More trouser pattern thoughts

Continuing on with some of the topics that Handmade PHD is attempting to make sense of through exploration...

Side seam length and shape. 

Length- the front and back side seams in her sample trouser pattern should be the same length. In most trouser patterns they are. Is there a time when the lengths could be different? Yes, if it is an intentional design feature, or sometimes for shaping. (see calves below).

But,,,,In general, the side seams do not have to be the same shape at all. Especially from teh knee up to the waist.

Picture here shows a 1950's German draft, a 1920's draft and a 1970's draft for men's trousers.

 

Sometimes they are the same shape - as is the case of pyjamas or the flat block referenced in the previous post

If you do a bit of research you can see that traditionally men's trouser draft will not have the same outseam shaping on the front and back. The waist to hip ratio for men is generally less than for women but we must remember that shaping needs to reflect the body, and the body shape needs to be accommodated regardless of gender. If the hip is not full at the sides, there is no point to putting the shaping there. If it works for a particular body shape -great- but it is not the only way, nor necessarily the best way to go about it.

 

Side seam shape- if the outseams of a trouser are the same shape, or almost the same shape the trouser block could have been developed from a skirt pattern

  Patterns shown here from More Dress Pattern Designing by Natalie Bray.  

This shape of pattern development was very common in the days when trousers were more of a novelty garment for women. It puts more waist suppression in the side hip area, and the patterns tend to have a straighter CB seam angle (smaller amount of waist suppression). It is certainly much more common practice in women's patterns then in men's.

Inseam length.

The inseams from hem to knee in her sample trouser pattern should definitely be equal on the front and back panel. I'd argue for them to be equal completely but there are bigger issues with the drafting here.

The back inseam from knee to the tip of the fork/crotch is on more of an angle than the front, so naturally to keep the measurements equal, when drafting, it will drop down just below the horizontal crotch line at block development. Thinking it has to be on the same horizontal crotch line as the front is incorrect. You can see that in the Bray draft above.

As the angle of the back inseam increases, not only does the thigh size increase, but the bias of the fabric comes more into play. Bias will stretch out (more in certain fabrics) so sometimes the back inseam is shortened to account for bias stretch.

Lastly, in some trousers drafts, the back inseam is shortened to clean up the amount of fabric under the seat. Stretching the back inseam up with the iron before sewing it to the front, leaves the section under the body (before the seam turns vertically) lower.  Makes for a better fit in tailored trousers.

Calves                                  

An example of uneven seam lengths can be seen in some drafts which provide a bit of shaping for the  calves. You may see drafts/patterns where the back inseam and outseam from the knee to the hem are drawn with a slight convex curve. This increases the seam length relative to the corresponding seams on the trouser fronts. The extra length is eased in and provides a bit of shaping for the calves, and it increases the width over the calves as well.  This can be useful with very narrow trousers, or for people with prominent calves.

Knee shaping

You might also see some close fitting or speciality trousers drafted with a dart in the inseam and outseam at the knees to create a pocket at the knee. This is most often a style consideration.

next post - looking at the waistline .....

Looking at a trouser pattern shape problem

So, Hello! I am back after a very lengthy hiatus - its funny how we lose interest or motivation over time for some of the things we do. Other platforms pop up and it satisfies something different or us, and for me I think I needed a break and IG seemed useful, but it has issues too and I guess I found that my thoughts are less "Insta" so to speak.

but anyway......recently on Instagram....and her accompanying blog-

Handmade PHD was recently trying to dissect a pattern for trousers that were not working for her and I have a few thoughts as to whats going on there. She has been looking at various patterns and how they perform by virtually trying them on 3D avatars. 

So, instead of burdening her comment section,  I figure I could post some of my thoughts here instead.  

This is the digital pattern shape she is working with. She has drawn in grain lines from the centre point of the hem and knee on both pieces. That seems to be reasonable assumption on the front but not on the back as the perpendicular angle of the knee and crotch line don't make sense. 

I think there was a problem with the way the basic pattern has been developed, either at the block stage or during manipulations of the basic block.

Here is an example of a flat trouser draft from Metric Pattern Cutting for Menswear as an example - this would be the draft I would imagine would be used for this style of trouser. On the left they show a block developed with a straight side seam (which could be placed on the fold and cut as a one piece pattern) or, for a slightly better fit, a flat two piece trouser block.

Even in a flat block, the front and back of the pattern must directly relate to each other in the block development drafting stage.

