How to Make Pants that Fit - Part 2
This is the second post about fitting pants that follows the first one I posted August 11th. I never expected it would take me this long to get the second part of the pants fitting done, but things happen. Life gets even busier than normal and some things take priority over my sewing.
Let’s recap what I discussed in Part 1. In that post I discussed choosing the pattern and the size. I indicated I was working with Butterick B6910. The pattern includes instructions for fitting the pattern to your measurements. The instructions in the pattern are the Palmer/Pletsch Tissue Fitting Method. I explained I would be using the method taught by Sarah Veblen instead. I took my measurements and compared them to the actual measurements of the pattern pieces. Then I made the necessary adjustments to the pattern so I could make a muslin with the adjusted pattern pieces.
There were two books I recommended in Part 1. One was The Complete Photo Guide to Perfect Fitting by Sarah Veblen. The other was Pants for Real People by Pati Palmer & Marta Alto. Now I am going to recommend a third book for you. It is Easy Guide to Sewing Pants by Lynn MacIntyre. It was published by Taunton Press in 1998. The pictures show outdated styles of pants; however, the information for fitting pants is exceptional. I have had this book for years, but never really took a close look at it until recently. It gives the best step by step directions for fitting and sewing pants that I have seen anywhere! Page 39 of this book gives an “Overview of Measuring and Adjusting Procedures”. It lists the sequence of adjustments necessary to fit the pants pattern to your body. Those adjustments need to be followed in the order given below. The book gives explicit instructions on how to do each step.
1. Indicate the following key reference points for your body: waist, high hip, full hip, thigh, and knee.
2. Record your measurements on a measurement chart.
3. Indicate the same key reference points on the pattern.
4. Draw the lengthening/shortening lines on the pattern.
5. Measure the pattern lengths and compare them with yours.
6. Make any necessary length adjustments.
7. Establish your width levels (distance from the waist) on the pattern.
8. Measure the pattern widths and compare them to yours.
9. Make any necessary width adjustments.
10. Make any other necessary adjustments based on figure observations.
11. Measure the pattern crotch length.
12. Make crotch length adjustments.
13. True the pattern.
Another book with good information for fitting pants is Patternmaking for Fashion Design by Helen Joseph Armstrong. The pants fitting information is given on pages 674 – 686.
As I explained in Part I of this post, after comparing your personal measurements to those of the pattern and making the necessary adjustments, you are ready to make your muslin. Place your pattern on your fabric and cut out the pants. Make sure you transfer all markings from the pattern to the pants. You will need them to make adjustments when fitting the muslin.
Machine baste the pants together. Make sure you sew the darts. Check the fit of the waistband before attaching it to the muslin. The pattern (Butterick B6910) is designed to have the top of the waistband at your natural waist (in other words, at your belly button). The pattern instructions give detailed information about using a 1” piece of elastic at your waist to help you fit the waistband. If the band is too small or too large, you should add to or subtract from the band to make adjustments.
Next, try on the muslin and remember if you added or subtracted from the waistband, you must do the same to the pants at the waist. Baste the waistband to the pants to check the crotch length. The crotch seam should just skim your body. If the crotch seam does not touch your body, take a tuck along the lengthen/shorten line marked on the muslin just above the crotch across the front and back of the pants. Pin the tuck in place and make sure to keep it even. If you need to add to the crotch depth, cut across the lengthen/shorten line and baste in a piece of fabric to fill the gap. Again, make sure to keep the added piece even across the back and front. Measure the width of the added piece and write it on your muslin. You will need this figure to make the correction on your pattern.
If the waistband is where you want and the crotch length is correct, you are ready to check the hips. If you need more room in the hip area, add to the seam at the sides. If you have too much ease in that area, take a larger seam allowance at the hips.
If the pants are baggy in the back, you can rip some stitches out at the waistband and pull the pants up into the seam until they no longer droop and pin into place. Mark the new seam line from the center back to nothing at the side seams.
Standing before a full-length mirror, take a good look at the pants. Any wrinkles will let you know where other adjustments need to be made. It takes experience to get good at “reading wrinkles”. That is why I always keep my copy of The Complete Photo Guide to Perfect Fitting open in front of me when I fit a muslin. That way, I can see pictures of many of the common problems in fitting pants. The book gives a picture of the tell-tale wrinkles with information on how to get rid of them.
One of the common problems is wrinkles at the front of the pants at the crotch area that look like smiles. If your muslin has these wrinkles, you should rip the stitches at the front inseam and move the seam line over to gain more room and then taper the seam down about five inches.
If there are vertical wrinkles at the back just below the crotch, there is too much fabric between the legs. You can correct this by removing the stitches and take in the back inseams. Make a note of the amount you take in because you will need this to correct your paper pattern.
After making the adjustments on your muslin, transfer them to your paper pattern. If you think you have a decent fitting pattern, use it to cut pants from your fashion fabric. If you think you still need other adjustments, cut the pants from muslin and make another trial “muslin” to check the fit. If you have a friend that sews, ask the friend to take a look at your muslin for a second opinion. Sometimes, if the pants fit okay, it is helpful to make and wear them. You can always tweak your pattern before using it the next time.
Most of us are always looking to make that “perfect” garment. It takes experience to get the pattern exactly right to make the “perfect” garment. Many of us wear garments we buy off the rack that are far from perfect. Maybe we just need to not be so hard on ourselves about the garments we sew. In the case of sewing pants or any other garment, we can learn from each garment we make and tweak the pattern each time we make another. Eventually, we should get the “perfect” fit we are seeking!
If you haven’t started sewing pants, I hope you will try to fit a pattern for yourself soon. It is time-consuming, but worth the effort.
Judy
