now I returned to the Top Down/Centre Out technique – I sewed inner leg seams (no serging), sewed the outer leg seams (no serging), stitched the crotch seam( no serging), then tried on the pants. I could see I wanted to take in the side seams 1/2″, I wanted to remove about 1/2″ from the back crotch inner leg to flatten the bum a bit more, I also wanted to bring the back dart higher so it would finish under the pocket, finally take in the centre back 3/8″ at the waist.

I made those adjustments (marked them on my pattern draft), then I serged the seams. Tried on the pants again. I was satisfied with the fit, so I added the waistband and yoke facings (having matched them to the waistband and yoke on the pants), top stitched around those elements on the right side of the garment. I marked the inseam (27″), folded and pressed the hem, then finished the hems with a cover stitch. Last I added a button hole on the front waist tab, and a button and tried the pants on again. Overall the fit was good – but the pants were too long.

I took out the hem, shortened the legs by 1/2″. Cover stitched again – still a smidge too long. I shortened them another 1/2″.

The front fit is close but the added length interferes with how the legs fall – this was before I shortened, and reshortened the pants. The back is close – I just need to raise the dart to remove the slight bit of fullness under my bum. I’m not going to do that with these pants, by the time I’ve sat in the linen for a few minutes the back will be stretched out – I marked that adjustment on the pattern for the denim which I will make next.

All in all, after shortening the legs, I have a pair of wearable pants. A good couple of days effort.

Order Of Contruction

Posted by jmn

This afternoon I watched Janet Pray’s discussion of “order of construction” (at 3:50 minutes when Janet arrives on the scene) – the order in which you construct garments – something I learned from her several years ago (actually in 2010) when I attended a shirt-making week with her in Ancaster (near Hamilton ON). Up to that point I more or less followed pattern instructions like the rest of us home sewers, but Janet’s explanation of how to think about garment construction based on the idea of “sew on the flat” changed how I approached any garment making I undertook from that point on.

Industrial sewing is based on the easiest, most efficient way of constructing garments – that means all the prep work is done first – everything is cut out at the same time – outer garment, lining if there is one, interfacings. Next all interfacings are applied to the appropriate pieces, all exposed edges (like the open edge of a facing) are finished (either by serging, or turning under, or with a Hong Kong finish).

Then pockets are constructed and stitched to flat pieces to which they belong, plackets in shirt sleeves, shirt fronts, pant fronts (a fly front is really a kind of placket) are also constructed before the garment is assembled. Collar/collar stand are sewn so they’re ready to be attached after the shoulder seams are stitched, or the neckline facing is prepared at the same time you’re doing all the other facings.

You can see what I’m getting at here – all the detail embellishment is much easier to do while the main pieces are still separate and “flat”.

Pull-on Corduroy Pants Under Construction

Here’s my current project – a pair of cords. I followed the order of construction – first I sewed/serged the centre back seam in both back pieces (this back seam is really a teardrop dart that takes out the fullness under the bum and back thigh area of my pants because all pants are too baggy in the bum for me – this solution gives me a decent silhouette and fit). Then I pressed the seam open, edge stitched it flat, pressed again.

Next I constructed the pockets. I fused interfacing to the front pocket facing and back pocket top flap, serged exposed edges, stitched front pocket facing to pocket, pressed, edge stitched, turned and stitched facing in place; serged exposed top edge of pocket flap, folded right sides together, sewed side edges of flap, turned right sides out, pressed, top stitched flap in place. Pockets ready, I pinned them to the corresponding pieces.

Tomorrow I’ll edge stitch the pockets in place, sew the inner leg seam, then the outer leg seam, slide one side into the other side and sew the crotch seam (which I’ll edge stitch for strength). I’ll serge the hem edge and add the waist facing. Once the facing is attached I’ll thread elastic through, hem the bottoms (using my coverstitch machine) and the pants are done.

I could easily have put in a faux fly front as a decorative detail – but since any top I put on will cover the top of the pants there really isn’t any reason to do that bit of extra work.

If you’ve not thought about “order of construction” for garment sewing I recommend watching Janet’s explanation.

