Red Cedar
More apocalypse, less angst
Post # 3095: The problem with pants
Pants are a scary thing to sew – am I right?
Although I have tackled many garments in my short sewing life – I have only made one pair of pants (a cropped version), and even then I hated them until I gained weight and they fit me properly in the ass. But all the fitting issues that make pants difficult to sew, makes them equally hard to buy in a good fit.
Through sewing my own garments, I have realized that I have a long torso from underbust to waist, a narrower back than front, and a very short waist to crotch ratio. I had never really noticed any of these things before – but now I see that pretty much every pair of ready-to-wear pants I own has a crotch line that falls lower than it should. I guess I’ve never noticed because that’s just how pants have always fit – but now that I’m getting ready to tackle the dreaded pants problem – I’m starting to notice how these measurements work.
My problem is, I’m not really sure where to start. I cut out and altered Vogue pattern V8499 on Sunday, which looks like exactly the type of pant I want to wear, but I fin
d myself immediately flummoxed by the instructions which involve very complicated (to me) top stitching and pockets. Should I stop and find a simpler pattern? Or baste together the main pant pieces to see whether the fit is even worth it before investing the time in fancying them up?
I have another pants pattern that is simpler and that I have made before (the one and only pant project). It definitely needs some alteration, but I think it’s more straightforward. It calls for lightweight denim and I only have medium weight. I wonder if that’s okay?
And then there is the whole problem of zippers and buttonholes. I pretty much redesign every dress to be a pull-on just so I can avoid setting in a zipper or sewing a hook and eye – which does not bode well for paints-making which often involves two types of closure!
It all seems very complicated to me. So much so that yesterday as I was sorting out the pants patterns, I found myself pulling the very simple Coco tunic pattern off the rack and recutting the neckline in anticipation of making a new dress instead. Never have I found myself wanting to sew so many other things than pants!
But diverge though I may, I am committed to getting pants right this year. Cropped pants in particular, and then maybe leggings. I do love a good fitting pair of pants, but so often they are all kinds of wrong.
And so the experiments begin.
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Red Cedar 
Pants actually became a bit of my thing back in the day. They definitely require attention, but by the second or third pair they are not so hard. You can do it!