From the basic block, one may then make modifications, like adding pleats to the front, without distorting the relationship between the front and back

Unfortunately the back pattern piece she has looks like it was from the straight side seam block and the front from the two piece. They just don't work together.

On the two piece block, you should be able to superimpose the front on top of the back, match the hem level, and centre the front piece over the back piece. The backs, which are drafted wider that the fronts at both the hem and knee, should have an equal amount showing beyond the fronts at the knee and the hem on both inseam and outseam. The centre leg/grain line should be right on top of each other.

Here is a little that exploration I did.

1. if side seams were straight, the centre front goes off grain and front hem at inseam drops 

2. the front is overlaid on the back, centered at the hem but the knee is not centred 

3. if the hems are on the same plane with the hip hip area touching, there is a big offset in the lower leg.

 

I also wonder why the back waist line has virtually no rise to it. You can see that the CB waist point is only marginally higher than the side seam at the waist. 

hmmmmmmm, I wonder if their back waist measure was too small, and to increase it,  they slashed and spread it? no, I tried that in a paper model and it didn't produce that kind of shape. 

I'm stumped there.....

But... I can imagine if the back waistline does not rise much above the horizontal construction line for the waist, then the centre back seam length must be made to intersect with the back inseam length somewhere out there in space. I can see how someone might make that make sense somehow.

I mean, there are patterns that don't have any rise in the back waist, which may look something something like this- of course that straight CF/CB line must be long enough to accommodate the full girth, so the crotch point will be quite a bit lower than a trouser with shaped CF/CB seam.   

 

There are some other issues that bear examining, like inseam length and side seam shape, but that will have to be discussed in the next post.

Do you have issues with the patterns you make up? 

A fall front variation

We make a lot of period clothing, so that means quite a few fall front style trousers and breeches.

For those who may be unfamiliar with the term, a fall front is an alternative to a fly closure for trousers or breeches.
The front of the trousers can open close to or right along both of the side seams in which case they  would be "broad falls"or "whole falls" or you can make a narrower front panel that would be called  split falls. There is an under lap which includes the waistband, and then the trouser front is closed by lifting up the fall and buttoning it onto the waistband.

We most often make split falls as they were very common from the mid 18th century through to the Victorian age. They were certainly still used for "court" dress into the 20th century, and used for sailor trousers into the 1970's if I recall correctly, and still used on Lederhosen for instance.

Anyway, there are many ways of cutting and making split falls, the most commonly used technique has a visible placket and the placket is quite often plain and straight.
For one pair of our 19th century breeches I cut a split fall with a variation of the usual placket shape.

These have a curved placket that is cut on the bias.

I like to inset the seam for the under lap so when the fall flap is closed it is hidden, but these also would have worked if I had cut them so the end of the placket was more like the end of a welt pocket.

Here you can see what it looks like underneath the fall front. The waistband and under lap still need buttonholes and buttons. You would close them first, then the flap will have buttonholes and it will button up and close as in the first photo.

The placket itself was a plain bias piece which was fused with bias fusible, then shaped into a curve at the iron. Once that was done, the pattern piece drawn out on it, then sewn to the fronts. I cut a separate flap facing which was then used to finish the top and the edge of the curved placket. 

The under lap is composed of the fabric layer and finished on the inside/lined with silesia. 

I didn't take a photo of that, sorry! The under lap piece is deep enough that the placket is secured from the top through all the layers and the silesia extends right across to the side seam giving support for long term wear and tear.

Variations on the theme make work interesting! 

pint size

I have to say that making patterns for the woman's costume was a lesson in scale.
Having just made patterns for the men, the woman's pattern was unfamiliar in terms of what I usually see on my table.
It challenged me to some degree.
This week, I took on a project that challenged my sense of scale even more.

This is about half the chest size of the last men's shirt pattern I made! About half the hip size too for the trousers.

Since my daughter is now an adult, it has been a long time since I made something in this size.


I did find a child size hanger though.

This was a request made through a dance/skating connection, and although I am busy with the Opera project, I couldn't resist this.

I had a fitting yesterday, and all went very well. I will let you know what it was for after the event, as it is to be a bit of a surprise for the audience.

Upcoming work, drafting jeans and the weather

So this is what has thwarted my plans today.
I was at the train station bright and early and waited for two hours, and then decided by the time the train came in another two hours, it would be time to turn around and come home.
So I shovelled instead. Nevermind.








On the work front, I have some interesting projects both modern 1930's, (one of my favourites) and some Elizabethan costuming in the next few months.

One of the shows requires me to make jeans! How much fun is that? We are going to reproduce a vintage style of jeans, higher waisted, in non-stretch 10 or 12 oz denim, that can be danced in.

