TNT Files: The Quest for Pants That Fit

Or trousers, for the British persuasion.

Before getting into a somewhat photo heavy post I thought I'd share a life update, because a lot has happened. For one, the 3rd anniversary of Mom's passing was on the first and eight days later was her birthday. Right before all this my husband's job was unexpectedly and with no warning, terminated. Georgia is an at-will state so they didn't need a reason to do so.  Later we found out there was a management shift (rumors also of selling the company) and honestly he has so much stress lifted off his shoulders. With unemployment we are still above water but now I can't stress shop for fabric. I mean, I got plenty, TOTALLY stocked up but.. but...  Leh Sigh.  And not so much bad but funny, my Aunts have started reading my blog and I got several tips on how to improve my grammar. For all of you Grammar Enforcers, I will do my best to use it's instead of its,  I promise.  However, I'm still going to do two spaces at the end of a sentence BECAUSE THAT IS THE PROPER WAY.


Ok, on to the actual sewing portion of this program. Remember back in January when I said I had a goal of turning more patterns into TNT's (tried-and-true) that could be remade many times? Well, I've been trying to work on that but its been a snail's pace.  The biggest gap in my wardrobe and sewing repertoire is woven pants for work and Thurlows were at the top of the list. And I've been seriously dragging my feet on this project because fitting pants is something I am not yet good at and well, it is a tedious amount of work. I've become accustomed to the quick fix knits can bring me. But I finally kicked my metaphorical ass in gear and started.  First I did the largest size straight out of the package.

This is what they looked like. Poor cell phone photos but its good enough to relay informations.

So these look like they fit but the problem here is that they are skin tight. I CANNOT sit down in these.  And they are hugely long.  Sewaholic says they draft for the average 5'6" but I'm not so sure. Granted, proportionally speaking my torso is long and legs are short. And my waist is high by comparison.

From the side can you see how the seam is straining forward? That would be my full front thighs and ample booty. 

Ah, now the "smiles" under my butt saying I need more room there. Again I know this LOOKS like it fits by the back seam is 1/4 inch right now. I squatted down after these photos and it went RIIIPPPPP. Not a good thing. So here's the first changes I made.

Oh, man, I didn't annotate the lengthening of the posterior inner thigh. That is that v-shaped slice you see with the washer on top. That was for my second muslin.  The scooped out crotch is for the perky booty bits.  Sorry, I failed to get second muslin fitting photos.

I made this modification where instead of two different front pattern pieces I have one with the fly flap so I can do the flat fly insertion method found here. I highly recommend this method and this modification because it will make your life 10 time easier. Seriously!  I found the link through Erica B, and of course it's from Threads Magazine.

This was done for the second muslin, then elongated a bit for the third one. It certainly helped but I still had false smiles.  I finally stumbled upon a fix for that, which I outline below.

The High Hip Curve Adjustment:

This is actually a new adjustment for me, I kept looking at the fitting photos and thinking that this can't be more inner thigh/crotch curve room because at this point I can basically squat in these without much worry (my litmus test for wearing in public safely). Pants Fit for Real People did not cover this anywhere and I finally found the closest match in Fitting and Pattern Alterations textbook. The high hip curve. I tried to annotate as best I could on how I did this change.  Hence the horribly embarrassing fitting photos. Seriously, the things I do for my hobby!

This photo also points out that my right hip is a bit higher than my left. I think I may have to do a left and right side for my pants some time in the future to adjust for the unevenness. For now, I'm ok with it. Also noticeable here from my first muslin is that I've shortened the legs, looking at this I need to shorten it some more.

Now, this is done below the slashed pocket line. Had I been thinking I would have tried to diagram how that part worked. This is how it works if you have not slash pockets in the front.  It took me a few moments of mental gymnastics to work it out to make front and back even with each other. You may end up taking the waist in just a smidgen because it should sit just above the hip curve now.


So, I'm hoping to cut out a wearable pair today, possibly get it sewn up but we will see!  I cut out a couple things destined for gifts. 

Even Celebrities Have Fit Issues

Rachel Weisz in Michael Kors

This is a fabulous dress until you see the side view. Then all I can think is "SWAY BACK ADJUSTMENT!" "BAD ZIPPER PLACEMENT!!".

