{"id":57,"date":"2012-11-28T19:09:55","date_gmt":"2012-11-28T19:09:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/so-sew-easy.com\/?p=57"},"modified":"2021-12-04T11:11:55","modified_gmt":"2021-12-04T16:11:55","slug":"pants-fitting-techniques-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/so-sew-easy.com\/pants-fitting-techniques-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Pants Fitting Techniques – Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

I recently enrolled in a course with Craftsy. \u00a0Pant Fitting Techniques – how to get a good fit on trousers that you make from a supplied Vogue pattern. \u00a0It was a new course so there weren't many reviews to go on, and no finished student projects, but pattern fitting is an area where I am very interested to learn more.<\/p>\n

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A pattern comes with the course for a pair of slim fit trousers with a princess seam down the front of the leg. \u00a0The idea behind this pattern is that there are now 4 seams you can adjust instead of the regular two only at the sides, and by having so many places you can adjust you will be able to get a great fit. \u00a0I've never sewn real trousers before so this seemed ideal.<\/p>\n

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As I am overseas, the pattern took some time to arrive from Vogue so I sat and watched all of the videos first before doing anything else. \u00a0Sandra is clearly a very experienced sewer and pattern designer and has also run her own sewing school. \u00a0She is well-respected and well-known in her field and designs the Today's Fit range of patterns for Vogue.<\/p>\n

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That being said, I found her a little difficult to follow as a teacher. \u00a0She clearly has so much knowledge that she wants to get across to her students that she goes from one thing to the next to the next very quickly with no break in between. \u00a0 I also found that instead of starting with a new pattern piece for each adjustment, or for each section of the tutorials, all of the adjustments were carried out on the same pieces and she would cut bits off, stick extra bits of paper on, and redraw over old lines. \u00a0It was sometimes difficult to follow this and would have preferred if she had been more prepared for each section by starting with a blank pattern piece so the students could really see the alterations in isolation.<\/p>\n

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But my difficulties with the course are solely down to me being really new to sewing and patterns. \u00a0Anyone with a little more experience will fly through this and have awesome trousers in no time.<\/p>\n

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Another area of confusion for me, was that the students were asked to make all of the alterations to the pattern before cutting out any fabric and making a trial piece. \u00a0Sandra said that we should do all of the alterations first then by the time we cut and sew, the fit should already be almost perfect. \u00a0But how? \u00a0How did I know what alterations to make if I had not yet made a first attempt?<\/p>\n

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So once the pattern arrived, I carefully checked the pattern packet for sizing and took a look at the pattern pieces for finished measurements etc. \u00a0I decided on cutting a straight size D as my measurements exactly agreed to those on the pattern sizing so I assumed that I would already get a pretty good fit, if the pants were designed to fit someone with my measurements.<\/p>\n

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But how wrong could I be – and suddenly I realised why this course was necessary for pants. \u00a0You can see here my first trial piece cut from the unaltered pattern according to my sizing.
Clicking on the photos will bring up a larger version so you can see my notes.<\/p>\n

The fit on first impression is good – the pants fit smoothly at the waist, high hip and lower hip and the side seams feel smooth and not too loose. \u00a0So yes, they fit. \u00a0But YIKES – they fit badly.<\/p>\n

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