I spent part of last week making up a draft for them. Now I don't know if you have ever reverse engineered something but it is an interesting process. I mean I know what a typical jean pattern of this style should look like, but when I went a searching through my books, I couldn't find one that really fit the bill. I wondered if those drafts are so extremely proprietary that nothing similar is in a book....hmmm. I didn't have a pair of vintage jeans to take apart and examine, so I just have to work with the information I have.

What are the requirements of these jeans? They need to sit just below the natural waist- not on the hip, not hanging off the butt with the pockets at the back of the thigh with only magic holding them up.

      I have seen guys wearing jeans so low that I am tempted to follow them around the grocery store so I can see the inevitable wardrobe malfunction, but so far I have refrained. I wonder if future costumers will puzzle over how to get those jeans they wore in 2010 to look like that?

The jeans need to sit high into the crotch, let a dancer do the splits, squat, or kick his leg up above his head without splitting or limiting motion. They need to be slim in the thigh, but not tight. Many dancers have a 7 to 9 inch difference between their waist and hip measurements which isn't typical of the average person or the jeans they wear.

So the process starts with identifying how the jean fit is different from a regular trouser, and modifying the draft that I normally use. Slimmer in the thigh and leg, shorter rise, and most importantly a modified crotch curve. The first fit sample I made was ok, but I made the thighs a bit too snug and didn't get enough fabric over the cheeks so the CB seam had tension on it in the wrong area.
So a bit of analysis is in order, and this is the interesting part of the job- mulling things over.

 When you squat down in tight jeans, the expansion of the seat muscles require extra fabric length and width. If the thighs are not tight, it allows the body to move within the cloth. If the thighs are tight, it restricts that movement of fabric, and has to be compensated somehow.
The shape of the back fork and centre back seam run/angle are important aspects in allowing this movement.

So I will try my modified pattern out on a dancer next week, see if the modifications I have made work,  and then try to quantify those modifications, creating my own "jeans" draft, that I can reproduce in a variety of sizes.
When I get back to work next week I will try to remember to photograph my pattern for you to see.

In the meantime, stay warm!

Ice dance!

Well, I think I can let you know about my last project since it has now been seen in public.

Margaret (who cuts women's wear) and I just finished costumes for Canadian ice dancers Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje who are starting out their competition season this week  at the US Figure Skating Classic in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Whew! it looked like there were no costume malfunctions- hurray- since that results in points deducted!
We made two costumes for them, a "rehearsal look", with Kaitlyn in a thirties style playsuit, and the finale look which is what you can see in the video I am linking to here.
I made Andrew a pair of french blue high waisted trousers worn with a striped shirt for the rehearsal look and a black with blue striped trousers and waistcoat, with a white pinstripe shirt for the finale look.
It was very nerve wracking getting all of it together in such a short time frame and with basic/sketchy measurements and only one fitting.
    Adding to the pressure was the fact that the clothes have to not only look good, but must also fulfill a level of functionality that most clothing doesn't. He needs to be able to skate in them and do whatever the choreography requires, without any problems. I felt a weight lift off my shoulders as I watched both the practice routine and the finale and everything was fine. It always feels like flying by the seat of your pants when you take on projects like this. Yikes!

It seems like only yesterday that I was making opening ceremony costumes for the 2010 Olympics, and now my Olympic connection may continue as I wish Kaitlyn and Andrew all the best in their quest towards Sochi 2014.
I think we may have another project in the works for them.
Costumes designed by Debra Hanson.

The best laid plans or where is my fabric?

Tuesday morning arrived, and I was ready to start right in on cutting that three piece suit that was added to my workload.
Well, you know how things go when you are under the gun, not much time left....of course the fabric that was shipped was not what was ordered.
Change of plans for Tuesday, so the fabric was reordered, and I changed focus to the period costumes that  needed my attention. Wednesday came and went. Thursday at 2 p.m. the correct fabric arrived! So off it went to be pressed and bolted and I started cutting. At the end of the day I had the trousers and jacket cut, today I cut the waistcoat and the little bits like pocketing and welts and the like, and by the end of day Monday, we will have the suit basted up and ready for a fitting. A bit of teamwork makes it all possible: someone makes up the sleeves and back, someone else the fronts, someone else is making the trousers and a fourth person is basting up the waistcoat. Once the fitting is over, one person will continue with the jacket, one the waistcoat and a third on the trousers. Then I will also be able to cut the second suit, and hope that after the first one, I should have minimal alterations.

