In working on my entry for the one fabric (wool) contest, I came across a great tip included by Claire Shaeffer in the instructions for Vogue 8156.
"To avoid baggy knees, shrink the front crease slightly at the knee. Place the two fronts together, one on top of the other on the pressing board. Shape the crease into a shallow concave curve, creating small wrinkles along the crease at the knee. Fill the wrinkled area with steam; use your hands to pat the wrinkles flat. Repeat, steaming and patting until you have shrunk out the ease." and so on....
Say no to elephant knees and yes to steam! :) |
|Login|Help]
Works on elephant elbows, too!
2/1/08 1:09 PM
Very interesting! How long does this last? Does it need to be repeated each time the pants are ironed?
2/3/08 7:08 PM
So glad you listed this tip; I recall it from your review of the smashing pants; I wrote it down, pinned it above my pressed area. Thanks, Lily
2/15/08 8:58 PM
Great idea. It sounds like you put the pants on the ironing board and bend the legs forward so it looks like a forward "c", or that your knees bend in the opposite direction from how they really bend. Then you steam the pants into place. I hope I am right on this. Explaining sewing is very hard to do.
2/20/08 7:43 AM
Is this before front and back of legs are sewn together? I do something similar to shrink out baggy butt - stretch and press the bias 4" or so of the back leg from the crotch seam down...but then you recut the pattern there eliminating extra fabric. Can you please explain more about the knees? Thanks so much!
2/27/08 2:44 PM
poppyq - this is just the two fronts - before they're sewn to the backs. I will amend my tip to reflect this. :) thx!
2/28/08 7:00 AM