Category Archives: Pattern Alteration

The Road to Pants, Part 3

When I left you all at the end of Part 2, I had just printed out a pattern I digitally traced in Wild Ginger’s Pattern Editor. I left you with the impression I was ready to cut out fabric and start sewing.

That was when I encountered The Problem.

The Problem

I figured it would be a good idea to take the prinout and compare the pieces to the original tissue I scanned into the computer.  This would be a sanity test to see just how faithful the digital version is, compared to the original. I overlaid the tissue atop the printout, and lined them up.

And – they didn’t match.

Let’s take the back pattern piece, and align the tissue and the printout at the bottom hem and the grainline.  Right away you can see a discrepancy – the printed pattern seamlines are about 1/8 of an inch narrower than the tissue.

print_back_bottom Continue reading →

The Road to Pants, Part 1

This past week, I’ve been doing the pattern work to move from a fitting muslin to a working pants pattern.

My original intention was to scan my paper pattern and move it into Wild Ginger software on the PC for the remainder of the pattern work.  That was not to be; the monitor on my PC decided to go defective, and it took a week’s worth of on-and-off troubleshooting to conclusively narrow it down as the source of the problem.  My PC was unusable during this time.

So, I went ahead and made most of the pattern alterations by hand, with paper and pencil.  I started by making a fresh tracing of the pattern for Muslin G. Continue reading →

Muslin G is the Charm (“Vogue 8940”, Round 7)

I’ll bet you’re all enjoying my pants-fitting saga so much, you’re wishing it will never end!

So I hope I don’t disappoint you by presenting the final (?) chapter in the story.

Muslin F

Picking up from Round 6, I prepared Muslin F, based on all the changes I had hacked into Muslin E. Let’s take a look.

start here Continue reading →

Dreaming of Fitting (“Vogue 8940” Pants, Round 6)

Time for a long-overdue update on my work with pants fitting. The project has gone slower than I would have liked, between a combination of work-related issues, and life events (fun ones!) that have kept me from the sewing room.

But it’s now time to post an update on where I stand with the pants, and also about my experiences working with Sarah Veblen as a “fitting coach”.  I’ll cover my experience working with Sarah over two blog posts; this is the first. Continue reading →

Vogue 8940 Pants Fitting, Round 3

I’ll announce the winner of the Japanese Pattern Book Giveaway tomorrow.  In the meantime, let’s get back to fitting pants.

Previously, on Vogue 8940 Pants Fitting

I had three goals for the next muslin, which we’ll call Muslin C:

  1. 1/2″ tuck in front and back, to raise the crotch point closer to my body.
  2. More scoop to the back crotch in the back, to create more front-back space for my seat.
  3. Add width along the back side seam to compensate for the circumference taken out by the crotch scoop.

Here’s the pattern alterations I did.

Half-inch tuck

The half-inch tuck was a pretty simple alteration to front and back.  Consulting with Sarah Veblen in the class forum, I decided to avoid the lengthen-shorten line provided by Vogue, because theirs goes right through the crotch curve.  However, taking the tuck higher up means I’ll need to draft new front pocket facings for sure.

Front Tuck

IMG_1891 Continue reading →