Sunday, August 17, 2014

Finally, a Pants Fix

On the whole I've been pretty pleased with my tnt pants, but they have always been better in fabrics that have drape.  But, make them tight and woops, where did that camel toe come from?  Unfortunately I don't have a before picture.  These are linen, cotton and lycra from DKNY bought from emmaonesock a few years ago. There  is quite a bit of stretch, so I sewed them tight knowing that they would loosen up almost immediately on wearing.  But, the front crotch was really off.  Not that the tight stretch had caused the problem but it certainly made it glaringly obvious. These photos are taken right after washing and pressing. They are tight, which you can see from the horizontal wrinkles which aren't from sitting since I hadn't sat down before these photos were taken. Buy there are no wrinkles pointing to my crotch. The others disappear as they stretch. They just become linen wrinkles.



Both Claire Kennedy and  Kathleen Fasanella have had posts on pants fit, specifically front crotch issues.  Fasanella's was the one that did it for me.  The front crotch curve needed to be deeper. I ended up having to remove the zipper to fix it, but it worked! No more camel toe even when sewn very tight. No crosswise wrinkles or other oddities even when tight. Of course in about 15 minutes wearing them they were no longer tight, but the crotch fit was perfect for the first time.   I am curious to see how it plays in a stiffer fabric.  Deepening the crotch curve  does makes the front crotch longer. If you measure the crotch before you do any surgery on it and compare it to the after length you will find the amount you have to lower the front waist when you apply the waistband. The waist will also be longer but mine wasn't longer by much. I made the front darts a little deeper to compensate.  I also took in the front inseam blending down about 7"  which also shortens the front crotch. It was the shape that was too shallow for me and I don't like a full front. 

The top is another rendition of Silhouette Pattern's Giorgio top which I love, This is the perfect fabric for it without too much stretch and great drape. Its a rayon lycra jersey that I bought  at Elliot Berman's 50 off sale.awhile back.  I probably could take it in a little bit in the middle, but I'll leave it alone.  I plan on making this again with long sleeves in a wool blend jersey I have in my stash.  Probably I'll make it more than once. It fits, it's more interesting than a regular tee and it fits.

7 comments:

  1. So pretty! I like the blue with the grey.

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  2. I so admire you, Nancy, for having the patience to perfect your pants TNT pattern. The result is a great fitting pant that you will enjoy for years to come. That's also a nice top.

    Karen

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  3. These have that lovely linen wrinkle look and I like that. Glad Kathleen's advice worked. It seems an everlasting quest some times but hooray for your persistence. It shows in the results.

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  4. Great fitting pants! Your extra effort into getting these to fit so well certainly paid off ~ the whole outfit looks great together ... J

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  5. Great outfit, I simply love linen pants, wrinkles are part of it. Glad you worked out the fit issue and it goes perfect with the top. I'll have to check that pattern.

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  6. Worth the effort, the outfit looks great!

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  7. A "day late and a dollar short" as usual but I just wanted to chime in with my congrats on your comfy perfect-fitting outfit! Love the linen, wrinkles and all.

    I too needed the extra scoop to rescue pants that gave me the dreaded camel-toe. It works a treat.

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