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My Pants - fabric and cutting

11/13/2013

2 Comments

 
Well, back to garment sewing. Remember the pants muslin I took to Simplicity so Deborah Kreiling could fit me?
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First I had to find fabric. And  I have to say that finding the right fabric can be the hardest part of the job. When I'm not in the market for fabric for a specific project, I seem to run across stuff I like all the time, but come time I actually want to make something I just can't seem to find what I like.

I am hoping once I get the fit of this pants pattern right, it will become a kind of sloper that I can use when making pants in the future, so this first pair is a test and I don't want to get really expensive fabric.  But, if I go to the trouble of sewing something for myself I want to get a fabric that is a little distinctive.  I don't want it to look like something I could buy at the store. So I found this wool/poly blend at Fabric.com, but didn't realize the pattern was so large.  I liked it on line when I thought it was a tiny plaid., but the large size of this plaid will look dumb, I think.  It might make a nice skirt or jacket someday.
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But, then I noticed I had a 25% off coupon for Joann's.  And that's 25% off the sale price of things.  Off to Joann's and I found two fabrics with interesting black on black designs.  The upper one was flocked and said it couldn't be ironed, so I thought that might not be a good choice. So, I got the lower one, a corduroy with a bit of a stretch, nice for pants.  And with my coupon, I got the price from $16.99 a yard down to $11.89.  Still a lot, but I liked it.
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Back home and to work.  First I had to incorporate all the things I learned at my fitting.  My measurements are a size 14, but since I didn't want as much ease in the hips as the pattern I'm using has, Deborah suggested I use the size 12 for the hips but keep the size 14 for the waist. They were so nice and printed out a special pattern, just for me, with these corrections on sturdy white paper. But at home, to be sure of what I had, I drew in the stitching lines on this pattern and measured everything again.  When I want to really know the measurements of a pattern, I always measure in 5/8" from the cutting line and draw my stitching line right on the pattern so I can accurately measure the size of the finished garment.  When I was learning to sew, all patterns had the stitching lines marked, but then all patterns only came one size to an envelope.
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I also measured a pair of pants I own and like how they fit to compare the measurements to the pattern I'm about to use.  A good suggestion from Deborah.
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This is the pattern I'm using.  I liked that it had no front pleat and that the waist sits just 1/2" below the natural waist.  But, I didn't notice that there are no pockets.  So, I adapted pockets from another pattern.  An old "Threads" pattern (#4366) that is no longer being sold, but one Deborah said she always liked.  It is fairly similar to this pattern, so I didn't have to change much.

Again, I was lucky.  They printed out a copy of this pattern for me from their computer system.

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One of the pocket pieces from the Threads pattern.
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The pocket pieces I created for the pattern I'm using.
I recommend though, if you want pockets, just get a pattern that has them already.
MUCH EASIER ...
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Since it's corduroy, I needed to figure out which way the nap is going.  For short pile fabrics, I like the nap to go up.  It makes the fabric look darker and richer, in my opinion.
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Here are the main pieces laid out ready to cut. Looks like I might have more than I need!
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This is my cabinet of solid color cottons. In here I found a nice black cotton gaberdine for the inside of the waistband. Even though the pattern says to use the same fabric as the outside, I prefer to have smooth fabric against my body instead of corduroy. It's less bulky, too.
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And ... yup ... I have extra fabric. I keep telling myself I should do a trial layout at home before buying fabric. I could have easily bought 1/2 yard less ... grrrr.
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On a lighter note ... look at all the funny translations for the word "fly".


I like Gulp, but what does Braguette or Bragueta mean???


Is this how we feel about our fly??


Well, I start sewing tomorrow.

2 Comments
Sophie
5/11/2016 12:04:05 pm

Can pants be cur on the with of fabric? Please help.

Reply
Andrea
6/2/2016 08:31:35 am

Sorry to be answering late ... but it depends on the fabric. Most fabrics have a little "give" on the crossgrain but not the straight grain, which can make the pants bag at the knee and seat. Also, it is nice to have that little bit of give going around your body as apposed to up and down.
So, see if your fabric stretched much one way or the other.
Hope that helps.

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    From Andrea 

    I am a commercial pattern maker who is now "sewing over 50"!
    I love to sew and hope to encourage others to come back to sewing.
    The water is fine!!

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