Sunday, April 26, 2009

Now I just need a trip to Maui!


I finished the pants and I definitely have some pros and cons on these.  None of which have anything to do with the pattern!  First of all, this was terrible fabric.  I bought this fabric from FSG over a year ago (maybe 2) with high hopes.  It feels very nice, especially for a polyester fabric.  It has a loose weave, which I imagine will allow it to breathe better.  I did prewash the fabric, and it came out beautifully.  However, the problems started with the layout.  It was almost impossible to keep this fabric straight on grain, even though it has a very visible grainline and weave.  I think the loose weave just makes it very unstable.  The other problem was that it ravelled terribly, even from just moving the cut pieces to another table.  I had to serge all of the pieces' outside edges before I even began to sew anything.  I didn't do this to the pockets though and now wish I had.




I am going to make these again out of a different fabric and try to tweak the pattern a little more.  Add a tiny bit in the butt and more than a tiny bit to the front thigh.  The length that I added to raise the waist I ended up taking out again at the end, so the pattern stands pretty good as is for me.  still though, I really want to get a GOOD fit on these.  





















I'm not so sure Im in love with the inseam pockets because they leave an outline on the front of the pants.  Next time I would use lining fabric for these.

























This pattern has two darts in the front and I need to do something with them.  (easier to change darts than to get my stomach flatter!)  Anyway, There seems to be some pooching in the front, so I'm not sure if I need to eliminate one of the darts or make the darts longer.  I'm going to have to work on this a little bit.



Also, next time, I will make the legs wider.  These are OK, but I think I would like a wider leg more.  



































Changes I made to the pattern:  I added 1.25 inches to the length and I have short legs!  Also, because I made the waist smaller, I had to change the waistband.  Then, with additional fitting, none of the lines on the waistband lined up with the pants.  That's OK because it is just a straight waistband.  However, I ended up with a little bit longer under tab, so I put a button and buttonhole there to hold it down.
Again, I hate this fabric and it shows every little lump and bump.  I probably should have underlined them.  In fact, this fabric is VERY much like the fabric I used for these yellow pants, which I only paid a couple dollars a yard for on the JoAnns clearance table.  The green fabric was 5 times more expensive!  It also snags easily.

Fortunately, I will always wear these pants with a blouse tucked out, so the baggy front won't show.  All in all, I like this pattern and it's worth making again.  The good thing for me is that I didn't have to adjust the crotch curve!  The fly zipper application was different than I've used before.  Next time I would probably use the method I usually use, which is the one in Sandra Betzina's Power Sewing.

7 comments:

Elaray said...

These pants look good in spite of all the problems you had. They look good with the summery blouse!

Shannon said...

You look like a fresh breath of tropical air! Despite the problems, you look great!

Tany said...

It's a beautiful summery outfit!

Vicki said...

You look very spring like. Do you think the pouching is due to the waist being too big? It looks like that from the photos. Looks like these could be a TNT.

Carolyn (Diary of a Sewing Fanatic) said...

Well at least you are learning what you like and don't like about these pants...however, I have to agree with the others, this is a pretty outfit on you!

Linda T said...

Nice outfit! I absolutely HATE fabric that ravels so I feel your pain. Sounds like you are well on your way to the "perfect pants."

Summerset said...

We all need a trip to Maui! You just happen to have a cute outfit for it! You definitely look like you could be on vacation.