Black Cord Pants

Posted by jmn

I’ve used the same pattern (Jalie 3243 – Pull-on Pants) I’ve used for several other pairs of pants. My weight and shape have been relatively constant for the past year so once I worked out the details I had a pattern for pants that fit so I just keep making them.

The best part of the project is I can cut out the pants, sew them up, and wear them without any fussing. I know the length of elastic for the waist, the inseam measurement. Gain or lose weight and the measurements will change. However, right now I have a cut/sew pattern that works.

You can’t see the details – two jean-shaped pockets sewn to the front, two back pockets, an elasticized waist. That’s all there is to these pants.

I cut them out on Thursday. Got most of the construction done yesterday morning. Finished them this morning and I’m wearing them this afternoon.

New Clothes

Posted by jmn

The Escher Quilt finished last week, I started on some summer clothes. I’ve gained weight since I moved into the apartment, particularly this past year, and none of my summer pants fit me! None of them. The waists are waaaay too tight, but also across my belly the zipper has a hard time closing. So rather than trying to remake them, I decided to start from scratch.

A couple of months ago I bought one metre each of three different colour linen fabrics from Blackbird Fabrics (online) – nice weight, and I thought the fabric width would be wide enough that I’d be able to scrape out a pair of pants – well almost – I would normally buy 1 1/4″ metres for a pair of pants why I didn’t call and ask them to sell me the correct amount, I don’t know!. As it worked out, I was just able to fit in the fronts and backs and the front and back pockets but all facings and had to be cut from something else. With the red pair I had to create hem facings because the legs weren’t long enough to turn up; the mauve pair ended up somewhat cropped; the navy pair were OK in length. Because I intend to wear them with loose tops (I haven’t worn “tucked in” in a long time) I can get away with an elastic waist, pull-on pants.

I want to make one more pair but that will have to wait until the fabric stores here in town reopen – Wednesday, this week, I think – to buy some khaki/beige linen blend fabric.

In the meantime, I’ve turned to tops and dresses.

This top is a dress remake of the dress I made in 2014 for Benjamin’s Bar Mitzvah. 2014 – that’s a while back – the dress was just too small. I put it in the give-away pile and then decided to use the fabric as a “muslin” to recut the dress as a top to see how it would look in a larger size. Not bad. I can certainly wear it with white or red pants and a bit of jewelry and look decent.

I was using this garment as a mock-up for a longer casual summer dress. Working from a pattern I’ve had forever

I retraced the size 14 I now needed, carefully drafted neck “yoke” pieces (the pattern uses a neckline facing, but the neckline is a bit too large so I decided to add an insert (“yoke”) to make it higher, rather than change the neckline on the pattern) and I also lengthened the sleeves to close to elbow-length.

I had bought some viscose/cotton/flax/ print fabric a few weeks back with this dress in mind. Yesterday, I cut it out and assembled it.

Floral Viscose/Cotton/Flax Casual Summer Dress

I’m not going to be glamorous in this dress, but it’s going to be loose and cool and comfortable on a hot summer day (OK we don’t get a lot of those here in NS but we do get an occasional warm one).

I’m just about to make a second dress using some batik rayon I stamped myself in Bali in 2014.

I purposely used two tjaps (stamps used to apply hot wax to the fabric) to create my design intending to use the “rectangles” as a border at the hem of whatever I eventually made. We stamped two “border” sections so I’d have enough. I came home with 5 metres of this batik rayon fabric – the dress will take about 1/3 of what I have – I’m going to try to border the sleeves a wee bit, as well, if I can.

That’s today’s project. I have more linen and linen blend, as well as rayon, fabrics in my stash to make several more garments but I really don’t need more than two dresses – we don’t get that many hot days here. So that fabric will stay put for another summer.

The “Muslin”

Posted by jmn

It’s close to two weeks since I posted anything. That’s because I’ve been stuck on the latest quilt – I have this lovely collection of jellyroll strips – I’d like to do something with them using diamonds – and the 2 1/2″ strip width limit has me blocked!

Jellyroll Collection

I’ve tried sorting the strips in pairs (which is one way I could assemble diamonds by cutting each vertical half diamond from the strips and pair them up):

Jellyroll collection with contrast

However, I lose the flow of colour I’m looking for if I pair them this way, and I can’t see a way to bring in the perfectly contrasted turquoise grunge fabric. So I gathered up the strips and set them aside for now.

