Vogue 1051: Somewhat Less Successful than Expected

I just finished my first attempt at "real" pants, with a fly and everything!

Technically, this was kind of a muslin. I had never sewn pants with a fly before, and because of that I didn't want to just do a muslin for fit, but wanted to construct the whole thing so that I could practice on the fly and inserting the zipper.

Ultimately, they were somewhat less successful than I had hoped. Mainly because I don't know enough about how things fit to understand how they SHOULD fit.

I always take a photo of the clothes that I make, and at first I was a little horrified at the fit of the pants, but then realized....they fit exactly like the pants at the store! So, let's face it...they'll still get worn. They just don't fit the way that I anticipated based on my experience with other patterns...that fit so much better than RTW. But when it comes right down to it, these pants fit EXACTLY like the grey ones from Ann Taylor that I wear constantly. I have just never lifted up my sweater and let someone take a picture of my butt in those!






So, I won't count these as a failure, since they are as good as the stuff I normally wear. What I will do is use them as a jumping-off point to make a TNT pants pattern.

Two positive things about these pants:

1. The waist fits PERFECTLY. Normally, if pants fit my hips, the waist flaps around in back. But because I have a round bottom and large hips in relation to the size of my waist, I always find myself with pants that I have to take the waist in on.

2. The legs are exactly the shape I wanted. Wide leg pants look best on me. With my shape, if I wear pants with narrow legs, my silhouette becomes that of an ice-cream cone.

The negative:

1. They are too tight across the hip and make the little "crotch smileys". But let's face it, when you're chubby, crotch smileys are just a part of your life. But, if I am the one making the pants, I would like for there to NOT be smileys.

2. The crotch curve in back is a touch high. It doesn't FEEL like I have a wedgie, but it LOOKS like I do. I think I need to scoop it out some more, but will look at some information about pants fitting on PatternReview.com.

3. I need a bit more ease across the hip, and will add some tissue beginning about half-way up the thigh, and then curving back in at the waist, since the waist actually fits.

4. The fabric is a bit to flimsy. The pants that I used to compare to the pattern to select my size are made from a more substantial fabric. I have some black RPL from Gorgeous Fabrics that will be my next version.

Then of course there are the things that I did that weren't so smart.

1. Because the pants are made from a black suiting with khaki pinstripes, I decided to use khaki-colored thread and top-stitch with it. BAD IDEA. I should have just used black. I'm not good enough at top-stitching yet, and it just ended up looking stupid and like I had a bad twitch and was blind in one eye (my apologies to one-eyed twitchy people who may be reading this).


2. I also don't know enough about the construction of pants to finish the seam edges the way that I have been lately. For example, I had no clue how to insert the fly. So, I ended up just following the directions one step at a time, and not really looking ahead. As a result, I ended up with one side of the fly unfinished, and had to go back and zig-zag the side.


The remainder of the seams I either did with Hong Kong binding, or in the case of the crotch seam, I did a flat-felled seam for strength.


Here are a couple of issues that I faced with the pattern and changes that I made:

1. I did not include the pockets. Not because I couldn't figure out the instructions, but because I don't like pockets. With such a round bottom half, pockets always pull open, unless I buy Giant Clown Pants. Which just serve to make me look bigger. I also hate back pockets because they serve no purpose other than for me to catch the button on something getting in and out of the car, and putting a hole in the butt of my pants.

2. The instructions for inserting the fly aren't great. I have to say that I am really GOOD at deciphering pattern instructions, but these gave me trouble. I ended up with about 15 layers basted together and somehow managed to miss the part where you ACTUALLY SEW IN THE ZIPPER. So I had to undo half my basting, sew, rebaste, sew, remove basting stitches.

3. The instructions assume that you already know quite a bit about constructing pants. For example, it tells you "Make 1/4" (6mm) bar tack at lower end of left front opening." WTF is a "bar tack?" So I pulled out a pair of RTW pants, and I assumed that a bar tack is that thick line of stitching at the bottom of the fly. So I did that. It may or may not actually be a bar tack.

4. I also managed to sew the two backs together rather than to the front and had to pick out that whole. long. seam.

Now that I have actually constructed these pants once, I am eager to get the fit issues worked out and make a pair from a more substantial fabric. I have both a black denim and black RPL, as well as a grey wool herringbone that I think they would be very nice in.

BUT, I don't want to get carried away making too many pairs for the size that I am now, because I kind of "chubbed up" before the wedding (now you know how I deal with stress...FOOD!!), and need to get 15 lbs off ASAP. I think that that may take care of a lot of the fit issues that I have with these pants.

On the other hand, I'm not going to wake up tomorrow morning magically 15 pounds lighter, and in the meantime I need some darn pants!! And let's face it, if I buy new pants, they are going to cost A LOT more than what I have been spending on fabric. So I'm probably going to go ahead and chop into the fabric that I have, and hell with the 15 pounds. I can always take them in, right?