When our illustrious Oona makes her way down the red carpet, I'm confident she'll never let this happen. Because she'd run it by us, first. Right darlin'?

This is why we need educate the public about getting your clothes tailored properly. Eesh.

Simply Complex - A Process Post

As I was working on this obnoxious plaid confection, I applied all of the knowledge of bodice fitting I've gained so far. It was hard because its just me, and trying to explain how to properly pin out wrinkles, place darts, and so on and so forth, to either of the men living in my house is, well, akin to explaining where the g-spot is.  I used a combination of full length mirror and camera with tripod. But before that I did a great deal of measuring of the flat patterns and made the adjustments I thought were needed first. The big issues were:

1)Large Arms
2)Rounded Shoulders
3)Full Bust
4)Waist

Now, all of these adjustments I've done before on a basic style bodice and an armhole princess seam. I had not done it on a two-piece raglan sleeve and a bodice with neckline and waist darts.

Full Bust

The very first thing I did was trace off a size 20 minus the seam allowance and then do a three inch (total, 1.5 inch pictured here, since it would equal 3" with both sides there) Full Bust Adjustment*. There are many many tutorials out there on how to do a Y-shaped FBA, and in this case I used the principle of moving darts (Here's a good diagram that explains that) to make the change, then close up the side dart and split the difference between the top and bottom dart.

Here's the front sleeve and adjustments made.  The thing about raglan sleeves is they usually have a dart at the shoulder if they are one piece, or effectively with a two piece sleeve as there is a curve, much like with a princess seam. Trying to move the seam line forward for rounded shoulders proved to be challenging. It was a bit of trial and error.

I swear I had made one of these with notes on the photo, but I can't find it.  In fact, it looks like I lost half my  carefully done photos and now I'm sad.  I will share what I do have, however, and try to go from memory.

Obviously, I had to do a bit of dart adjustment.  The waistline darts in the front needed to be shortened and curved in a bit to match my natural shape. I also gave myself a 1/4 inch more roof all around after pinching a dead dart in the back. Upon looking at some of these photos I realize that my right shoulder and hip are slightly higher than my left. This must be from my back injury as that is the side I normally favor (due to the nerve damage from my spinal injury/surgery my right leg will give out on me or cramp up, usually when very tired and often without warning). When I can finally convince (read: enable) a couple friends to sew more and be my fitting buddy, I will probably have a right/left pattern pieces in the future. The wrinkles with the back-fat are not noticeable in the fashion fabric, lining, and skirt weight pulling down the bodice. This is a good thing. Ok, more photos.

Ah, ok, here is the notes on muslin number one.  I didn't note it on the photo how I moved the neckline darts, see the second photo down from here.  

You can also see I actually pinched out a bunch of width in the waistline.  I did this for the first muslin, but then added in a 1/8 inch for each side seam, for a total of 1/2 an inch all around. It ended up being the perfect amount.

Here I show how I ended up re-drawing the sleeve shoulder darts. This was also to keep the neckline from gaping and to prevent bra-strap showing. This is still a slight problem but fixable if I wear the right bra. In the next one I make I'm going to add a second neckline dart.   I kept the width for the bottom of the sleeves, which was lengthened 1 inch from the original to hide some of the jiggly.

Here is the aforementioned moving of neckline dart.  As I said, I'm going to add a second dart. Really, I'm going to add 1/4 inch to this one and then split it into two darts. That would give ma a total of another 1/2 inch taken in at the neckline and successfully give me regular bra strap coverage.

Though I don't have a photo of it, I did add an inch to the waistline of the skirt and to the length.  I marked the hem by measuring 24" from the waistline, then sewed lace hem tap to the bottom and trimmed. Also, I pinked the seam allowances. I did to a second row of stitching in the bodice seams for strength and then pinked.  This is a dry-clean only dress so I'm not terribly worried about fraying.  As for finishing the hem, I did a blind stitch by hand for the fashion fabric and a rolled hem on the serger for the lining.

That's all I can think of at the moment. Felicity is suppose to help me take photos in the morning, so hopefully I'll have those edited and up this week. Let me know if you have any questions! Hope your week is going well.