I returned to my photograph of Ruby and played with it – enlarging her 50% and then extrapolating to a final panel size. I’ve cut out the backing muslin but got no further than that. What’s stopping me with this project is trying to figure out how to make the mud flat look wet – not there yet.

I needed something I could accomplish – I made 10 iPhone cases to give away. I’ve passed on three of the ones I made for myself so I decided I should make some to have in my gift stash.

iPhone Cases to give away

And then I finally got to the corduroy that has been sitting on my serger table for well over a year and decided to make pants.

I’ve capitulated – pull-on pants is what I need to make, not pants with a fly front and fitted waistband. I’m tired of wearing pants that are too tight in the waist (in spite of the elastic gussets I’ve inserted in the sides of many of them). So I went searching for a pattern online.

I started with the Jalie Pattern 3243 for pull-on pants. I bought the PDF version which sends me two files – one I can print on my home printer – that means 25-30 pages that I then have to organize and tape together to create a pattern array before tracing the size I want to make; and one I can take to a print shop and have printed on blueprint size paper.

I did the latter. I went to Staples and after much discussion with the gal (who clearly has never sewn anything in her short life) I decided to print the sheet based on the very limited information I could find on the pattern (all it said was “copy shop 36″). I asked for a 36″ x 48” sheet. When I measured the test block, what I ended up with was a pattern at 88% of full size! At $14 per printed sheet I wasn’t going to try printing it again, so I took it home and started doing some math.

This is one of those pattern with 27 sizes printed as one. I checked the pattern size info and decided my hip measurement was a size V (US size 9), my waist was a size Z (US size 13). To get those measurements on this 88% printout, I needed to upsize those measurements to a Z and a CC.

I marked the pattern accordingly using a bright highlight pen, used my French curve to make the adjustment from hip (size Z) to waist (size CC). I traced the resulting pattern, cut it out, placed it on my corduroy, and looked at it for a day before cutting the fabric, forgetting that corduroy has to be cut all in the same direction! (I didn’t realize I’d done that until I went to press the side seams and could see the colour difference).

Because this is my first attempt at this pattern, it really qualifies as a “muslin”. I’m not expecting it to work out perfectly but the changes I make will inform any adjustments I need to make to the pattern and the project might just turn out to be a wearable garment. So I carry on.

I don’t like the pocket shape and size they provide; I substitute my jeans-shaped pocket instead and make it deep enough to hold my iPhone. I also want back pockets – I have enough fabric to include a pair. I also cut out the waist facings in corduroy, realizing I may want to change that for a batik in the end.

I make one other adjustment. No pants pattern is going to fit my body with scant bum and thin thighs. At one of my visits to Sandra Betzina I learned how to get rid of the excess fabric under my bum and down my thighs by sewing a fisheye dart down the centre back of the pants. What I didn’t anticipate was how that adjustment would affect the centre back crotch length – more about that later.

I make the front pockets; I construct the back pockets. I stitch the centre front and back crotch seams; next the side seams – although when I held up the constructed front and back against my body I was pretty sure the pants were going to end up too small to get on! But I carry on, anyway – this is a “muslin” I tell myself – see what it turns out like.

I add the waistband, put the elastic in, and try the pants on – this is a “muslin”, right?

I can actually get the pants on over my hips, I need to tighten the elastic quite a bit. I hem the pants but I have a problem – the back crotch length is about 1 1/2″ too short. I wear the pants anyway and my turtleneck shirt keeps pulling out when I sit and the pants slip down in back.

So the next day, I take off the waist facings, add a yoke to the back of the pants increasing the centre back length by 1 1/2″. Here’s where I decide I don’t want to reuse the corduroy waist facings so I cut out and attach a new set in a complementary batik (not as heavy a fabric so the waist should gather more easily). Inserted the elastic and zigzagged a seam down the middle of the elastic to keep it from twisting – but in order to do that I had to stretch the elastic to fit the waist and in the process the elastic is stretched making the waist loose.

I wear the pants again, anyway – just a “muslin”, right? I find myself constantly tucking in my shirt again.

