Four months after my latest attempt at pants making, I tried again!
I barely, if ever, wear skirts or dresses from October to May so I was really in need of trousers (that fit). Moreover, I made so many nice shirts this Summer that it would have been nice to have pants to go together with them.
So I rolled up my sleeves and took once again my measurements and drew, again, the basic pattern n°4 from “Pattern Tutorial Vol.3: Pants 誌上・パターン塾 Vol.3 パンツ編”.
I also drafted the pants block from “Metric Pattern Cutting, 4th Edition” by Winifred Aldrich too.
In my desperate search for a new method, I printed out the free generated pattern based on my measurements from the website FreeSewing. While I started putting the pieces of the back together, I noticed that the shape was weird and the pattern much bigger than the other 2 so I did not even bother taping the rest. The 2 I already drafted would be enough for now.
They are quite different in shape on the upper area so I decided to make a” shorts” version of each in a toile, up the the knee line. At the lower part (below the crotch line), they differ because the “Pattern Tutorial” version is a straight pants block as the “Metric Pattern Cutting” is tailored so slightly slimmer.
Once I assembled them, I tried them on and alterations are needed but not at the same areas though, from what I was able to see in the mirror and how it felt wearing them: the “Pattern Tutorial” felt too tight at the hips and front and the “Metric Pattern Cutting” too loose at the back, hips and under the bottom.
The very tricky part is how do I determine that there is an “issue”: to me the identification part, the diagnosis, is tremendously complex. In my books and online, I was able to find the “solution” to address each “issue” but as I just wrote before, how do I spot the issue?
I tried them on, again and again, and I also tried the previous muslin that I did and somehow, they looked better on the front and sides compared to the new toiles I made. I decided to copy the front crotch curve from this old toile while also adding some room on the hip area. For the back piece, I scooped a bit on the crotch and also added some extra few millimetres on the hips. I also drew the “final” shape of the trousers I want to make by subtracting 3cm (on each side) at the knee line and 5,5cm at the hem line.
Once again, I made a new muslin based on this new pattern (down to the knee line only) and the front looked good but the back had too much fabric, especially below the bottom so I tried the “Fish Eye Dart” adjustment (these are the posts I used: this one or that one).
I had to cut new piece of fabric for the back, unstitch the toile I just sewed and assemble it again.
I did not look bad this time but I had some extra fabric below my hips so I removed about 0,5cm on each piece. I tried again and it was good enough so I drew the “final” version (in pink) with those new adjustments.
I copied this “final” version on another pieces of paper and used them to cut the fabric, a grey chino.
It took me a whole day to do the welt pockets on the back using the explanations from the book パタンナー金子俊雄の 本格メンズ服 by Kaneko Toshio that I found the clearest, the seamed pockets (on the sides), overlocking the raw edges and making the zipper fly. It was the first time I did welt pockets and although they are not very nicely executed and too low (I took the end of the darts as a reference), I find that type of pocket very chic.
By the way, for the pattern of my pockets, I used パタンナー金子俊雄の 本格メンズ服 for the welt pockets but reduced the opening (12cm x 7mm) and the seamed pocket design was retrieved from my failed attempt at making the elastic waist pants from THE FACTORY Sewing Book ディティールにこだわる日々の服. I cut a rectangle of 4cmx80cm to make a 3cm waist belt and another 3,5cm x50cm for the belt loops. To make them, I used the instructions from “Pants シルエットのきれいなメンズパンツ” by Sunday and Sons, making a rouleau loop and turning it inside out for a cleaner result.
I tried the pants on and they were too tight at the hips so I added 0,5cm to the front pieces and it felt better. However, it seemed I was in a streak of failures as they are too short by around 3 or 4 cm! I thought I had checked that but either the standard in Japan is for the trousers to stop at the ankles or I just miscalculated, plain and simple (?). Like my previous misadventure with the shirt, the fabric, this time it is the colour, is not of my liking. Fortunately, this chino fabric was less than 600 yens / metre so, let’s say, the equivalent of a coffee and a cake at a café for the 2 metres that I bought for this project, which is not so expensive for an activity that I enjoy a lot and that kept me busy for many many hours.
I now have a very good muslin that I can use as a reference for future trousers. Here are the things that I will change:
- lengthen the trousers by about 3cm
- set the welt pockets probably 6cm higher
- change the shape of the pockets (I might go for pockets similar to the jeans’ ones)
- I am still thinking of making them slimmer especially from knees to feet
- I will check and double check the fitting at the bottom / hips area as more room is maybe needed
Mishinology 