The Accidental Dior Dart

Source

I don't know how many of you follow Patter~Scissors~Cloth, but you totally should. There is a wealth of information on her blog, including the Ready To Wear Tailoring series, which is when the project I am working on now started. Like... eons ago. So lets do a memory refresh shall we?

Remember this cropped jacket/bolero thing I was going to do for the RTW tailoring? Well, while searching through my, now rearranged, boxes I came across the muslin I had started way back when. And since I'd been thinking about how badly my wardrobe was lacking in jackets I also thought "hey... I should finish this!". And suddenly all the things I've been practicing and reading are starting to come together, like such:

Uh,wait, how did that get in there? That's not my jacket!  It is, however, the kittens up for adoption right now.  You know you want to! LOOK AT TEH CUTE! Anyway, moving along.

Here we go!  This is after I did a FBA on an armhole princess seam. Its better than not fitting (no photo of original), but uh... messy. So I undid the right side and started repinning to get the right lines.  And that's when I discovered I really needed a dart. So I pinned and marked and this is what it looks like from the front now. At first I though the princess seam dart would be a dead dart, but nope, its staying. Sorry its a bit blurry...

Also... I needed a dead dart to prevent gaping. Look how much better that is!

Oh, yeah, the back gape in the armhole. That goes away when I put it on with shoulder pads because I have rounded shoulders.  A feature that was hard for me to translate when padding out the dress form. My 70's dress, however, confirmed that in everything else its a pretty darn good replica.  Wrinkles are from the thing being in a box for over a year.

Overall, I'm pleased as punch, though I do need a bit more width in the back, which I think I can do just by adding 1/4 inch to the center back seam, though I'm trying to determine how to do that without expanding the neckline. Suggestions?

Also, I've decided on the Simplicity trousers for my first TNT pattern in that respect. I have enough of the fabric to do a matching bolero/trouser set which would be awesomely obnoxious, IMHO.

Week 2: Tweaking the Fit (post one)

I'm doing more than one post this week, as I've already spent about five hours just tweaking fit on the bodice.  Changing design plans and then changing it back again.  How the frak do they do things so quickly on Project Runway?  In any case I think its just easier if I upload and type out my thoughts as I go instead of trying to do it all at the end of the week.  These are going to be photo heavy posts. (Also, I know this is technically two posts in one day but the other one was a serious quickie)

Back Bodice

Here's the thread traced pieces that I have started to pin together.  Thread tracing is where you machine stitch over all the marked lines so that when fitting you can 'see' with your fingers. Again, the stitching line is the most important element here, not the seam allowances.

 I decided to go ahead and use my doppleganger to start some of the initial fitting details.  While the waist is not quite my size right now, it is closer to what it will be with the copious amounts of shape wear that I will have on underneath the dress.  The shoulders could be more rounded but I'll tweak that later.  As you can see the first thing I had to do was re-draw the under bust stitching lines to accommodate the girls.  

The next thing I did was to pinch out "dead darts" where the v-neck was gaping open.  Yes, it is a very deep neckline and I want to keep it that way. We're talking about a dress that shows off the things I like most.  ;) The question marks are for posting the photo in my Craftsy Course for feedback, cause I'm not sure this is the 'right' way to do it.  Though sometimes you gotta know the rules to break them.  

 The back bodice is looking pretty good, I think.  The center puckering was where I didn't iron out the grainline stitching very well. Its usually cut on a fold but I'll be doing this as one open piece.

Ah, now here is a trick I learned about recently.  When you make changes to the back bodice, such as a rounded shoulder adjustment, you'll often get these weird drag lines up to the shoulder from the waist. This is caused by a shift in where they arm scythe is suppose to be.  The pin (and later a sharpie) marks where the arm scythe stitching lines will be. Since I'm drafting my own sleeves, changing this now is not a problem.  I also re-drew the side seams to where I will actually sew for my first on-me fitting.   On to my next design hitch. The midriff.  

 As you can see, the stitching lines on the midriff are significantly smaller than the lace I plan to use.  I thought "uh oh" and went and retraced the pieces and widened them.

back midriff widening

Front midriff widening

However, as I was doing this and then mentally putting it together in my head I realized that 5 1/4 inches was pretty damn wide, even for my long torso.  It suddenly didn't fit right in my head.  So I did what any good designer should do and pinned the lace under the bust portion, stood back and had a Tim Gunn moment.

hmmmmm....