So this morning I painstakingly took out the zigzag stitching, opened the inside side seam to gain access to the elastic, shortened it quite a bit more, then instead of doing a zigzag down the middle, I simply vertically stitched across both side seams, the centre front, the centre back and in the middle of the back on each side – that will keep the elastic in place and avoid stretching it.

The Pull-on Pants after adding a back yoke

The waist of the pants is now definitely tighter. I plan on wearing them again today to test out the fit. Furthermore, I send the PDF file to a friend with access to a blueprint printer. I should have a new 100% printout of the pattern to work from and then I will make up a second pair using the navy corduroy I bought a couple of days ago.

The pants fitting saga continues.

New Clothes

Posted by jmn

You might think I’ve not been doing much sewing/knitting but I’ve been busy with additions to my wardrobe.

First, a boiled wool jacket using Marcie Tilton’s V8430 jacket:

Marcie Tilton V8430

The boiled wool came from Blackbird Fabrics in Vancouver. I bought the aubergine which I thought would make a warm addition to my wardrobe.

A simple pattern with just two fronts, a back and sleeves which went together easily and because it’s boiled wool I didn’t need to finish edges! In fact there’s a dart at the bottom of the sleeve which is stitched by abutting the two edges and zigzagging it closed – doesn’t show but gives shape to the lower sleeve. I’m still debating whether to do something similar in the middle of the back at the neckline – I’ve a slight rounding of my back at the neck and I think the jacket would fall better in the back were I to make that tweak.

I chose the pattern because I thought the soft folds for the lapels wasn’t something I usually wear and would look “new”.

New Jacket/Sweater and Corduroy Pants – Front

With a new jacket/sweater I thought dark purple cords a good choice – I whipped those up two days ago.

New Jacket/Sweater and Corduroy Pants – Back

Taking pictures myself is extremely difficult – to position the camera involves twisting which causes the pants to show a bit of pull. I had to take the side seams in after I’d finished them – I didn’t take them in as much as I possibly could because I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to sit. I’ll see how they are after I’ve washed them – the fabric was washed before I used it but it will shrink a bit more, I’m sure, with further washing.

I have three more lengths of corduroy to make pants – I’m intending to get to at least one of those this weekend.

Navy Twill Pants

Posted by jmn

I’m heading to Italy in a week. Two days ago I tried on all my summer weight pants – they ended up in two piles – a small pile of those I could zip up comfortably and a much larger one of pants I’ll have to modify in order to button the waistbands. My navy pants were in the “not wearable” pile.

Navy Cotton Twill Pants

So I made a new pair. I knew I’d probably have to make navy pants a couple of months ago so I dug out the navy twill I had in my stash, washed it, and put it aside to work on but didn’t get around to pants-making until yesterday. I used a modification of an old pattern for a culotte adding pockets and reshaping the legs to make a straight leg pant.

Cutting out, adding interfacing, setting up pockets, fly front are all straightforward. The problem with making pants (at least for me) is I have to make them up completely before I can try them on to determine if they actually fit. I cut this pair largish because there was absolutely no give in the width of this fabric and I didn’t want to make the pants too small to fit into. However, they turned out too big in the bum and through the legs. So I did what I’ve done before – put a shaped dart down the centre back of the leg to get rid of much of the fullness below my bum and to narrow the thigh.

The back pockets are typical jeans pockets. I decided not to do inner front pockets – instead I cut out a pocket shape, added a facing to the open edge, then turned under a 1/4″ seam allowance and top stitched the pockets in place on the fronts before they were attached to the back.

I made a couple of further adjustments to the fit today but now the pants are wearable.

Elastic Inserts

Posted by jmn

OK, so I’ve been procrastinating on the quilt! I’ve been feeling somewhat under the weather but that’s no excuse. I should be working on the quilt.

Yesterday, however, when I sat down to sew, wearing a pair of black corduroy pants I made many years ago (they are still in good condition and fit everywhere except in the waist!) I admitted I was uncomfortable. Over the last couple of years as I’ve grown shorter my waist has grown larger – and the waist in my pants has become tighter and tighter. I can still get the button done up, but the waist is just plain tight. Time to do something about it.

