So, I finally finished Vogue 2907. They've been sitting in my WIP basket for a few weeks now, through a variety of sewing machine malfunctions (I still have my doubts about technician man. The machine's working ok, but still seems a bit temperamental at times.)
I used a biscuit coloured cotton sateen with a bit of stretch, and some quilting fabric for the piping. Overall, I'm pretty happy with them - the fit in some parts is good, in others it's not good, but it's a pretty good jumping off point for a first pair, I reckon.
I like the shape of the legs, and the fit in the front is ok, I think. Front thigh width is ok, too; but I'm wondering if I need to take a bit out of the back thigh area? I definitely need to alter the pattern at the waist - I took out four inches at the top of the CB seam (that's not a typo) and at least an inch on either side, tapering to nothing just above the hip. Without it you could have posted an encyclopaedia down the gap at the CB. The waistband is different to how the pattern looks, too, because I didn't take a seam in it at the sides to accomodate the excess I pinned out at the side seams - I decided to fudge it and let the band wrap further around the front. Next time I'll do it properly ;-)
The main problem, as I'm sure you can see, is the serious wedgie I've got going on. This is straight out of the wash - after wearing them for a couple of hours, it's not so bad, but it's certainly not a look I was going for. I've scanned through good old Pants for Real People, but I'm still not 100% sure on how to alter the crotch so this doesn't happen. Ideas? I'm pretty happy with the fit across the rest of the ...what's the polite word they use?...."derriere"...but it's just not cool having that kind of wedgie going on. Not cool at all. There's also a bit of pulling on the fronts of my thighs when I walk, and I wonder if this and the wedgie issue are connected?
The bubble in the middle of the CB seam, comes, I think, from where I tapered up to the waistband at quite a steep angle to accomodate my sway back. I could try to smooth that out a bit, I guess. Can I fix the wedgie at this stage of construction by sewing a deeper crotch curve? Or do I just have to live with it?
I'll definitely try another pair - I love the style and apart from the obvious issues they're really comfy. I'd love to hear any fit advice you might have, though.
wow - that is quite a wedgie - it looked nothing like that when I saw them on Tuesday. Couple hours out of the wash works wonders for your derriere!
ReplyDeleteI have some hunches but no firm ideas. I think you're right about the angle being too steep, clearly something needs to be eased up.
But otherwise they are lovely and definitely better than Play Center fodder.
I'm certainly no expert, but maybe you need to carve out a wider back crotch curve and then add a bit at the side back to make up the width you just took out.
ReplyDeleteThe side view looks pretty darn good...I never get a side view that good.
I'm afraid I don't have any suggestions for retrofitting this pair, but it looks to me like you need a little more length over the butt - a lower crotch. You could maybe try sewing a new seam a little lower down on this pair. Quite frankly, if it were me I'd just wear a longish top and be done with them!
ReplyDeleteyour pants look great - the fix for the wedgie is a simple one, and all you need to do is to start about 2 1/2 inches down the back side on the center back seam, gradually increase the curve of the seam. It's easiest to do this if you fold one leg inside the other leg. you won't likely need to do anything at all to the waist-band, and you can ease the stitching line around to the front. This "fix" is counter-intuitive to what many people think you have to do, but believe me, it fixes the problem completely. Trim the seam allowance and you are done. You might want to do this gradually because if you take a much bigger curve, it might be easy to go too far, and then they'll be ruined.
ReplyDeleteGood luck - your blog is interesting.
Elaine.
PS - grab a pair of pants that do fit you, turn them inside out, and put one leg inside the other, compare the slope and crotch seam depth on them, that will give you some clues about how much to carve out of the seam in the new pants. if you get it right, you can use the new slope as part of a personalized sloper for every pair of pants you make from now on.
ReplyDeleteElaine
I'm wearing a pair of 2907s as I type this! I love yours, I like that you have more of a wraparound at the front waistband, I think it looks stylish even though it wasn't your original intention!
ReplyDeleteNow, as regards that CB seam and the encyclopaedic gap- I recall reading something on Patternreview about the sizing on the waistband pattern pieces being mislabeled on this pattern. Like the 14 is marked 12, 12 is 10 etc. I tried to find (but couldn't, sorry) the reference to it on PR to check if it was definitely this pattern and not the other alice + olivia pattern that is popular. But if you make another pair maybe try to look at the pattern piecesfor the waistband and see if the bottom seam measurement matches the top of the pants properly or if it's too long. For this pants style there should be no easing of the pants into the waistband so they should match pretty exactly.