In the meantime, I had a couple of fittings and we can now go ahead and finish many things, such as these trousers. They have the main components installed, but the waist, hems and CB seam are just basted for the fitting.

 There's a lot going on in these trousers.
They are double reverse pleated, with slanted or quarter top pockets, with a grown on waistband. They have two back pockets, and they finish with cuffed bottoms. They will  also get belt loops, set down from the top edge by a half an inch for a narrow belt.

It is interesting what the camera picks up, and I can see that the left pocket edge is smooth and the right side shows ripples. It wasn't apparent to me in the fitting, but I can guess that it is the effect of directional stitching. On one side the stitching was done from top to bottom and the other from bottom to top. In a twill fabric like this, it can be just enough to cause this effect. I will have to hang them vertically to see if it shows up then.

A quick peek on the inside reveals the back pocket bag finishing as well as the inside waistbanding.We finish the waistband and centre back of trousers differently than commercial trousers to make it easier to alter when pulled from stock. After all, once the show is down, they go into stock and may be used over and over on different people.

Tailcoat layout

I have been so busy these last few weeks. All I can do is check in here and show you what is keeping me so busy.

On my table is the last two of the five tail suits chalked out and ready to be cut.

I have an extension piece that is piano hinged to the length of my table so that it can be extended to allow 60" wide fabric to be rolled out flat. This is so helpful when cutting capes or other large projects. In this case, I am cutting five sets of tails so I can utilize the fabric better with it laid out flat. As you can see here, in one trouser length, I can also lay out the front, back and side panel of one tailcoat as well as the front of the next one. When I lay out the next pair of trousers, I can get the next tailcoat back, side and the skirts of two tailcoats. Once that is done, I can cut all the sleeves.

As of Friday afternoon, I had all five pairs of trousers bundled separately with all their components and all five coats in nice little bins awaiting sewing. I have all the period collar patterns made and cut out for the men's shirts, so for all intents and purposes, I am finished the major cutting work until I can fit again.

Monday I think will be a day off just to catch up with all the things I have been neglecting over the past month, then I have a week and a half of instruction with Lela to finish up her training. Funnily enough, we will be delving into body coats. I have a fit model lined up and think that a tailcoat and a frock coat are in order, as well as some period styling discussions. I am hoping we can document a bit of that process here.

That should take us into December and one or two more Ballet fittings before Christmas, then it will be after the New Year to fit all the tail suits before starting back at the Festival.

Where has the time gone?

My busy week

I have had a very busy week. I am going to try to take as much time off as I can this week-end but I know I should get into the studio tomorrow to keep the ball rolling. I got back from Boston last Sunday night, went in Monday morning and started in on my week.

Boys tailsuits:

I have to finish altering my patterns for these tailsuits, so I can cut them out and get them going.

I was very happy with how they turned out. 

I basically made four sizes based on heights that I was given. 

All the body length measurements were spot on for the sizing, it is just that I made everything a bit big through the chest and waist for these guys. Well, better a bit big than too small I say.

It is so much easier to pin excess in than rip things apart to let out or worse, to guess how much more you may need. This is important because often the fittings are very short, I think I didn't have anyone longer than 25 minutes. It felt a bit crazy, but that is what we are up against sometimes.

I cut all the trousers on Monday and Tuesday and Denise has most of them together already, I have Lela on board cutting shirt dickies, then she and Denise will switch to making coats next week while I then cut the waistcoats.

For Mr. B: 

I fit his suit on Wednesday.

Here is the trouser pattern to go with the suit jacket that I was drafting here.

As you can see they do not require a lot of fabric, just a metre is enough.

This gentleman prefers to wear his trousers under the fullest part of his belly and you can see that I have cut the front waistline down to accomodate this.

He is definitely not and easy shape to fit and I have to make some more adjustments now that  we have had a fitting. I think I should make the legs a bit narrower now that I see the pattern with fresh eyes.  I still have to mark the alterations on the jacket for Silvia, who is making this. 

I also went in to Toronto on Thursday for a fitting with a 1920's suit on another project, which I was very happy with. I managed to shop there for linings for the boys tailsuits and waistcoats, buttons for the suit above and his next suit to come and dropped off fabric for covered buttons as well. I got caught in rush hour traffic on the TTC, and just barely made it to the train station for my trip home.

Friday was spent altering the tailcoat patterns, shipping fabric (which is a mound of paperwork), shopping for more supplies, and then updating and doing work on the computer.

Next week looks about the same. I think I will go and put my feet up and have a glass of wine.

