For the back wrinkly crotch, I decided to try Debbie Cook's full thigh alteration from her Jan Minott fitting book. It adds room for a full inner thigh (which I've got in spades.) This almost fixed my back wrinkles! The 1st muslin is on the left, and the 2nd muslin is on the right (loud fabric sewn wrong side out!) I'm twisting a bit in this new photo, holding the camera over my shoulder, and I wonder if that is creating the small wrinkles that are still visible?
I still need to add a bit at the high hip, but I'm going to do this after deciding whether or not to keep the pockets.
The front was still a mess, though, so I played around with creating a tuck here and there a'la an article in Threads I read recently. After finding that a tuck about halfway down the front eliminated the bagginess, I pinned it, then took the pants to the machine & sewed it as a dart (tapering to nothing at the fly front). You'll see the little "pouch" of fabric in the back view where that dart is, but that won't be there if I alter the pattern.
That almost completely fixed my front view problems. I don't know what kind of wedge alteration this is, and when I went to make it to my pattern piece, I got confused. I made a wedge to remove some from the front. It interfered with the pocket opening size though, and I needed to taper the waistline back up to regular height too. Here's what I came up with, but I'll have to make one more muslin to test it!
The last thing I did was removed some of the flair from the pant legs because they are WIDE and flaired. However, on viewing my (loud turned inside out) pants in the mirror, they've lost some of their interest without the flair. So I think I'll add some back! The only other thing I'm going to do to the next pair is add the bit at the high front hip.
I'm out of muslin fabric though, so it will have to wait for a trip to WM. I'm hoping they'll have something on the $1 table that is drapey like trousers so I can really assess my changes.
I've also put out the call for help on PR. You can follow along HERE. And Marji has put together an excellent compilation of pants-fitting articles & tips HERE. Thank you Marji!
Looks like you're headed in the right direction. Kudos for sticking with it and finding the right resources. I don't always have that stick-to-it-iveness! BTW, I mentioned your [amazing] storyboard on my blog, hope you don't mind!
ReplyDeleteAngie, great job on the second muslin! I've been following along but I haven't had time to reply and help. I agree that the back wrinkles are probably due to you reaching to take a photo. Ignore them.
ReplyDeleteThe front bagginess is most likely due to your tummy. Sounds odd I know but you are probably hollow on either side of your tummy. Your tummy needs extra length but on either side you don't. Rather than taking a wedge, instead scoop out the waist in middle above where you pinned the dart. Not too much but enough to pull up and remove some of that extra fabric.If you have Pants for Real People (Palmer/Pletsch), page 38, second column. The bit about the "puddle" of fabric.
HTH and well done! Your pants are looking great!
Wow, that's a big step in the right direction already. I should try that full inner thigh alteration, because I TOTALLY have that fit issue. I agree that it would be good to add some of the flare back in; I like the way the original muslin looks from the knee down better.
ReplyDeleteOn my blog, you asked what to do about adding to the side seam on the front and the pockets. I have dealt with this when I have lowered the front rise on pants. You can do one of two things: 1) leave the pockets where they are and just add to the side front (pocket piece) or 2) shift the whole pocket away from CF. It depends on how much you are adding, if you like where the pockets hit you on the first muslin, etc. When I look at the front view of your original muslin, it looks like the pockets are in about the right place (although gaping because the pants are a little tight through the hips) so I would just add your needed width to the pocket piece. If you need width down to the seam between the pants front and the pocket facing (or even down to the seam between the pocket facing and the pocket piece) just extend those pieces at the side seam as well. You will then have bigger (wider) pockets than the original pattern has. If you were adding much more than 1", you might want to keep the pockets the same size but shift them over away from CF, adding to the pants front at the slanted pocket opening seam.
Belinda is a genius! :D That's exactly what I've ended up doing by creating the tapered wedge, then adding back at the side seam. Much easier simply to scoop out in that area. Doh.
ReplyDeleteThank you to julia too for the pocket how to. I was kerfluffled on that one. And LOL at my flair/flare typos. :P Ya, I teach.
You have inspired me to make some pants with all these muslins. I usually don't because they never fit right but then again I've never made a muslin. Duh! Think I'll try my had at one or two for fall. (Sorry, no fit advice.) :)
ReplyDeleteAngie,
ReplyDeleteThey are looking 99% perfect. What a great improvement!
Belinda IS a genius. I wish she would be given the credit everyone gives me, because it's her knowledge that I've been absorbing.
What a difference those changes made! One day I will try to make some pants.....maybe...
ReplyDeleteYou are doing a great job!!!
ReplyDeleteYour pants are really coming along . . . I agree about adding some of the flare back into the pants.
ReplyDelete