Adding Style to a Basic Pattern
A basic pattern is you on paper. It is made or altered to your measure, faithful to your every contour, and lacking any nagging need for alteration. When it has been perfected, you are free to design at will. For a good basic pattern is just this; a splendid fitting tool from which to create any variety of pants you fancy. If your basic pattern is designed to fit well, it will carry whatever style you ask of it. If, on the other hand, you add style to a faulty fit, you are only adding insult to injury. First, be sure of your fit. Then choose whatever style you prefer.
Style is a spice added to fit according to taste. It may be the length of your pants, the width of your pants, even the pockets of your pants. To some minds it is a perky little bow perched on one prominence or another. There is one thing style is not: it is not a magic wand to transform poor fit into high fashion.
Tapered pants
If you have a yen for slinky pats with next-to-nothing legs, refer back to Step 6. The diagram and instructions you will find there deal with leg width. Be sure to taper all four seams, as the directions read, and by all means don't get so carried away with tapering that you forget to leave instep-room to get your foot through! This necessity can become a style detail in itself, by finishing the outside seam in a jaunty little slit at the hem.
Bell Bottoms
Long or short?
The choice is yours from infinite variety. Work with a semi-tapered sloper, that is, a basic pattern which has been conservatively tapered in the manner described. Figure 38. Draw a crotch line on the Front, as in Step 1. Do the same on the Back. Check to make sure that your side seams are the same length.
For shorts, Jamaicas, and Bermudas, select the desired length from Figure 39 and measure an equal distance from the crotch line. Add about 1/2-inch to inner seams, front and back, and a lesser amount at the outer seams. Drop the hemline approximately 1/2-inch at the at the inner leg seam. Both of these maneuvers are illustrated in Figure 38. You will find that dropping the hemline in such a manner takes care of the small kink at the inner leg seam so often seen in shorts. (This is sometimes seen in other lengths of pants, too, and be corrected by smoothing out the inner and outer leg seams as you baste under the hem.)
For pedal pushers, calf skinners, Capris, and any as-yet unborn whim of fashion, use the knee-line as your guide, measuring up or down the appropriate distance, and proceed in the same manner. It may be easier to use the hem-line as a guide for longer pants.
Whatever name you give them -- hipslingers, hiphuggers, hipriders -- the weight of public opinion appears to be solidly behind them! The trend started on the French Riveria, crossed the Atlantic, and was influenced by the All-American blue jean. If you have both the inclination and the figure for them, they can easily be styled from your basic pattern.
As in Figure 40, measure down from the waistline 2-2 1/2-inches and draw a line following the original waist. This will be your finished seam line for pants with a facing inside or outside. Add seam allowance when cutting away the top. If you prefer a waistband on your hipslingers, drop the seam line still lower, depending on the width of the proposed band. If your wonder what to do with the little leftover darts, particularly in the front, don't stitch them, but ease on to facing or belting.
Tapered Pant Without Side Seams
Abandon hips, all ye who enter here! Pants without side seams are sleek, smooth, and smack of expensive price tags, but they are feasible only for the slim-hipped few, and recommended for smaller sizes. Any womanly swell about the hips, prominence in the thigh, or comfortable little billows below the hip-line demand the presence of side seams to facilitate fit. It is one of the bitter truths of life that pants without side seams look dashingly alluring on models, but without a model's figure the picture is different. Be honest with yourself, and with your appearance. If you fill the bill, slim hips, no protrusions anywhere below the hip-line, go for it! These pants can flatter your diminuendo figure lovingly. If you don't fit the bill, or fill it too amply, beware!
These pants are also made from a basic pattern. See Figure 41. Pin front and back together, 7-inches down from the waist, matching the side seams at hip-line. Try to overlap the side seams about 1/8-inch to 1-4-inch. (This is what is meant by a closer fit!) Match the side seams at the hem-line, also.
Now that you have matched the hem-line seams, take a look at the side seams below the hip-line. If they do not overlap more than a 1/2-inch, you are a candidate for this style of pants. If the overlap is greater, this is the point to abandon your plans and settle for pants with side seams!
You will find that some patterns cut for a pronounced tapered leg present an additional problem when used without side seams. When pinned together at hip-line and hem-line, the knee-line does not come together, adding extra width in this area. To correct this situation, overlap the side seams at the hem-line 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch. Be certain, in doing so, that you have left enough hem-line width to accommodate your instep measurement, unless your are fashioning a slit at the side or center front.
Adjust the hem-line, as shown by the broken line in Figure 41. Notice that the side seams at the waist now form a dart, which should end about 1-inch to 2-inches above the hip-line. The closing for this style of pants will be either in the front or back, according to your preference.
The grain and crease line will remain the same in the front. However, you will find the grain line in the back will swing off. Don't worry about it. The original crease lines are still valid, and that is your only concern.
Happy Stitching!
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