Fittings

One last fitting to go. For a pair of leather pants that weren't quite ready last Thursday. 

Which will add up to 85 fittings since January.
Not 85 costumes, mind you. Way way more.

As a point of interest, here's a list of what I fit on one actor, in one fitting, on Thursday and all the people involved, and sometimes all in the room at the same time.

90 minutes.

One actor, Me (cutter), Susy (first hand), Paul (designer), Jenna (design assistant), Bradley (wardrobe manager), Connie (boots and shoes), Rebecca (Bijou), Eric(props), Lisa (costume breakdown).

A.Velvet jeans, under bodice 1 and sleeves, gambeson 1, belt 1, gorget 1, velvet cape, boots.

B. Same jeans, under bodice 2 with chain mail sleeves, gambeson 2, steel gorget, hooded cloak, steel breastplate, pauldrons, gauntlets, grieves, belt 2, sword, worn in various combinations.

C. Same jeans, under bodice 3 with sleeves, gambeson 3, gorget 2, velvet cape again, belt 3.

Last fitting (with fingers crossed)....one pair of leather pants. One actor, me, Susy, Paul, Jenna, Connie  and Bradley.

Well, I never did get a fitting proper, so I checked the fit backstage in the dressing room. Just me, and the actor wearing them.
I'm happy, they look good, and he can do everything he needs to in them, so that's done. Cross it off the list.
Now for the understudy. More fittings are coming my way.

sequined t-shirt and trouser

I realized I hadn't posted a follow-up to the sequined T-shirt post so here it is on the actor/dancer for a fitting.

The shirt needs to be slimmed in through the body, and have the sleeves shortened. We did put it on a dance brief that kept it from blousing up and out of the waistband as the dancer moved.

The trousers were Lycra and were able to be made without a fly opening. They had enough stretch to be pulled-on without excess fabric eased into the waist.
The leg length needs to be shortened. Again. One thing to note about using this type of fabric for loose hanging trousers is that without tension on the fabric around the body, the weight of the fabric causes it to lengthen more than you think it will. Having cuffs on them adds to the weight too. It also gets narrower as it lengthens, so that is another thing to keep in mind. Remember to cut the rise shorter than you do for regular wool trousers. (These are notes to self!) Of course who knows when I will have to cut stretch 30's trousers next? Could be years from now.

Anyway, if these were tights, you have tension in both directions and that lengthwise stretch is controlled and minimized. Of course it is difficult to predict so the only option is to cut them out and fit them to see.

suit fitting

Finally!

We've been waiting and waiting to get this suit fit, and today was the day.

The trousers are really too long, but that is easily fixable and since I had barely enough fabric to make this, I thought better too long than too short.

So this is a 2 button SB early 1930's inspired suit, and it is my favourite fabric so far of all the fabrics I have been given to work with. I don't know where it came from, but when they tried to order more, it was unavailable.

I had made up a quick toile because I didn't have extra fabric in case I goofed, so the fit is pretty good right off the bat. The sleeves need a bit of tweaking, they are cut with a dance gusset to allow more movement without pulling the body of the jacket too much.

Other than that and a tweak to adjust for his lower right side, there isn't too much to change, so finishing it shouldn't be too troublesome.

The difficult part may be finding buttons that we like in the correct size range. When waistcoats were more common, you could always buy four sizes of matching buttons: overcoat, suit front, waistcoat and cuff buttons. For quite a while now, the waistcoat has been out of style and that size of button almost non-existent. I can't remember what line size it is off the top of my head, but it measures 5/8". Since the buttons need to match, they will be a challenge to locate.

If anyone has a source for them I'd love to know about it. Remember they must be traditional suiting buttons though!

pleated trousers

We are making very slow progress, because our fittings are requested but not being scheduled. Today though, we did get one of our guys and I thought I'd show you his trousers.

These are a first baste up, I cut right into the fabric for him, (after I checked that his measurements were current and correct.)

an aside about measurements: It makes me frustrated to be met with resistance when requesting updated measurements. I can't stand it when people say, "Oh, he never changes". Last week was one of those situations where I had cut into the real fabric for someone who I hadn't seen or made anything for in at least five years, only to find that he had lost 5 inches from his waist!! Waste indeed!

One thing about these trousers that you probably cannot see from this photo is the correction for bow legs. Which means the correction worked! Yeah!

The correction involved cutting the pattern at the knee level and opening the outseam about 1/4" and overlapping(shortening) the inseam by the same amount. So far so good.