Why does the midriff have to be the same size as the lace?  In retrospect, it really doesn't.  The lace is flexible enough that I would be organically attaching it to the mid-riff section anyway.

In fact, after writing all this and looking at the photos I'm seriously considering doing away with the midriff all together and just have the skirt fall from just under the bust.  Hmmm... That treatment would certainly be much more in keeping with the 30's styling I'm going for anyway.

What say you, oh wise sewing people of the internet?

Desperately Seeking Shorts (With lots of Fitting Photos)

From Peanut Butter Macramé

Dear readers, I need your expertise! I have been wanting to make the above shorts (view B) for some time now. They seem the perfect type, high waist, slightly tailored with an almost skirt look to them. This means I could dress them up for the office, or down for a BBQ. Different fabrics for a different occasions. But I've hesitated because I just have NO clue how to fit shorts or trousers. I have "Pants Fit for Real People" and its been of some help. I decided to take pictures to not only help myself but to ask for your help too.

I probably should have used the same shirt for both sessions but I wanted something a bit thicker tucked in as that is one way I'll wear them (albeit with a more fitted blouse). Also, in the process of taking photos i realized that my hips are uneven. Probably due to my favoring my right side for a very very long time (back surgery). Anyway. Enough of that, on to photos!

(Front with wonky zipper installed)

(Front without zipper)

(Right side with zipper installed, as you can see, its pulling to the back)

(Right side without zipper. Seams are straight! I need to add more waist width)

(Back with zipper in. I actually like the way it hangs here)

(This is without the zipper, and oh yeah, I have elastic in at the waist. I pulled it u and the sides upper back is better, but the pleat comes open. Does anyone know how this would fix it?)

Ok, so I've determined I need more in the side seams to about the fullest part of my hip. That seems to take care of the full tummy problem. I know I need a swayback adjustment (you can't really see it, but I have it pulled up some). But how do I fix the pleat? Or do I need to? HELP!

Oh, there is a 1-inch waist band. With that said, the finished product should come just above my belly button (my high-waist). I really do appreciate any fitting feedback you wonderful people can help with! In the meantime, I leave you with my favorite photo I took on the Fourth of July!

From Eddie's 4th of July Party

Cross - Post from Vintage-Sew-Along 2011

Also posted here.

Hi everyone! I am perplexed. I probably could have sewn this dress up as-is and had it mostly fit OK, except that I have large arms and bust. *sighs* This is for a 42" bust and I'm a 44. And in the light of full disclosure I'm 37" in the waist, 45" in the hips, and I'm 5'8" and a lot of that is in my torso (these are empirical[is that the right term?] measurements as I'm a USAnian).

So I've done a slight FBA, and I did a rounded shoulder adjustment (I work in the IT industry, slave away at a computer all day). I also did an adjustment for full arms. The sleeves themselves fit but the fall off the shoulder is just... weird. Also... excuse the construction issues I was sleep deprived when I put it together and it just didn't seem that important to have all the seams the right way on a test muslin. But honestly, I'm not sure what to do at this point. I need to add length, since the dress is suppose to belt at true-waist and there are half inch seam allowances. It falls about an inch above my belly-button so 1.5 inches added in length?

So here are some pictures. As you can tell I totally did my hair and makeup for these (not).

(Design on this calls for some gathering at the lower back into the skirt. See weirdness of shoulder and set-in sleeve.)

(exhibit A of need for more length in the torso)

(outside of the weird way the shoulder falls, I kind of think this looks OK here)

I swear my shoulders aren't that lopsided, it has to do with the only one sleeve.

I had to take out some gaping in the back bodice but wasn't sure how to take the volume out of the sleeve cap to match, especially considering I needed to make the sleeve wider for my sausage arms. Please help! Suggestions, point me toward some tutorials? I realized this is my first real foray into a woven top. All my tops have been knits so far because they are so much easier to fake good fit. The sad thing here is that despite all the issues it STILL fits better than RTW wovens. *sighs* I think that once I can get the top of this dress to fit I'd really only need a couple alterations to make it a plain shirt pattern as well. That would be awesome.