2/23/12: I'm Sewing Pants -- And I'm Finished!

Saturday last week was the day I stitched the final stitch in my first ever pair of pants! I can't tell you how exciting that was for me. :) So let's get to the best part of the show, shall we?

Oh, one moment please. I have to pinch myself again. I still can't believe I made these. . . I mean, I altered the sewing pattern (which I often dread), I made a muslin, and the most awesome part: I used the muslin pieces as my final pattern. Something I've never done before with success. I'm so happy!


OK, I must be honest in saying that these pants do not have perfect fit and I'm OK with that. As I said in my earlier post, I wasn't aiming for a 100% perfect fit and I like a good amount of ease in my pants so I can bend, stoop, and just plain move around in! I do also want to throw in that when I took these pics this morning, I had been wearing these pants for five days straight. So they were a bit stretched out like all clothing does. They weren't saggy right off the sewing machine which was probably when I should have grabbed the camera! Sorry, I was too lazy to. It happens.

So let's talk construction.

After I finished fitting the muslin with all my pinning, tucking, and altering, I took a chalk pencil in a blue color and marked all the seamlines on the public side. I then seam ripped the seams and laid the muslin pieces onto some large pattern drafting paper (I use recycled packaging paper from our endless cache. You see, we are Amazon.com fans).

{ marking the seamlines with a blue chalk pencil }

{ laying muslin on top of paper, having seamlines pressed under for easy tracing }

I didn't want to press out the seam allowances; I actually left them pressed under so I was able to trace around the piece with ease. But I did make sure to iron out any wrinkles that formed.

In the curved areas, the seam allowances weren't laying flat and I first thought I should just go in and make a few clips or notches. But I stopped myself because I'm planning to actually wear this muslin in the future. Yep. I actually like the look of it and believe it would be nice to wear during spring or summer. So no clipping for this muslin. . . What else could I do to trace the curves? Pin marking of course! To do this, have the seam allowance lay flat and with a pin, poke holes along the seamline every inch or so. The holes will also be created in the pattern paper beneath the muslin. To make your new seamline, connect the holes or "dots" (like connect-the-dots. Gee, I loved to those when growing up!), with a pencil. 

{ click the photo to get a better view of the pin holes }

After the final pattern was drawn, I went to the real fabric, some polyester poplin I bought from Fabric.com in 2010. It is a black fabric and after spending a good deal of time with it while sewing up this pair of pants, I was in need of some color. Now where would I put that?

Try a big yellow button and bright bias binding!

I'm sorry, I had to!

OK, back to the exterior. I made the belt carriers that was part of the original design.

And for the hem of the pants, I serged the raw edge, turned up the the 1-1/2" hem, and slip stitched in place.

The pant pattern I used, Simplicity 2860, had on the cover a crease line down the center of each front leg. There were, however, no instructions included in the pattern to show you how to do this. I found how to do it quickly enough by looking in my Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Sewing. If you have been sewing for a year, you probably have this, but if you don't, here are some quick directions:

Before you sew any of your seams, fold each FRONT pant leg in half lengthwise, having wrong sides together. Make sure that inside seam edge with side seam edge are aligned. With a steam iron, press a crease line along fold from hem edge up to 3" above crotch. 

I'm very proud of what I've done here and I will assuredly make another pair with the same pattern. I'm thinking more of denim to wear when doing farm work, and that means I will be adding pockets to this pattern. Because farm work can almost come to a standstill when a person doesn't have pockets. They are a staple in these parts! :)

And you know what? I have to say that pants are easy garments to sew--something you would never expect, right? They may be a beast to fit but when it comes down to construction, they're even easier than a skirt with a facing and a lining. I believe it ia all due to their long seamlines that are few and far between. There are typically just two side seams, the crotch seam, and the waistband. Done! I'm liking pant making more and more.

See my other three posts:

5/15/11: Planning and Scheming -- Simplicity Trousers for Me

2/11/12: I'm Sewing Pants

2/13/12: I'm Sewing Pants - Muslin Fitting