Now for the dilemmas. The crease line. After altering the pattern, the centre of the lower leg runs off grain, and in a plain fabric you can't tell, but in a stripe it is obvious. I thought that since there were pleats, I could use this to my advantage.

Most of the other trousers I have made for this show have outward pleats, but I found that I couldn't keep the crease on grain with an outward pleat. If the crease was on grain through the upper trouser, the lower leg was off, but if I lay the pattern out with the lower leg (from the knee to hem) on grain (stripe) I could convert these to forward pleats.

Forward pleats naturally swing the centre front off grain, which isn't great with striped fabric, so I usually try to avoid that.

If you look closely at the stripes, you can see how the front has gone off grain, but I think in the end it is less obvious than the crease line not following a stripe in the fabric.

OK, so one more outstanding first fitting to go. Maybe I'll get that tomorrow? Scheduling is a nightmare with a cast in repertory, everyone's needs are priorities, but we only have a few more weeks to get this one ready for tech dress.

Tomorrow I'll be marking the alterations to the suit jacket that goes with these trousers, as well as the sparkly shirt and trousers which this actor/dancer wears. More to follow as we get things on their way.

the sparkly part of the job

Today I received the sketch and some reference for something sparkly! yeah!

The sketch is lovely but I will just show you the reference here which is a look worn by Gene Kelly.

I have to make a pair of flat fronted period cuffed trousers in this lycra with vertical spakly stripes and a golf type T-shirt in a stretch net with broad bands of tiny sequins.

How much fun is this?

The pants are already cut out and in a basket ready for the next lucky stitcher who finishes what they are currently working on. (I can't tell if they are looking forward to it or not, hmmm...)

The shirt required a little sample in black and white drill for me to figure out the contrast placket, facing and collar which will be in a solid sequined fabric in silver. The body of the shirt will be flatted onto a flesh coloured base fabric so it will appear to be see through, but that will conceal the construction details of the placket and facing. The shirt fabric you can see at the neck of the stand where I pinned it before trying out my collar idea.

I think it is going to look great, and it is fun to do a little bit of the glittery bits amongst the wools.

This look should also be ready for a fitting next Friday when our designer is in house.

my jeans pattern

As requested, here is a picture of my pattern for the jeans I made for myself.

I have tried over the years to draft women's trouser patterns from a variety of sources, just out of curiousity, and none of them were satisfactory to me and they didn't get beyond the toile stage. I guess I just didn't want to fix the draft- too much work in most cases.

I also know that I have a tendency to abandon ship on projects for myself- especially if things aren't the way I want the first time. I don't want to talk about the leather jacket under my table or the riding jacket there either. Confession time: one has been sitting there for close to 20 years!

The drafts I used were from Pattern Making for Fashion Design by Armstrong, and Metric Pattern Cutting for Women by Aldrich and I think I even tried the trouser draft from Natalie Bray's book Dress Pattern Designing. I even tried copying trousers I bought. I used to have a great Burda trouser pattern but it was very 1980's. So this has been going on for many years in a half hearted way, and to be honest I didn't keep notes about what I didn't like.

Generally though, for jeans, the drafts were too loose fitting in the body, sat too low at the back waist, or the darting at the back wasn't enough. Sometimes I thought they were too closed in, in the legs, and I think jeans should have a more open leg cut. The CB seam was often too straight as well, and I think jeans should be more on the bias there.

This time, I just drafted them using my general draft for men's breeches/close fitting trousers. This is a draft I have put together over time, taking elements of drafts I like, proportions that seem to work, and just using my general experience and common sense. I had to alter the front fork/ CF curve because I drew it as I would the men's, and there was too much fabric there.

These are cut to fit closely at the thigh but not too tightly, sit below the natural waist, and I wanted them to cover my butt at the back, especially when bending down in fittings- something that I wish the commercial manufacturers would fix! I also didn't want the back waistband to gape- another thing I wish the commercial manufacturers would fix. I'm sure I could go on and on about how difficult it is to find trousers or jeans that fit, and I'm sure you could too.

Should there be a list of complaints? The sad thing is that I am kind of average in size- bigger than I used to be and a bit out of shape :( but a commercial size 6. How difficult it must be for plus sizes for instance. Women buy badly fitting jeans all the time- do they not see it or do they just give up?

I had a dart in the back, which I closed out to make the yoke. The little bit of the bottom of the dart that was left, I eased into the yoke seam. I think that it helps to shape over the seat.

