Spring break project: (faux) wrap pants - Day 2
Picking up from where I left yesterday, I stitched the inner leg seams. I did not finish the seams, as I am half expecting having to undo them at some point. If they are overlocked, it makes the process that much more difficult. I did overlock just one inch at the top, in preparation for the next step.
I opened up the two panels and lay them flat with right sides facing and lined up the crotch U line. I pinned and stitch along that line, with a short stitch, for strength.
The acute reader will notice on the picture above that the patterned fabric sticks out at the crotch line on one side, uneven with the other side. What gives? The stretchy fabric is what gives. I have the same kind of unevenness happening at the hem for the other side. Despite my best efforts, the fabric shifted and I had leftovers at the end of my stitch line. I don't think it's too serious. There is a tiny bit of fabric buckling on one pant leg, but it's inside the leg and with the wrap on top, I expect that it will be invisible.
You might worry that with all this, the crotch may not fit anymore. I am adapting as I go along. At the waist, I am expecting to have to add a waist band, as I want these pants to be high-waisted and reach down to my heels. Because the skirts were not quite long enough, that means that I will have to "cheat" on top. I am not sure yet that I will have any useful fabric left from the patterned skirt, but I have the whole back panel of the lime skirt left. Another concern is going to be elasticity at the waist (I need to be able to put these pants on and take them off), as the lime skirt is made of linen and that doesn't stretch. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it.
Now we almost have pants. I lay them flat with the patterned fabric on top. I baste stitched along the side seams of the pants with a contrasting thread for further fitting. I could have used pins, but I expected the fitting part to take a wile and require a lot of manipulation, so temporary stitching was the way to go. I did not go all the way down the pant legs, as I was mostly concerned about fitting at the waist at this stage.
Then came the first fitting. I learned a few things:
1) making a waistband from the linen fabric was the way to go, as the patterned fabric did not have enough structure to hold any shape or weight.
2) I had extra length a the bottom and could stitch the crotch deeper down (what did I tell you about cutting and finishing seams). This will not require any seam ripping. I am just going to stitch the crotch bottom again, going lower, then cut the extra fabric.
3) These pants, if I succeed, will make my butt look super cute.
And so the next step was to deepen the crotch. This was a little messy, with the inside of the legs already stitched up, but I did not want to undo the seams unless absolutely necessary. I drew a deeper crotch line, stitched along it, and then cut away the excess fabric. Still, no finishing of seams at this stage.
Next is the hard part: the waist band. I have some idea on how to proceed, but in truth this is going to be trial and error. I am going to report here what worked.
I began by cutting the extra lime fabric from the sides of the pants. I am pretty sure at this stage that the legs of the pants are good as they are, plus the patterned fabric is already cut. I saved the scrap fabric for the waist band.
I opened up the two panels and lay them flat with right sides facing and lined up the crotch U line. I pinned and stitch along that line, with a short stitch, for strength.
The acute reader will notice on the picture above that the patterned fabric sticks out at the crotch line on one side, uneven with the other side. What gives? The stretchy fabric is what gives. I have the same kind of unevenness happening at the hem for the other side. Despite my best efforts, the fabric shifted and I had leftovers at the end of my stitch line. I don't think it's too serious. There is a tiny bit of fabric buckling on one pant leg, but it's inside the leg and with the wrap on top, I expect that it will be invisible.
You might worry that with all this, the crotch may not fit anymore. I am adapting as I go along. At the waist, I am expecting to have to add a waist band, as I want these pants to be high-waisted and reach down to my heels. Because the skirts were not quite long enough, that means that I will have to "cheat" on top. I am not sure yet that I will have any useful fabric left from the patterned skirt, but I have the whole back panel of the lime skirt left. Another concern is going to be elasticity at the waist (I need to be able to put these pants on and take them off), as the lime skirt is made of linen and that doesn't stretch. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it.
Now we almost have pants. I lay them flat with the patterned fabric on top. I baste stitched along the side seams of the pants with a contrasting thread for further fitting. I could have used pins, but I expected the fitting part to take a wile and require a lot of manipulation, so temporary stitching was the way to go. I did not go all the way down the pant legs, as I was mostly concerned about fitting at the waist at this stage.
Then came the first fitting. I learned a few things:
1) making a waistband from the linen fabric was the way to go, as the patterned fabric did not have enough structure to hold any shape or weight.
2) I had extra length a the bottom and could stitch the crotch deeper down (what did I tell you about cutting and finishing seams). This will not require any seam ripping. I am just going to stitch the crotch bottom again, going lower, then cut the extra fabric.
3) These pants, if I succeed, will make my butt look super cute.
And so the next step was to deepen the crotch. This was a little messy, with the inside of the legs already stitched up, but I did not want to undo the seams unless absolutely necessary. I drew a deeper crotch line, stitched along it, and then cut away the excess fabric. Still, no finishing of seams at this stage.
Next is the hard part: the waist band. I have some idea on how to proceed, but in truth this is going to be trial and error. I am going to report here what worked.
I began by cutting the extra lime fabric from the sides of the pants. I am pretty sure at this stage that the legs of the pants are good as they are, plus the patterned fabric is already cut. I saved the scrap fabric for the waist band.
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