Hello Sewing World - I Want It All Pants Fitting...

...back in mid March - before I got deeply involved in planning the #2018TOPSTHATPOP Sew-a-long, I had started back in on pants fitting.  Remember my "I WANT IT ALL" posts from last year? Well I still want it all but this time I'm approaching pants fitting brand new way.  I finally took a deep breath and ordered a "made for me" pants sloper from Bootstrap Fashions.  I had always been a little leery about plug in your measurements computer generated patterns; but finally figured "what the heck", and gave it a try.  I am so tired of trying to tweak to achieve a correct crouch curve fit!  So with the help of Andrea of Sew to Fit I plugged in my numbers and then ordered sloper pattern # 85309 complete with seam allowances.

The sloper was pushed to the back burner while I facilitated the sewalong. I had to actually search around for it this morning.  I got a little nervous at first, but finally found it crumpled in the bottom of a work in progress project basket.  I pressed it before taking the pictures (didn't want to subject you to a wrinkly mess) so I could really see what I'm working with.

So it's just me in the sewing room this morning in my Sami Cami and my new pants sloper.  I like these results very well.  My plans are to add side slant pockets and move forward with this sloper to successful pants...

#BLOGLIKECRAZY 18: I WANT IT ALL PANTS CONSTRUCTION...

...it may seem I'm all over the place - #bloglikecrazy, pants construction, my Fall Sweet 16 challenge that I set for myself.  Well I guess I am all over the place, but it's my attempt to complete what I've started and meet my goals.  In my sewing world my goals overlap at times.

Sometimes the length of time it takes me to complete a project truly amazes me.  I actually started working on Vogue 9032 twelve days ago.  I am a slow sewer, I am easily distracted by the "Shiny" and the fact that I work 8 hours or more each day.  Sometimes there is NO SEWING at all for me during the week because the evenings go by so darned fast.  Most evenings my mind is still so focused on happenings of the work day, or the next day, that I cannot wrap my mind around pattern adjustments, cutting or sewing.

Last weekend I constructed the pants front:  pocket construction and zipper installation.  I found that I was not happy with the topstitching of the front fly, and had planned on removing it and starting over.  I am usually 99% accurate with zipper installation, but this one was just a little bit off.  I removed the zipper entirely and started from scratch.

Zipper application #1

Zipper application #2

As it turned out the thread color and the curved area were the cause of my total unhappiness with zipper #1.

As of this writing the pants have been totally basted for try on, and final fitting adjustments have been made.  All seams are pressed, and the project is ready for the waistband application.  I'd continue to sew this afternoon, but there's a bit of housekeeping that is chronically nagging in my head.  Maybe construction will continue tomorrow...

#BLOGLIKECRAZY 8 - I WANT IT ALL (PANTS FITTING)...

...yesterday I received 3 really great responses to my Instagram question; What is your favorite pants pattern?  The patterns suggested were:

• Vogue 1411
• BurdaStyle 9/2010 #115,
• Vogue 9032 and 
• Simplicity 2700 

all great suggestions that I plan to give a try.  I decided Vogue 9032 would a good starting point since I'd made a muslin of it back in July.

This muslin had been folded and stored since that time and I actually had to press it before trying it on today.

 I am not totally dissatisfied with the overall fit of this muslin.  I can't remember why I side stepped this one back in July except for the fact that my water weight fluctuates back and forth and affects fit. I've had them on for about an hour now, sitting, standing and bending.  I want to really get a feel for them before I cut my fabric (I don't play with my fabric (lol).  However, I do know that my fabric will act/fit differently than this muslin and actually dictate the final project - I think I'm on the right track with these.

There are adjustments that need to be made:

1.  Bagginess in the pocket area that I don't understand, but have pinned out in this picture.  I will need to make an adjustment in the front pattern piece and the pocket facing to eliminate this problem.

2.  I cut the side back and back to inserted an extra strip of fabric to make the necessary adjustment needed to increase the back rise.

Tomorrow I'll work on transferring these changes to my actual pattern pieces, and decide on fabric to use for the project...

#BLOGLIKECRAZY 2017 - I STILL WANT IT ALL - PART 5...

...regular readers of my blog already know that every now and then I embark on a pants fitting frenzy.  I think the last time I mentioned "pants" in a post was back in July. Though it's been a while,   I still want it all when it comes to pant styles), so it's time to start with fitting efforts again.

Earlier today I posted this question on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter:  Help me out.  What's your favorite pants pattern?  I've received several responses so far:

Samina from Sew Everything Blog highly recommended - Vogue 1411

Clio from Five Muses loves BurdaStyle 9/2010 #115, and suggested that I read her blog post of today because it's all about variations of her favorite pants pattern.

and 

KS from Dressmaking Debacles added Vogue 9032 that she has made numerous times, and Simplicity 2700

• I added Vogue 1411 to my collection a while ago but backed off of it because of all the pieces.  After reading Samina's review of the pattern, I will definitely reconsider this pattern.

• I have played around with Vogue 9032 as a muslin but wasn't quite satisfied because I need to increase the back rise.  Other than that, as I remember, the fit of the muslin was not that bad so maybe I need to revisit that pattern.

•  I did make Simplicity 2700 way back when it was first released and the fit was pretty good.  On this pattern I wasn't use to working with the contoured waistband so I never made them again.  However, I may just reconsider this pattern as well.
• I am pretty sure that I have the September 2010 issue of Burda Style so I might just take a look at pattern #115.  I did read Clio's blog post and found that it offered a link to some great information on increasing the back rise that I am going to try out.

 A big thank you to Samina, Clio and KS for their suggestions.  This gives me much food for thought for pants pattern consideration...
  

I WANT IT ALL...PART 4 (PANTS FITTING) BABY'S GOT BACK, BUT NO HIPS...

...Houston, we have lift off!  I finally have a descent pants block/sloper!  I had the most wonderful tweedy light weight linen in my stash from last year's Hancock going out of business sale.  I couldn't get around to using it last summer so I decided to use it now for my next pair of pants.  I am happy to report that I had to do VERY LITTLE TWEAKING.

I have no front diagonal wrinkles and the back fits to my liking.  I did have to take up a small wedge at center back to eliminate gapping, and take in the side seam hip curve area which is not out of the norm for me.

These are only minor adjustments that I will work out on my sloper before I make more pants, but it reminds me of a scene from my younger years... 

I can remember my Mother helping me dress when I was just a tween.  She'd say, "it's so hard for you to wear skirts, you have NO HIPS and there is nothing for them to sit up on; and  your butt is so high it makes the skirt hike up in the back".  Can I tell you that this made me feel likes a freak of nature!  I developed a complex about something that I didn't understand, nor could do anything about - until I started studying FIT.  I've learned that my Mother was absolutely correct - "Baby's got BACK - but no HIPS!  BUT, there are adjustments that can be made to compensate for that!

Love, love, love my new labels

I've got a nice fitting pair of linen pants now, but during construction there was one little problem.  Raise your hand if this has ever happened to you

Yes, I serged the back leg of my new pants!  My eyes immediately teared up, but I quickly shook it off, because "THERE'S NO CRYING IN THE SEWING ROOM!"  My friend SheilaCTK sent me a quick answer to the problem "TIM GUNN IT"!  We all know that means "MAKE IT WORK" - and so I did.

I'll close with this cute little sewing cartoon I saw recently that made me laugh...