I want to reposition the yoke seam on the next pair, but I will wear these for a while to see if anything else needs modifying. I don't want to rush into anything! I'm almost overwhelmed with myself for actually finishing them.

new jeans for me

I made these this morning! It only took me 4 hours of unfocused sewing (chatting with Lela while I sewed). They aren't quite finished- I need a button and buttonhole, I need to stitch the back pockets on, add some bar tacks, and then to hem them.

They are ok. I don't like the size of the yoke though. Too deep at the back and I think I could drop the waistline at the CB by 1/2". I hate trousers that don't sit high enough at the back, or gape at the back waist and these don't!

My own draft. I have to say that I had tried following a jeans draft for women in a couple of different books and was never happy with the pattern. After a while, I just thought I should draft them as I normally would using the basic draft I have in my head. So I did. I sewed them together, fit them on myself (generally not recommended because you can't see how bad the yoke is!) , took them apart, and recut them with the changes I felt necessary. I will fix the yoke on the next pair.

The denim is not the best quality- just something the local store had for sale.

Nothing like the bad quality of self timer photos is there? Or seeing yourself in bad photos. Oh well. Tomorrow the coat alteration and some repairs/hems to do.

finished trousers

I finished these up a few days ago and sent them off. In the picture on the left, you can see the new pair on the left and the old pair on the right. Better quality fabric makes a huge difference. In the picture on the right, you can see the finished product. They have an elastic inserted inside the waist to be adjustable for whoever will be wearing them, which explains the rippling of the waistband.

So, now that is out of the way, I have to spend the next few days getting ready for work next week and finishing up a couple of things left on my table- one being a pair of jeans I decided to draft for myself, and there's a coat alteration, and the shirt project I want to get going. I should be doing a bit of research on the 1930's and the 1880's but maybe I will wait to see the workload on my table before getting into that. I also have a sweater half knitted that needs the sleeve pattern altered and I have to finish a sock so I have a pair, and I wanted to look into glove making and try that too.

There's just too little time to do all these things, but I am going to try to be disciplined and get on with it!

new and improved

New and improved white trousers. I was told they were breeches, but really they were trousers so I am making them trousers. The new fabric is much better quality, and not see through which is very important in my opinion when it comes to men's trousers and white ones in particular. On the downside, it is a bit spongy and thick which will mean a bit of a challenge on the placket.

Apologies for the picture quality. Sigh :/

Here I go, made a pattern, got it cut out, and made up the front placket while I waited for Steve from pro Sewing to come by and service all my machines.

I wasn't going to change the overall styling, which is why I didn't make a traditional underlap for the fall front. That entails a set of closures under the fall and in this stretch fabric it would show. Anyway it is good to try new things. This is what it loooks like finished from the inside.

I sewed a regular seam on the fall facing and pressed and stitched the seam allowances open to keep the centre front flat. The main seams will be serged together.

Interfacing is the trick here. I used a lightweight tricot to stabilize the fronts at the top of the waist and down the stitching area for the placket including the area where the final placket would be stitched. I also interfaced the complete fall facing piece, and added a strip of interfacing on the underlap to support the button stitching area.

This is pretty much the same as making a shirt sleeve placket. If you wanted to, you could make the underlap pattern piece wide enough to come all the way to the centre front and then fold back all the way to the side seam. Then you could have a button closure on the underlap.

This is the finished placket from the outside. It was a bit of a pain to do because the fabric was spongy, and I didn't want to bag out the shape with self fabric (too bulky). If I did it again, I would bag out the shape with a very thin piece of cotton. As it was I marked the placement of the triangle on the fronts, and folded the edges in and then edge stitched them down.

I made sure that the underlap piece was long enough to support the topstitching of the triangle. So there is interfacing, and interfaced fabric behind that topstitching.

Now, I just need to sege them together. I am using my domestic serger with four threads for this. Attach a waistband with inner elastic, choose some buttons and make some button holes.

Then they will be finished.

getting your money's worth

Well Happy New Year to everyone. I hope you had a nice holiday!

Now today I thought I should start to get back to work and I headed over to the studio to look at a pair of "breeches" that I was asked to reproduce.

A number of years ago Carol and I built costumes for this client. I built a cutaway coat, waistcoat and trousers and Carol built a lovely 1880's dress. These were well made and not cheaply done and I think the client had a bit of sticker shock initially, but they have used them for 7 years, and not even on the people they were built for. They have stood up to repeated wear and cleaning. So, I think they have had their moneys worth, as only the waistcoat has needed replacing after 7 years.

It turns out they had purchased other costumes which the "breeches" were a part of. Not sure when they were purchased, but it had something to do with a Napoleon costume.

I wasn't expecting what I saw when I opened the bag.

