I cut up another vesion of my pants blocker with the tweak to the front suggested from the last pair. The wiggle at the side seam is gone, there was some extra fabric between the legs, I'm still finding the right amount to tweak there. Sad thing is I did that version in some striped fabric passed along by my mom that could be cute pj bottoms. I should have noticed how clearly I could see the green cutting mat under it. Let's just say I'm not taking pictures of myself wearing those shorts even for myself just to be safe. Mr. Lina was very happy with the view from the back so a big high 5 to The Consultative Dressmaker for that. He is sometimes vague when things don't look right because he doesn't have the vocabulary (it comes out like "there are pleats there" even though nothing is pleated, the fabric is folding into itself), but when things are right, he finds the words. At this point I feel confident enough to try the red twill shorts. That's up for this afternoon.
I am quite certain I was dreaming about fabric last night. I don't remember the dream, but I do remember rolling over and thinking "Oh I'll have to put that on my blog tomorrow". Damn it, why can't I remember what the heck was going on in the dream itself? Bah. I'll take it as a good sign that I want to be in my sewing room and my brain is probably working on the shorts issue and what to do with that cotton/silk stripe fabric.
Given that I have no pictures to contribute with my poor choice in muslin fabric, how about some music? May 12th we're hosting HOTCHA! There is a bit of audience noise, but you'll get a feel for the pace of most of their music.
UPDATE: Picture of my red shorts that are still a work in progress. I still have too much fabric between my legs but wow, pinning did not work out. Sure, I pinned out the extra fabric but the back side became a sea of wrinkles. I'll keep fiddling around, but I thought I'd share my afternoon of work with you.
 |
| A little extra fabric in the thigh, but not bad through waist/hips. Invisible zipper at centre seam. |
 |
| Hmm, what's that extra fabric poking through by my leg... |
 |
| What the heck is going on back there? |
 |
| Not too bad after pinning, you say? |
 |
| What happened to my nice bum? Pinning fail. |
Hmm, I think the problem is that the extra fabric is SUPPOSED to be there. When I take in too much at the inseam, I get those wrinkles too (actually, I get them in RTW all the time because of having muscular thighs and a big derriere -- I get rid of them in sewing by using a 3/8" inseam instead of a 5/8" inseam).
ReplyDeleteShorts are usually cut with a lot more fabric around the legs than pants. If you want pegged shorts, you really need to use a slim pants pattern and crop it accordingly. I actually think the first make of it looks really cute from both the front AND the back, so I would just go with that. The extra fabric will be forced into behaving appropriately when you put in the hem. I would suggest putting in a deep hem (around 2") because I find that really helps with not allowing my shorts to curl, travel, etc.
That's pretty much what Steph said, but I have to say, the visual of what I was doing to the pattern and the outcome on the pants didn't click until I was trying to fall asleep.
DeleteI'm mostly doing shorts at the moment because it seems wasteful to do a full leg for something that may not turn out. I will take the cuff advice to heart.
Happy to send you a pants alteration/ grading article but I can't seem to find any email/ contact info for you.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to see it. Steph is helping me out with this still, not sure I would have tackled pants just yet without her. Seraphinalina at gmail dot com
DeleteSo great to see that you are making progress with your pants. Rises and critches are tough but from looking at your photos, the back leg seems to be too big. The back rise seems okay as it is not cutting into your you know what. Hope that helps.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I dream of fabric too
I find pants are so much harder to see the 2D pattern as a 3D body. Steph did an awesome job and she's been super helpful, but it sure is thinking sewing.
DeleteI think fabric dreams are pretty happy dreams. :)