Spring break project: (faux) wrap pants - Day 8

Today was hard, but I got through it. It was time for a fitting and darts... I also started working on the top waist band, the one that will hold the pants right at the waist. I did not do that, but once you have tried the pants on and determined the placement of the waist band, trim the top of the pants leaving a generous seam allowance. Then try on the pants again. Pinch and pin where darts are needed, in the front and in the back.

Darts are hard. A few tips:

• You want the darts to be slanted outward and not straight down. That's especially true for the back.
• When drawing and sewing the darts, curve the seam as shown in the picture below.
• Get one side exactly right, then mirror on the other side. There is no need to be ripping two darts over and over again when you could just be working on one.

For the waist band, I used what came off the lime skirt. It was already cut and had fusable interfacing. You will have to make your own if that's not available. I started by using scrap fabric from the same skirt to create a backing to the band.

Some considerations if making your own waist band. Find some Youtube tutorial on how to make a waist band. It needs to curve. Don't skip the interfacing. Don't go too stiff on the interfacing either. Consider using interfacing on only one side of the waist band. That side will not require overlocking, the other will. Otherwise, you can use thin interfacing on both. It depends on your budget and personal preference. In the end, you want something that follows the curves of your body, that has some body while not being too stiff and that won't fall apart.

I took the two pieces to my sewing machine. At this point, its a good time to overlock the raw edges (I didn't and it made a mess). Next sew them together, right sides facing, along the top edge. Press the pieces flat.

Repeat for the front waist band. Make it longer than the front piece, so that once around the waist, it can wrap around on top of the front waist band and a button can be placed to fasten it in place. Do a fitting to see exactly where you will want the button and how you want this to wrap around. I had the slit on my right side, the button on the front of the pants, and the flap from the back of the waist band wrapping from the back to the front. Make a button hole on the front waist band where intended. You want that flap and the buttonhole to be on the side where the side slit in the pants is.