Ok you can call me a costume snob or whatever you like, but really, what a piece of crap.

This is Hallowe'en type costuming, and it pains me greatly to think that as a costumer, I may be lumped in with this kind of stuff.

My list of what's wrong:

1. They are made of cheap, see through polyester knit. I hope he had a coat that covered most of him.

2. They are badly sewn.

3. They are badly sewn even for what they are.

There is no stabilization in the front "fall" to prevent excess stretching at the waist.

The placket "points" haven't been turned at the point, they are just smushed. The placket points aren't even stitched down, no I lied, there is a handstitch on one placket holding only the inner layer of the placket to the front.

Look at the "waistband". The end hasn't been turned properly then the inner elastic has been twisted and caught when the button was stitched in place.

They were put together by serging and obviously the waistband and body didn't quite end up the same size.

There is no stabilization behind the buttons.

Even if you bash something out to make money, how can you send product out like this? It wouldn't take take much more to make them a whole lot better.

If you are getting costumes for your business, this is not getting your moneys worth, or wait, perhaps you do get what you pay for.

What a way to start the New Year!

jeans draft back

So I finished the draft of the jeans back.

On the second page the instructions continue for the front and then into the instructions for the back before you get to the section headed "underside".

Why did they do that?

Hard to know, so the instructions 17 from 4... and 18 from 4... and locate 19 should really be in the underside section. Never mind.

One thing I thought odd was to use 1/4 waist size to locate point 18. Can't say I've seen that before and they don't explain it so carry on anyway and find 19 in order to develop your seat angle.

I think the rest of the instructions are OK to follow and this is what I ended up with.

So what is strange?

No dart. Not even an indication of a dart and with an 8 inch waist to hip difference I expected something.

The other thing I find odd is the look of the height and angle of point 21. It looks short and trucated and the angle where it intersects the waistline is not at 90 degrees. More about this in a minute.

I measured the pattern at the hip level, using a line 1/6 scale up from the crotch or fork line on the fronts and across the hip on the back(dash line) and measured the pattern at 19 7/8 inch, which is slightly less that the actual hip measurement, so no ease.

In the description it says "the main thing to be considered in the preparation of the draft of jean is to cut to fit the figure closely at hips seat and upper legs without being uncomfortable."

I guess that means no ease.

I measured the waist and came to 16 1/2 inches on the half which gives a waist of 33 inches. The back waist is 8 1/2 inches and perhaps that half inch is to be eased into the waist band to act as the missing dart. Maybe you should fold out the 1/2 inch to shape the yoke? Well they don't mention doing anything with it at all.

If the waist is eased that will hollow out the back waist line (that is what happens when you ease a line in, it hollows out) so that the intersection of CB and back waist line are closer to a 90 degree angle.

If you don't have a 90 degree angle at the CB your CB seam forms a hollow vee at the waist line.

So what to do? You could raise the back waist so that it intersects the CB run at a 90 degree angle which gives more coverage over the seat when bending (orange line).You could hollow out the waistline a bit as you ease it in and leave the CB run as is. I guess that would depend on fitting it on someone to see if it worked. I would cut on the extra myself, as it is easier to remove fabric you don't want than to wish you had it afterwards.

I make the same point regarding the CF which also should meet the waist line at a 90 degree angle otherwise the waistline vees there too.

Lastly I cut out the fronts and marked the seam allowances and laid the inseams together to see the seam run. (Looks ok if you can decide what line they mean for you to use as CF)

I also line up the side seams which again, don't run smoothly into each other which begs the question of how to handle that when sewing and if you follow the given line, will it sit nicely on the body, or should those seams also be trued up so they run together more harmoniously?

So, interesting. Can you tell where all the shaping needed for an eight inch waist to hip difference has gone?

A little in the CF, a lot in the side seams, if you put the pattern together at the hip area you can see the large dart takeout, the rest in the CB which isn't really as much as I imagined for a pair of jeans. I'm not sure how I feel about this- I'd likely shift things around a bit.

I would have expected a CB line a bit more angled in a pair of jeans, it puts the CB more on the bias and allows the bias to mould around the seat a bit. They also don't mention the size of the thigh which is a measurement that is useful in closely fitted jeans. The thigh size and the CB line angle and length are all related, and affect one another.

I think that if I was going to try these out, I'd cut a toile in denim and leave ample inlays or seam allowances in the areas of concern.

I'm off to do my fittings tomorrow, so I may not surface for a few days. I'd love to read your thoughts on this draft, especially if you have tried it out.