Date: 11/13/09 4:45 PM

I am still working on fitting pants. I liked the results from using Nancy Zieman's pivot and slide for the side curve (shelf), crotch length, and hip and waist width. But I'm still not happy with the back butt area. I made one pair from Simplicity 2860 and they came out ok. I made another pair from Butterick B6294 and even though I can grasp about 1 1/2 inches of fabric along each side, the pants actually split down the center back.

One thing I noticed that is different between the two patterns I've tried so far is the slant of the back crotch. (Simplicity was slanted and the Butterick was more straight up and down).

I also read about "body space" from a PR member and bought the back issue of Threads which addressed this. My tries at this were ok but I messed up the side seam shape.

I just read a page from "Easy Guide to Sewing Pants" online on how to do a "protruding buttocks" adjustment by splitting the pattern vertically down the leg and horizontally at the hip to the center back. Then you can spread and get more material for the back butt area. This sound logical. I haven't tried it yet.

Can you experts out there help me? Why do my pants split (even though there is excess fabric at the sides). I need more fabric somewhere but I don't know exactly where on the pattern piece or how to get it there.

Thank you.

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Reply to elbows
Date: 11/13/09 5:28 PM

If you have a muslin or pair of pants that you can photograph, I will be happy to give advice. Take 3 full length photos, back, side and front.

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www.nancyksews.blogspot.com

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Date: 11/16/09 10:20 PM

Here are pictures of my pants issues.

The blue pants are a butterick trouser. The first one is the front, which I am ok with.



The brown are yoga pants from a Kwik Sew pattern. I thought these fit pretty good until I saw the picture!



Then there is the side view. My posture isn't very good.



And then there is the back. (These actually ripped at the base of the bottom).


Seeing these pictures has been a real eye opener. This isn't what I thought I looked like. I knew my posture swayed but I didn't realize it was that much.

I'm a little discouraged and feel I should start over and re-think my alterations. I'm determined to master pants for myself. I would appreciate any comments and suggestions.

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Reply to elbows
Date: 11/17/09 12:34 PM

You definitely have a pronounced lumbar curve or sway back. This can be caused by a number of things, including heredity or just lack of exercise, but whatever the cause, it is a fitting problem, and one that will not be addressed only by a prominent seat adjustment. The posture also gives you a protruding tummy, even though you are slender, so it's a more complicated fitting situation.

In my experience, fitting pants to yourself is almost impossible, for the simple reason that you cannot simultaneously twist around to to attend your own backside, measure and fit yourself--and stand up straight as well. Granted, a few lucky people do manage to fit themselves adequately, but my gut feeling is that they have minor fitting problems and they have chosen an excellent pants draft such as Burda's.

I have been sewing since childhood, but am hard to fit, and after wasting years--and I mean decades--fooling around trying to fit pants for myself, I finally got smart and had myself fitted in a class at the Sewing Workshop in San Francisco. In one day, my years-long pants fitting problems were solved.

I would strongly recommend you spare yourself time and frustration and take a class somewhere, either through your local adult ed or community college, or, if that is not possible, do as I did and save your money for a distant class or one given by one of the fitting authorities mentioned here at patternreview, such as Palmer & Pletsch, Peggy Sagers, or Joyce Simons Murphy (JSM patterns). You will not regret it.

-- Edited on 11/17/09 12:47 PM --

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Date: 11/17/09 4:48 PM

Don't give up! Post your photos here. There are a lot of people here with pant fitting experience that will chime in. You will learn a lot if you do it yourself.

