The muslin
I guess I should have known it was coming. Just because I have been successful with my last few attempts at pant drafting it doesn’t mean that those methods will work on a completely different design in a completely different fabric. The front looks okay (apart from the wrinkles, but that just the fabric). The back however, does not.
The good.
I’m very glad I did a muslin.
The bad.
Making a pant muslin out of a light weight cotton/lycra shirting is however a bad idea. There is no shape or hold in this fabric whatsoever and it wrinkles terrible.
The good.
It looks like my design and construction ideas will work. I also like the shaping of the pants and they fit perfectly around the waist and knees.
The bad.
The crotch/butt/back thigh area, it’s horrible, horrible! I hope that someone can give me suggestions on how to improve the fit. One obvious mistake was that I used a crotch draft for a regular straight leg pants, that clearly doesn’t work on these fitted stretch trousers. The crotch is not extended enough for instance. I should have followed Mrs Stylebook’s crotch draft instead, which is also similar to the fitted jeans pattern that I have. Also my poor choice of muslin fabric probably makes it look even worse. I’ll make the adjusted muslin in a more stable fabric.
The good.
The button placket solution will most likely work, there is no gaping involved, which is probably due to the interfacing and the close placement of the buttons.
The bad.
It looks like I won’t be able to topstitch the placket since it distorts the lycra fabric. I hate sewing lycra wovens! I’ll try machine blind stitching instead and hope that will work. It doesn’t look like there is any topstitching on the original pants either, so I assume that it’s done in a similar way.
The good.
I’m a very stubborn person. I will pull this off.
10 Comments
lsaspacey
March 4, 2009 at 8:31 pmWow, you are beyond fast!
goodworks1
March 4, 2009 at 10:44 pmI wonder what would happen if you were to scoop out the lower section of the back crotch. (In other words, sew it deeper and trim before trying it on again.)
It does seem as though you have a bunch of extra fabric under the buttocks, but I think you’re right that you need a different back crotch curve for a start.
Anyhow, it looks as though you’ve got the front drafting figured out!
Anonymous
March 5, 2009 at 3:23 amLooking at the pics I don’t think it’s the back curve per se. I had those same back wrinkles and no matter how much I scooped they were still there. What did work was shortening the inseam by lowering the crotch seam and yes, your inseam can be too long on crops! Basically line the CB seam up and slide the pattern down and trace the curve lower and true up your inseam. It has a completely different effect than scooping. Your fit looks about like mine was and I dropped and retraced my curve close to 3/4 inch. This will lengthen your CB seam but it won’t affect where the pants hit your waist. You’ll need to adjust the front so it’s a bit shorter also. I took about 1/4 inch off my front curve and then stretched the back inseam a bit to fit the difference.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with your crotch hook length or curve. If you look closely at your inner thigh just below the wrinkles there’s plenty of room, nothings pulling, front or back.
That was rather long and I hope it made sense. It’s what finally worked for me after more tries than I care to admit.
Debbie
Antoinette
March 5, 2009 at 3:57 amA. You are moving at lightning speed and I am not sure I can keep up with everyone in this sew-along!
B. I was going to consult my pants books for suggestions on fit, but the two comments right before mine are from complete pants experts. I have nothing I can add to that, I guess. Except…
C. I was right — your pants are going to rock everyone’s world in a big, big way. The weight of the task of sewing all those buttonholes uniformly dawned on me just tonight.
Keep going! Amazing!
geek sewing
March 5, 2009 at 5:54 pmI can offer no better advice. Like Antoinette, I’ll consult my pant books as well.
Cindy
March 6, 2009 at 2:56 ami just made a muslin for my pants and regret not making it with a more stable fabric. I can’t tell if it is a wrinkle that I should worry about or not. I think, you are very close to pulling it off! good luck.
geek sewing
March 6, 2009 at 7:48 amHave you considered pinching some fabric from the back leg, starting from the crotch line down, vertically? And do the same on the front, starting at the crotch line down, vertically?
After consulting a couple of my self-help fitting books, it looks like there is too much fabric around the thigh area, and all that fabric has worked its way towards the [cough] CB.
If you do this and it starts to look better, let me know if you need more info. From those books, that is… I’m no fit guru. I’d be happy to pass it on.
Berry
March 7, 2009 at 11:10 pmFrom what I understood so far, I’d say that your crotch extension is too short at the back but I’m no expert. One of my book says that the pants’crotch length should measure at least the same as yours. Maybe you should start by checking that before modifying that part of the pattern. If it’s shorter then you’d have to add the needed amount to your pattern (that’s what Anonymous suggests). The longer the crotch extension, the more the pants hangs away from the bottom. I hope this helps.
Mary Nanna
March 8, 2009 at 4:39 amhey sew along buddy!
I’m looking at your wrinkles with interest because I’ve got plenty too.
I’ve lengthened the back crotch length to try to fix it – both at the waist and the inseam.
If that doesn’t work I’ll be watching to see how you fix it!
ddsworldofsewing
March 10, 2009 at 1:22 pmHello There,
Cant wait to see the finished pants!!!