The eternal quest for perfect trousers
Posted by on November 27, 2011 13 Comments
Trouser pattern fitting is a very tricky job. Finding a root of a fitting problem in a trouser pattern takes some serious detective skills, tenacity and a healthy dollop of pedantism.
ped·ant ?[ped-nt] noun: a person who overemphasizes rules or minor details.
Trouser pattern draft and fitting is like a puzzle, a brain exercise – it keeps you guessing every time.
This time Barb ( from Pattern Review forum ) endeavoured to fit this pattern ( V8751 )
Here is the original muslin. Some stubborn wrinkles have appeared at the back:
Front
It’s a balance thing
Posted by on November 23, 2011 3 Comments
Balance plays a huge part in garment fitting. This is the first thing I look at when I am trying on a muslin.
Only balanced garment can sit well on the figure , the garment with its main parts balanced with the corresponding parts of the body.
The garment is balanced if it has all of the following:
- Correct position of shoulder and side seams
- Waist line located in the correct position
- Parts of the garment are in correct proportions with each other
Store bought clothes and commercial patterns are made for a standard figure with correct posture and average built. But it appears that around 70-80% of all people have some sort of posture “variation”. This is where we run into fit issues.
Posture changes quite a lot through the life, and sometimes the patterns that fit well before don’t do the trick a few years later.
Here is the perfect example of this. I have made a toile of the skirt pattern that previously needed no alterations. I made some pictures and discovered that the alteration is now required. Can you spot where?
“Gelatin your chiffon” or the tip that keeps people talking
Posted by on November 21, 2011 3 Comments
Some time ago I posted a reply on one of the Pattern Review forum threads. The thread was about finishing seams on chiffon and how to win the war with notoriously unruly fabric. I posted the tip I use when I work with chiffon. So if you do the following, you’ll no longer dread it and join the ever-growing group of fans! :)
Here is my tip post as it was written on Pattern Review:
Wow ladies! :)) Ok one at a time.
I use older Juki, no cutting, “bare bones”. I love it to bits and it is so easy to find parts for.
The gelatin does not gunk up the needles because when it dries it does not get rubbery. As long as you keep your fabric and work area dry there will be no problem.
The recipe: take 3 teaspoons of gelatin and put it in a glass of cold water, leave it for 30 minutes. Then bring to boil, but do not boil. Add 3 litres of cool water. Pour this gelatin water in the bucket, put your chiffon there, leave it for an hour, then gently squeeze water out and spread out on the clothing line. Iron it ( when completely dry ) and it is ready to cut. The fabric will be tame but still flexible.
Try it and tell me how it goes! :)
More about tight fitting sleeve
Posted by on November 16, 2011 Leave a Comment
Marg asked me to tell more about tight-fitting sleeve with widest range of movement.
So, here goes.
Before I begin, did you know that the total ease consists of two parts?
It consists of
- Technical ease, which provides necessary room for your body to move and breathe and
- Decorative ease, which is used to obtain desired fit of the garment.
Decorative ease amount changes, technical ease does not.
And now about the sleeve.
Tight fitting sleeve has ease of
- 2-3.5 cm for dresses,
- 3.5-5.5 cm for light jackets and
- 5.5-7 cm for coats.
This means you have to measure your arm at the widest point and then add ease. This will give you the final width of the sleeve.
If you already have the sleeve pattern and you just want to check if it is tight enough for you, measure the pattern at the widest point here
and compare it to your “Arm measurement+ease” calculation.
You can adjust the width of the sleeve, but be mindful of its connection with sleeve cap height. You have to lower the sleeve cap as you add to the sleeve width to preserve the sleeve cap length. Learn how to do it Here
Minimum ease for Armscye depth is
- 1-1.5 cm for dresses and blouses
- 2.5-3 cm for jackets and
- 2.5-3.5 cm for coats.
This means that you have to measure your Armscye depth like so
and add your chosen ease amount to this measurement.
You can also find standard Armscye depth measurements in table here
If you already have a pattern and you want to know if the scye is adequate or not, measure it here
.
then compare it to your “Armscye depth measurement+ease” calculation.
The armscye depth ease also depends on the type of the fabric you are using. For lighter fabrics you can go for less ease, for heavier ones you will need more.
Marg, I hope this is what you wanted! :) Feel free to ask questions
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