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Date: 11/18/09 0:24 AM

Do you have a copy of Palmer Pletsch's book - Pants for Real People? If not I would highly recommend it! I notice that in your pictures especially the Kwik Sew pattern you have "smiles" at the seat. You may want to try making the back crotch longer which will stop the pulling upwards that creates these smiles, if you know what I mean. Palmer Plesch recommend tissue fitting the pattern to your body before cutting anything out. I always do this with great results. You could also make a muslin with 1 inch extra seam allowance added to the waistline and use some one inch elastic sewn in a circle for fitting the waist., one inch is usually the width of a waistband on pants. Put the muslin on, use the elastic as if it were a waistband and then experiment with pulling the back of the pants both up and down. You will be suprised at the difference the length of the back crotch makes as to the fit of the back of the pant especially the "smiles". Fit this area first and when you have done that there will be other adjustments as well. One that I notice is that you seem to have excess fabric around the thigh area both back and front. I adjust this by pinching out the excess fabric to see how much less is needed in that area and then adjusting the pattern tissue. Palmer Plesch also have a website and they have class dates on there. If you're lucky enough to be able to attend one of their classes that would be great. Oh and also I just loaned their book from the local library before I purchased my own.

Hope this helps. Sue

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Now that I'm older I no longer need to know everything!

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Reply to rag doll
Date: 11/18/09 10:17 AM

I like using the Palmer Pletsch fitting method. I too fit pants with just the tissue, which worked better on my Hot Patterns Razer pant, which has a totally different back crotch curve than the Palmer Pletsch jeans I am making, which I should have made a muslin for too.
Ok, I agree that you need more room in the back crotch. I also think that the blue pants are too big, see those vertical wrinkles?
I would fit a pattern tissue as per Palmer Pletsch and than I'd make a muslin from it. You have some posture issues that will probably not be resolved in just the tissue. Secondly, I'd like to see full length pictures.
Before you start another pair of pants, try pinning out the lower back crotch to give you more room in the back crotch. I know it seems counter intuitive, but you need more body space for your rear end. I am also seeing what I think are sewing issues. The seams are not sewn smoothly in the front and back crotch not related to your figure.
-- Edited on 11/18/09 10:18 AM --

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www.nancyksews.blogspot.com

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Reply to Elona
Date: 11/18/09 1:25 PM

Quote: Elona

my gut feeling is that they have minor fitting problems and they have chosen an excellent pants draft such as Burda's

I'm happy that you have found a solution that works for you, but please don't lump everyone else together. Yes, it's harder and more time-consuming to fit pants on yourself but it can be done. You just need 2 mirrors and the patience to keep putting on and taking off the trials as you make adjustments. If you have a digital camera and the desire/ability to post photos online, even better.

Also, Burda pants patterns aren't the magic solution for lots of women. I have to adjust ALL pants patterns pretty much equally. Sometimes different alterations between brands but the same overall amount of them.

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"I base my fashion sense on what doesn't itch." — Gilda Radner
http://stitchesandseams.blogspot.com

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Reply to Debbie Cook
Date: 11/18/09 2:02 PM

I have to agree with Debbie. I don't have a fitting buddy nor have I taken a class on fitting pants, but my pants fit quite nicely and like Debbie I have to adjust every pants pattern. I have had better, faster results with the L shaped back crotch that Hot Patterns uses on most of their pants than on any other, but that's not to say that it's the best for everyone. I have a three way mirror set up, but Patty Palmer shows how to fit yourself with a handheld mirror for the back view. It takes patience and fortitude, but when you figure out what you need to do, it makes the next time much easier.
If you do have the opportunity to take a class by all means do, but don't think that 's the only way to go.
I don't think that you have that much that needs to be done. Your back crotch length seems to be the biggest culprit here.
Looking through Fitting and Pattern Alteration, I saw that they recommend a tuck below the waist, and above the buttocks because your posture causes the hip fitting line to drop.

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www.nancyksews.blogspot.com

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Reply to Nancy K
Date: 11/18/09 3:35 PM

I have to admit that I do have trouble seeing all the changes that I need to make without being able to study things closely, so for me the best tool is not my mirror but a digital camera on a tripod.

I study my photographs of my muslins very closely, making notes of what alterations I will make on the next draft, and in that way I can fit very well without a having a fitting "buddy".

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Michelle

http://cheapandpicky.blogspot.com/

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