Pant Muslin #2 - Sally's Pants

I was hoping that muslin #2 would be a wearable muslin.  You can check out muslin #1 here.  I think that muslin #1 had more stretch than I was realized.  Muslin #2 is a bit tighter than I expected:

There are still funky wrinkles.  The pants are a little tight on the upper hip/waist in the front.  The back isn't bad but there are still wrinkles on the legs.  Here's a small change:

Here I have pinned an inseam dart front and back, and let the hip/waist area out totaling an inch.  I see improvement in the back.  So I am stitching the darts front and back.  Here's the result:

The pinned dart looks better than the stitched dart. 

Maybe I'm in the wrong size.  I definitely need more room in the front hip/waist area.  In looking at this I'm seeing more distinct wrinkles on the front.  I'm not sure how to handle them.  There are other darting options that remove length from the outseam.  I just don't know if that is needed or not. 

I think I'm going to re-evaluate the size I was using.  Maybe I need to try a different size or just start over using a more stable fabric. 

Happy Stitching!

Pant Muslin #1 - Sally's Pants

I have been taking the Pant Fitting Class at Silhouette Patterns.  The class is using the Silhouette Pattern #3200 as it's base.  Here's a look at the pattern:

The front cover of this pattern isn't interesting nor is the line drawing.  However upon opening the pattern, you realize that this is a very basic pattern - five pattern pieces total.  It is high waisted which is very current styling right now.

I dug around in the stash and found 1 1/2 yards of twill type fabric that is beyond prime use.  Here's a  closeup of one piece with markings in pencil:

Here's the first try-on:

This is a hot mess.  I definitely need more room from side-to-side in the high/hip and belly area.  It was very hard to pin close  I'm going to remove one of the darts to see if that helps a bit.  Unfortunately, I didn't have enough of this fabric to cut larger side seams and that would have been very helpful. 

The back doesn't look too bad.  There is a little bit of gaping at the waistline so I will take the darts up a little bit.  I need to figure out the wrinkle on the right side.

I think I need to go watch some videos on pant fitting.  Here's round 2 of fitting this muslin:

The changes here are the release of the darts.  This made it much easier to pin the pants closed.  I also put a little tuck across the front.  You can see in the first picture that the fabric was being pushed into this position.  The tuck does move around to the back but it is very small. I think I need to add a little dart in the curved area under the belly to remove those wrinkles.

The back isn't too bad.  Honestly, I would probably be happy with this but I'm going to try a small dart at the hip and see if it can be a little better.

Here I took a small dart in the crotch curve.  I think it may be a little bit low but the wrinkling in the front looks a bit better.

Here I took a small dart at the hip.  To my eyes, it looks like the dart should be a little deeper.

I'm playing around with fit just a little bit.  I released that front dart and pinned in a deeper crotch curve.  I think that I really need that dart.  I can't tell that the deeper crotch curve seam did anything.

Here I've taken a deeper dart at the hipline.  Those wrinkles are looking better don't you think?  I think I will pin a little bit deeper dart here and see what happens.

I think this is looking good for the front.  I'm ready to transfer these changes to the pattern.  I hope I'm able to do this accurately.

I think this back is looking pretty good also.  I'm ready to transfer the markings.  I will share one more set of pictures.  This will be with the pinned darts sewn.

This version isn't quite as good as the pinned version but I'm going to still transfer and see what I end up with.  The right side of this looks very good.  I will transfer from that point.

This version isn't bad. I will be truing the high hip dart and transferring the information from the right side.  In this picture, I also have the hem pinned in.  That way I can get the pattern trued for the hem.

I'm ready to start muslin #2.  I may not put the seams on the outside with that one.  I'm guess I'm feeling pretty confident with this muslin.  Folks, I can't emphasize how much easier it is to fit a muslin with the seams to the outside.  I have done this with the last two muslins that I did and I only had to cut one muslin before I went one to create a garment.  Try it and let me know how it works for you.

Happy Stitching!

Sewing With Knits...The Hoodie

In the post on Sewing With Knits: 5 Wardrobe Essentials, I stated that I was going to make the hoodie from the class. I did find the french terry in the stash.   I finished it!  Here are the front and back views:

Folks this is right off the machines.  I'm rather pleased with this.  It will be perfect as the weather starts to cool (it was 85F today).  If I make another one, I will make a small style change.  I'll remove a bit of the excess around the hips.

The big thing I did with this was I cover stitched the hems.  I was so excited about this.  I have played with the machine but other than using the chainstitch haven't really used it to create anything.  Here's the cover stitch on the hood:

Not bad for the very first attempt.  It remains to be seen whether or not the hems that I did in the round will stay put.  I did attempt to follow the directions for locking the stitching but you never know. 

The next item item in the Sewing With Knits: 5 Wardrobe Essentials is the Scoop Neck T-Shirt.  I need to print the pattern and tape it together.  Please note that if you use this link and purchase anything, I do get a small commission at no additional cost to you.

Here's something to make you smile:

This is my 4 1/2 month old kitten, Rocket.  The only reason I was able to finish the hoodie is because this is how he spent the afternoon.  Otherwise, I would have had too much help. 

Happy Stitching!

Sewing With Knits: 5 Wardrobe Essentials

In an effort to make better use of my Bluprint subscription, I'm trying to watch more of the various classes.  I've chosen the Sewing With Knits: 5 Wardrobe Essentials with Meg McElwee.  This class comes with 5 patterns - a hoodie, a skirt, a dress, a t-shirt, and yoga shorts.  It's a pretty good variety of patterns and I will be sewing along with this class.  The first project is the hoodie pattern.  Here's a look at the pattern diagram:

It looks like a typical pullover hooldie that will be very useful as the weather cools down in the fall.

If you would like to sew along with me, go check out the Sewing With Knits: 5 Wardrobe Essentials at Bluprint.  Please note that if you use this link and purchase anything, I do get a small commission at no additional cost to you.

Now, it's time to dig through the stash and see what fabric is available that would make a great pullover.  I believe I have some French Terry that would be perfect.

Happy Stitching!