It's a good thing we can learn from our mistakes, because I've learned quite a few things in the last week.
Lesson 1 Photos can be/are deceiving
I had been seeking advice from Glenda by posting my work in progress photos and waiting for her feedback. A lot of her feedback was helpful, but there were just some things she was seeing in the photos that I wasn't seeing in mirror. The major one was, she said I had a flat derriere and need to make the adjustment for that. If you see me in real life you'd know I do not have a flat derriere, it protrudes out from my low back quite noticeably. I'm not saying I have a Kim Kardashian backside, but there's more there than I would like and you don't really see it in the photos.
Lesson 2 Check the width of the fabric before you buy
Because I drafted my own pattern, I wasn't exactly sure how much fabric to buy. I guesstimated based on how much muslin I used, but didn't take into account the pocket pieces or waistband and was able to get by with 3 1/2 yards. So to be one the safe side I bought 4 yards of twill thinking I'd have enough, but it wasn't until I started laying the pieces out that I realized I bought 44" wide fabric instead of 58", which meant I had to cut each piece individually and when I got to the last piece I was short on fabric. So back to the store, where I bought more than I needed in case I made anymore stupid mistakes. I have enough left over to make myself a pair of shorts. If only I wore shorts.
Lesson 3 Measure twice, cut once
This lesson doesn't just apply to carpentry. Even though I thought I took meticulous measurements, I ended up cutting the front pieces about an inch longer than the back pieces. Wasn't a huge deal, since they were going to be carpris, so I just cut the extra inch off to even them up. '
Lesson 4 Don't wait until end to try it on
I was so excited to finish as I was getting closer to end that I skipped trying them on; figureing I had made all the nessicary adjustments on the muslin. I had put a dart in the center back seam like Glenda suggested, but once I got the waistband on and then tried them on, that dart pulled the waistband down to far and a good deal of my underwear showed. If I had put a waistband on the muslin or at least tried them on before sewing the waistband in, I might have caught this problem that before I finished sewing and saved myself the time to rip the waistband out and re-cut another one because I put in on wrong in the first place.
Lesson 5 Double check your measurements
This one is very similar to lesson 3 and as I found out today, after doing the waistband the second time, my husband measured me wrong. He measured my waist to be 3-4 inches bigger than it really is, so not only is the waist band to big that pants are to big.
Although I had my issues sewing these pants, overall I'd say it was mostly successfull. I think I can fix the waistband issue with a drawstring on the inside to make them wearable and they are a better fit than anything in my closet and much better than the last pair I tried to sew from a real pattern. I'm working on a new design and will be sure to make the measurement changes on the new pattern.
Lesson 1 Photos can be/are deceiving
I had been seeking advice from Glenda by posting my work in progress photos and waiting for her feedback. A lot of her feedback was helpful, but there were just some things she was seeing in the photos that I wasn't seeing in mirror. The major one was, she said I had a flat derriere and need to make the adjustment for that. If you see me in real life you'd know I do not have a flat derriere, it protrudes out from my low back quite noticeably. I'm not saying I have a Kim Kardashian backside, but there's more there than I would like and you don't really see it in the photos.
Lesson 2 Check the width of the fabric before you buy
Because I drafted my own pattern, I wasn't exactly sure how much fabric to buy. I guesstimated based on how much muslin I used, but didn't take into account the pocket pieces or waistband and was able to get by with 3 1/2 yards. So to be one the safe side I bought 4 yards of twill thinking I'd have enough, but it wasn't until I started laying the pieces out that I realized I bought 44" wide fabric instead of 58", which meant I had to cut each piece individually and when I got to the last piece I was short on fabric. So back to the store, where I bought more than I needed in case I made anymore stupid mistakes. I have enough left over to make myself a pair of shorts. If only I wore shorts.
Lesson 3 Measure twice, cut once
This lesson doesn't just apply to carpentry. Even though I thought I took meticulous measurements, I ended up cutting the front pieces about an inch longer than the back pieces. Wasn't a huge deal, since they were going to be carpris, so I just cut the extra inch off to even them up. '
Lesson 4 Don't wait until end to try it on
I was so excited to finish as I was getting closer to end that I skipped trying them on; figureing I had made all the nessicary adjustments on the muslin. I had put a dart in the center back seam like Glenda suggested, but once I got the waistband on and then tried them on, that dart pulled the waistband down to far and a good deal of my underwear showed. If I had put a waistband on the muslin or at least tried them on before sewing the waistband in, I might have caught this problem that before I finished sewing and saved myself the time to rip the waistband out and re-cut another one because I put in on wrong in the first place.
Lesson 5 Double check your measurements
This one is very similar to lesson 3 and as I found out today, after doing the waistband the second time, my husband measured me wrong. He measured my waist to be 3-4 inches bigger than it really is, so not only is the waist band to big that pants are to big.
Although I had my issues sewing these pants, overall I'd say it was mostly successfull. I think I can fix the waistband issue with a drawstring on the inside to make them wearable and they are a better fit than anything in my closet and much better than the last pair I tried to sew from a real pattern. I'm working on a new design and will be sure to make the measurement changes on the new pattern.
No comments:
Post a Comment