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Member since 11/9/14
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Posted on: 6/19/20 3:00 PM ET
So I'm nearly finished with the Thread Theory Jedediah shorts for my very skinny husband. (Very skinny husband.) I had to alter the pattern down because his waist is 28.5, and the smallest on the pattern is 30. I'm not sure if that's where the problems are now coming from, but - the fly front gapes.

When the dude sits, crouches, or kneels, the fly front gapes open and then doesn't go back. It won't stay flat. He likes the fit in the hips. I have done the j-stitching as well as edge stitched the fly front itself. I'm not sure how to (a) correct for that in these pants and (b) correct for it in the construction of the next ones. Pocket stays? Booty adjustment? He has a lovely tushy, but it's fairly, uh, tidy in shape and size. :P Too tight somewhere? Different pants pattern? Different husband? O.o

Help?

Pictures for reference.
https://imgur.com/a/IoDMbVo
  
Member since 3/24/04
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Posted on: 6/19/20 5:04 PM ET
In reply to ariadnep
Wild guess since I can't see the photos... the front rise is too long. Try having him pull up at the CF waist, then sit and stand and see if it helps. If it does, try taking a little off the CF waist and resetting the waistband.
  
Member since 6/18/04
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Posted on: 6/19/20 5:47 PM ET
In reply to ariadnep
These photos were taken before the J stitching? I can't make it out. The J stitching is what cements everything into place, because it needs to pass through all layers, except the fly shield (the bottom of the fly shield is tacked as a final step). Once done it should not be possible for the left pant front and facing to accordion apart the way they do in the picture. At each stage of the fly construction, you should pin the center front into the final position and confirm that everything is lining up and can be smoothed flat. Once the fly is done, it shouldn't be possible to sit otherwise (unless unzipped). If this has been J stitched and a layer has been missed, you need to move the J closer to the zipper teeth. Maybe you can get away with a second inner row of stitching. Or rip out the top stitching and redo just that.

The fit at CB isn't typical for men's pants, but I don't think it's effecting the fly. Usually the back crotch seam would be a longer, but there would be less width side to side across the center back. Did you alter for width entirely on the seam lines? If you know there's a large alteration coming and he's slim everywhere, not just the waist (looks to be), then folding out width in each leg panel is a good first pass. Then if more is needed, it can be taken at center back and side seams.
-- Edited on 6/19/20 at 6:20 PM --
  
Member since 5/1/03
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Posted on: 6/19/20 7:39 PM ET
In reply to ariadnep
It does look like you have not caught the left side piece ( to which the zip is attached) in the j-stitching.
Are the comfortable for him to sit down in? I think that the back crotch length is slightly too short and the front is slightly too long. The dreaded ‘wedge’ is a risk
Because he is quite slim he would also need a shorter extension in the undercrutch area we often forget that when making adjustments.

Nice shorts - they will look great with a few tweaks.


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Member since 7/31/06
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Posted on: 6/20/20 5:10 AM ET
To me, the pants look too large in every direction. There is a lot of extra fabric in the front thighs and possibly too much crotch depth.
Have you ever tried to grade a pattern? In grading this pattern for your husband, you would make every seam one size smaller. Just mark the new lines the same distance from the 30 as between 30 and 32. After that is done, then you can make any alterations to fine tune the fit (for one, for your husband's slim hips, it looks like too much curve in the side seams below the pockets).
If the crotch depth is okay, you could simply fold out 3/8 inch the full length of each piece to take out 1 1/2 inches. If that would make the legs too narrow, fold out 3/8 inch at the waist and taper to zero at the hem.
The top stitching on the left side of the zipper opening has to catch the facing the zipper is sewn to. The facing may be too narrow.
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Rheta
  
Member since 1/12/04
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Posted on: 6/20/20 7:37 AM ET
In reply to ariadnep
You definitely have to make sure to catch all the layers in your top stitching but, if you are sure you have done that, there is also the possibility that one of the layers in the zipper area has stretched during construction, causing the bulging of the zipper.

I don’t know what method of construction you are using to attach the zipper, but you have to make sure everything is very flat and the lengths well-matched for every line of stitching along the way. If your fabric has any stretch in it, it is easy to accidentally stretch it while you are stitching. So for every step in the fly construction, make sure all the layers are flat and relaxed, and that you are not forcing or pulling as you stitch.




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Member since 11/9/14
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Posted on: 6/20/20 10:02 AM ET
In reply to echolalia
Thank you! All of his other pants are...three sizes too bit, so this is an improvement. :P Yeah, it turns out the j-stitching was actually the issue. I thought it had caught, and it hadn't, which is a hella easier fix than I was afraid of...

that said. The fork of the two front pieces and the two back pieces meet directly under the zip, which I understand to be a no-no. It was recommended that I lengthen the front crotch bit two inches and shorten the back so that they meet two inches below the zipper. (not sure how to do that, but damn if i won't figure it out eventually.) Is that what you mean by a "shorter extension in the undercrutch area"? When you say lengthen the back crotch, what do you mean?
  
Member since 11/9/14
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Posted on: 6/20/20 10:04 AM ET
In reply to rhetam
Yeah, there's a lot of fullness in the pattern; there's something of the jodhpur about them. I'd love to take some of the fullness out of the front, but I'm not sure how.

So in the side seams below the pockets, I should straighten it out? He says the crotch depth feels good (if you and I are talking about the same thing when I say crotch depth O.o). I'm not sureh what you mean by "fold out 3/8 the full length of each piece." Like, sew at 3/8 instead of 5/8?
  
Member since 11/9/14
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Posted on: 6/20/20 10:07 AM ET
In reply to JNE4SL
That did turn out to be the problem - I hadn't caught all the layers in the J-stitching, which is at least a simple fix.

The fit at center back - do you mean the curved waistband, or the general fit? What would be typical?

I took it only at the side seams, since I had already constructed it and didn't want to reduce it to its component parts. The back crotch seam, I think, is VERY long - it continues all the way to the fly. (if we're using the same term here. i'm self-taught, so i'm still learning a lot of the terminology.) I see the term "fold out width" a lot, but I don't know what that means.
  
Member since 6/18/04
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Posted on: 6/20/20 2:20 PM ET
In reply to ariadnep
Glad that fixed it!

When people say fold out, it's a pattern alteration, instead of taking in the side seams. If the needs 1 1/2" removed all the way around, and then you could mark a center line down each leg and narrow the pattern at each line by one quarter of the total, so 5/8" each. With a tissue pattern you can do this by folding out the excess in a vertical tuck, then place that pattern on the fabric. Equivalent methods are actually cutting the pattern in two pieces and taping it back together, or tracing the pattern but sliding the tracing paper over to eliminate a 5/8" strip. This preserves the original shape of the pattern at the side seams and center seams (but you say the side shaping was excessive, so maybe that's not what you want). The thing to keep in mind is this does alter the entire leg, so each hem would be reduced by 1 1/4". If that's too much you might need a different approach, but if he's slim everywhere, this probably would help.

If you took your alteration at the side seams, I don't know why the back crotch looks off. Maybe it's just the pattern, or maybe it's just a picture of unfinished pants, playing a trick on the eyes. He says they're comfortable, so I'd finish them as is, and think about the next pair, if necessary. From the back it looks a little like fabric is being pulled toward the front at the crotch. So it seems like a little more length is needed in the back rise or fork. At the same time is seems, there's still a bit of fabric side to side that isn't needed (compared to the front which seems proportionate). But they fit at the waist, and look good, so this is already a win.
  
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