Nearly New Trousers...
The back view - less sagging than I normally have, so moving in the right direction:
Discovered that for some reason the CB waist was too low. Trousers were going to be uncomfortable. A remedy was needed, so I decided to make a yoke piece (I have said I will end up having to draft my own jeans, so this can be a trial attempt...). Making a yoke piece is well within my capabilities though, even if making trousers hasn't been :-)
Fold out darts and trace pants back, add extra at the CB (left hand side).
Place on pants and open up back seam:
Yoke sewn on and trim away the old bit of pant with the dart in:
New back sections ready for sewing the back crotch seam. The yoke pieces were finished with a flat fell seam (won't photograph as the seams won't show up in black fabric). I can tell you (with pride) that my yoke pieces match perfectly at the CB.
Zip inserted - somehow had to disguise the fact that I made a bit of a hash of the fly front (I don't know why, I have done plenty, but there you are...) It looks nicely finished now though.
These pants provided lots of trials and tribulations- machine basting for fit, undo machine basting, machine pants outside leg, topstitch, everything rippled, undo topstitching, redo topstitching, machine inner legs together - front inner leg now looks puckered, undo, redo the seam and take the ease over a longer distance...machine baste crotch and check fit, undo and sew. It feels like I've sewn five pairs of pants (and yes, there is enough sewing for five pairs) but I only have one nearly finished pair to show for it :-).
Some garments just go like this unfortunately. But I could not admit defeat to all of you :-)
And here is the result - nearly done. I've got the waistband attached, as I said above, and hems ready to go. I'd love to finish them today, but by the time you are reading this, I will be in Sydney - we are going down for the weekend, and will see Bell Shakespeare performing Henry 1V. John Bell is playing Falstaff, so that should be a treat. For those of you overseas, John Bell is now in his 70's. He started Bell Shakespeare as a young man, and toured in the UK where the company was a huge success. His company always does brilliantly energetic performances, drawing on a lot of the older theatrical conventions, including those of
Commedia del'Arte. (Bell Shakespeare also does Commedia del'Arte peformances from time to time, and they are a real treat...) - here is the link to find out more about this company, for those of you who may be interested: http://www.bellshakespeare.com.au/
Anyway, back to the pants. So, I can't finish today, but I will have them completed by next weekend for posting then :-)
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Sarah Liz
Sewing pants is a scary process to me :-) I am glad you are hanging in there! Happy stitching.
ReplyDeleteHi Regina, making pants is easy but getting the fit right is tricky!
DeleteYou have made wonderful progress with your pants. Once you get this pair finished, you are going to have a wonderful pattern that can be made quickly and easily.
ReplyDeleteHi Rhonda, that's what I am hoping for, a quick go to TNT for whenever I want a pair of pants.
DeleteYou have made progress. This pants fitting is surly a journey that I can attst too.
ReplyDeleteFaye, we have certainly been working hard on this problem together :)
DeleteIsn't sateen very unforgiving? That makes it even harder, but when you get it down it will be perfect. Have fun in Sydney!
ReplyDeleteHi Elise, yes it is, but luckily in black little indiscretions do not show up too much. Will enjoy myself, thank you :)
DeleteAs Faye said, pants fitting is definitely a surly journey. I've made muslin after muslin and even drafted my own from scratch. I still don't have a good fitting pair of slacks, but like you, I will keep trying. Hang in there! With your perseverance, you'll have a TNT pants pattern in no time.
ReplyDeleteHi L, I have looked at your previous pants blogs and you have put a lot of effort in as well :) that and your comments encourage me.
DeleteOne thing about making pants is that our efforts always pay off as pants are so basic. And, our "worst" pair of self made slacks are better than a RTW version in fabrication and fit. Can you tell that pants are coming up for me in my sewing queue?
ReplyDeleteHi Mary, you are so right about the fact that fabric and fit so much better in me mades than RTW. Even the almost unwearable wadders are better! Looking forward to seeing your pants in due course.
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