Saturday, August 31, 2013

The Fall Capsule Collection: A Bit About My Pants Sloper

A couple of years ago I made a pants sloper. I learned, during that process - which, while painful, was in NO way even half as challenging as making a standard woven top (for me, given my body type) - that I don't need to shorten the legs of pants (my legs are proportionately long) but the rise of pants.

You see, my lower torso is very short and, between my navel and base of my crotch, I am a couple of inches shorter than the length of your average commercial pattern. So, these days, when I cut out a new pants pattern, I always compare the crotch length to that of my sloper. Inevitably I remove the same 2 inches at the lengthen-shorten line. Not a prob.

My crotch curve is also not standard - odds are that yours isn't either. I need to add a bit of fabric onto the front and back crotch seams to give a small amount of extra room given that a) I need to accommodate the bump of my lower abdomen and b) I have a relatively round derriere. Having said this, my legs and hips are proportionately slender.

Given all this, I usually cut a size to suit my legs and hips and then I add a bit of fabric to the crotch curve while shortening the crotch length substantially. Depending on whether my fabric has some stretch to it, I may also add an inch to the waistband measurement. I do this on a case-by-case basis.

For Kwik Sew 3115 (yoga pants), for which I cut a medium, I made my usual alterations to the crotch curve and length. Interestingly, I didn't need to shorten the pants legs even 1 cm. Thing is, during the version that I made last weekend, I shortened things about half an inch too much, so the crotch of the pants is going up my butt slightly, and there's also some camel-toe action happening. It's not extreme, but for my next go-round, I've added back 0.5 inch of length to the crotch and shortened the hem by the same half an inch.

Even with a firm knit, these pants are not tight in my upper leg or hip, in the way some yoga pants are deliberately designed to fit. They skim. But since I'm sleeping in them - as well as doing everything else chez moi - I don't feel the urge to narrow the hip or leg.

Point is, I've opted for a medium, rather than a small, to better suit my waist measurement and to give me a flow-y fit.

One other thing I've done - to accommodate that lower ab bump (I will disclose that my whole abdominal area has been a ball of mushness for the last while - I sense it's hormonal and I am working to strengthen my core) is to cut a slightly longer piece of elastic (1 inch longer than the pattern calls for) and - this is key - I use 2"-wide elastic, not the 3/8" width that the Kwik Sew pattern calls for.

Why? Well, I don't know about you, but I think it's a bit weird and wussy to have a skinny piece of elastic sewn into the top of a 2.25 inch wide waistband. It also does nothing to support one's waist and below. The thicker elastic gives a nice, smooth waistline.

But...

It's harder to insert, for sure.

What I do (and keep in mind that all elastic has different stretch properties which depend partly on width and partly on the material used to produce the elastic) is to sew a zig zag stitch (as the pattern instructs) not through the middle of the elastic but on the top and on the bottom of the elastic width. The trick is to affix the initial row of zig zag without rippling the fabric or accidentally catching it in a bump. It's trickier than it seems. Sewing the second layer of stitching is much easier, as you already have a fixed point. But you still have to be careful not to catch the fabric.

At any rate, this is how I've adjusted my yoga pants, for my unique shape. How do you alter stretch pants to do the same? Do you use a wider elastic to support the waist? Are you still working on that elusive sloper? What's the hardest part of getting pants to fit for you? Let's talk.

10 comments:

  1. I made 3115 about two years ago and didn't use elastic at all. Like you I didn't like the idea of the skinny elastic, so instead, I believe, I cut about a half inch out of the length of the waistband. The material I used was a cotton/Lycra from Spandex World and it has held up very well, although they are now due for replacement.

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    1. Oh, that's a good idea too! Good skim, I'm sure (if not as much suction!)

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  2. You know what? I'm still jealous that you have a sloper and seem to understand what to alter altogether! I'm still in the process trying to fit pants and it's such a painful progress... After lots of altering and 3 muslins I understand only one thing - that I totally don't get what's wrong with my body, haha. Btw, never had pants to fit me really well, neither from ready to wear ones, neither made by seamstresses. Oh, this mysterious land of "crotch"...

    Oh, and from my humble experience making waistbands for skirts: I'd never use skinny elastic, always grab wider one despite what instructions tell me.

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    1. Victoria: Oooh, don't I make it seem that I have some idea of what's going on!? Don't take me too seriously, it routinely backfires :-)

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  3. I have this pattern kwiksew 3443
    http://images.patternreview.com/sewing/patterns/kwiksew/3443/3443.pdf
    which has no elastic, but a fold down waistband and a cross over waistband. I tried the fold over waistband, but I reduced the width into half.

    And yes, I have the weird camel toe like issue like yours and I also think the pattern is too large for me (I used 'medium'), but if I go down a size to 'small', it looks like I will still have the same problem. I have a couple of Burda knit pants patetrns and I want to try that crotch curve next. I had tried a Burda trouser pattern before and that crotch curve fit me pretty good. So hopefully their knit pants patterns fit the same.

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    1. My fitting friend, S, suggested this pattern to me. We were confused because KS apparently has 2 diff patterns!

      Ah, slopers. They are so hard won. Sometimes, the cut of a pattern is just so divergent from one's shape, that it's better to move on. Maybe this is one of those?

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  4. Btw, Can you share where you got the 2 inch wide elastic pls?

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    1. Sure - Leather Sewing Supply. It just moved from Vanauley (that little side street north of Queen) to Spadina just north of Queen. Basically further east. THe new shop is a big improvement on the original (horrid basement). The already good supplies are that much improved. BTW, if you're going to use 2 inch elastic on the pattern I've referred to, add a 1/4 inch of additional width to the waistband. It will make it much easier to sew without running the risk of nicking your elastic when you serge. Or use 1.5 inch elastic with the width of waist band suggested.

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  5. Interesting; our lower half sounds as though it might be similar in shape--I too have lower ab fluff, a high rounded booty, and slim thighs/legs. I will definitely be looking into your sloper posts when I'm ready to make pants again. And yes, I too, have cut the rise too short and caused a lot of grief, though it sounds like yours was more modest error than mine, LOL!

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    1. I'd love to tell you that my derriere is high. Not sure it's true these days :-) And I can imagine your immodest error. Funny in hindsight. No pun intended!

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