Years ago I came across a very useful article by Kathy Ruddy on how to create elastic inserts. So I took off the pants and got to work.

The instructions are for creating elastic inserts while constructing pants. To do an elastic insert in existing pants here’s what I do.

Cut the waistband about an inch and a half from the side seam in the back – cutting just a tiny amount below the waistband itself (if you want to open the waist more than, say, an inch on each side then cut deeper into the top of the pants to allow you to spread the waistband further – depending on the depth of the cut you will need wider elastic, obviously – the widest (6″) I’ve been able to find comes from Kathy Ruddy).
Using 3″ wide elastic, cut wedges about 2 1/2″ across the top, 1 1/2″ at the bottom, serge the cut sides.
Position the top of the waistband against the top of one side of the elastic and stitch, then attach the waistband to the second side, leaving an opening in the elastic wide enough to be comfortable but not so wide as the make the waistband too loose.
With the top of the waistband and the elastic in place behind the opening, top stitch (I use a utility stitch because the cut edge is raw and I want to secure it) along both cut edges securing the pants fabric to the elastic.
I don’t worry about attaching the elastic on the inside of the pants.

The whole operation took me about 10 minutes. I put the pants back on and I could sit comfortably. So I gathered up the other four pairs of corduroy pants in my closet and did the same to them.

Now I can breath when I’m wearing these pants. Truth be told, I’m going to have to do the same thing to all of my jeans. They all still fit everywhere but in the waist and are more than wearable. No point in tossing them out – I just need to make the adjustment so I can wear them comfortably. And since I wear my sweaters or t-shirts out (not tucked in) my kluge doesn’t show!

Beige Pants

Posted by jmn

Same pattern, cut out with the same modifications I used with the pink pants, and these came out larger – had to take in the sides 3/8″ at the top and from mid hip to hemline. Obviously the difference is the fabric in spite of the fact there’s no spandex in this fabric either….

The front has turned out fine, happy with that, but below the bum is a wee bit baggy. Not much I can do about that at this point – the pants may tighten up a bit with washing, although I prewashed the fabric. Sitting in them may also round out the backside some.

The pants are certainly wearable.

This morning I dug out some navy cotton twill (no spandex) that I will wash tomorrow, as well as some prewashed beige cotton twill – both will get made into pants when I get back from Toronto (going to my niece’s wedding coming weekend). I also found a prewashed length of French navy blue light weight cotton/linen blend to use for a loose shirt. Once those garments are done, the pants with the stretched out spandex will go.

Tomorrow, I intend to interface the silk dupion I’ve had waiting to be made into a quilt. I’ll get that project started next.

Pink Pants

Posted by jmn

These pants were cut based on the modifications I made to my basic pattern in San Francisco – a small addition to the centre front crotch area, a 3/4″ drop in the front waist, and 1/4″ addition to the side seams because the fabric had no spandex.

This is a jeans pattern but I thought this wool/polyester fabric was a bit too “dressy” to turn into jeans so I left out all the top stitching, omitted the back pockets, and used a single seam for a neat hem.

Have to say they turned out pretty well – although everything that could go wrong did! I started by putting the zipper on the wrong side of the fly front, had to redo it, pockets went in fine as did the side seams, but I screwed up threading the embroidery machine and I had to take out a stitched (not yet cut, fortunately) buttonhole not once but twice. After rethreading the machine and doing a practice buttonhole (which I should have done in the first place) the third try was fine. Only then did I cut it open.

I’ve just finished cutting pants out of a beige fabric which I will sew tomorrow. The beige fabric I used for pants in San Francisco turned out to be dreadful – it’s a stretch twill and it now has a permanent stretch across the front where the spandex has failed – very visible. So once these new beige pants (with almost no stretch) are done, the SF pants will get tossed.

That’s the same fabric I used for the light and dark blue pants I made earlier in the spring – they’re starting to show the same permanent stress marks across the front so they’ll have to be replaced. This time, I’ll use a cotton twill with no spandex in it. The original fabric wasn’t a cheap fabric, either.

So lesson learned – stay away from fabrics with any amount of spandex – they may be intended to provide a comfortable fit with some give but the quality and durability is variable and pants take a good 5-6 hours of work. Too much time for such a limited result!

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: