Tuesday, October 12, 2021

Balance Lines and Pants...

 I spent more time playing with Simplicity pant pattern from this post.  Here is my pattern comparison:


This particular pattern already has the crotch line marked on the pattern.  This is what I used.  The front pattern piece is on the top.  If you look closely, you can see the crotch lines marked on both patterns.  You can also see that they are no where near each other.  When I measured the distance, it was 1 1/2-inches.  That seems like a lot.


Following the directions, I rotated the front pattern piece crotch line to match up with the back crotch line.  Doing that caused this to occur:


Rotating the front crotch line to meet the back crotch line resulted in the difference being moved to the leg.  If I understood, you are suppose to redraw both sets of legs by 50% of that difference.  Hmmm.  At this point, my thoughts are I am not sure about this.  Do I really want to redraft this pattern completely?  That is what it feels like I would be doing.  All before checking the various lengths.  Generally, I remove between 1 and 1 1/2"  around the upper hip and add it back at the waist.  If I changed that length after fixing the balance line, what does that do to the balance of the pattern?

I did draw a horizonal balance line at the hip and I will use the shorten/length line on the leg for the horizontal balance line on the leg.  I have also marked the knee on the pattern.  I am considering abandoning the fit book and draping the pant.  In fact I am heavily leaning in that direction.  I am thinking that I picked a "too hard" project to start that way of fixing a pattern or it could be that I am a lazy sewer.  Either way, I think I am going to go a head and drape this pattern in muslin and see what it looks like.  After I do the draping and return the changes to the pattern, I might look back at the balance and see how it looks then.  

I will keep you updated as I progress but I will be making a muslin of the pattern.  I just need to move forward so I might have some pants to wear.

Happy Stitching!

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