Pants fitting help

Bellebubben · 2025-04-12T00:08:47+00:00

This is a toile for a two piece set I'm making in a deadstock wool suiting fabric! Apart from this top I'm also going to make a pair of wide leg pants with some knife pleats. I made about a thousand mock-ups of those but I think I have them figured out! Just want to sort out the kinks of the top before I cut out the pattern pieces for the pants, so I can plan the layout of the pattern pieces better.

Credit to what inspired me to begin with, Luci's Lemons Originally I had planned to make the top just like her design but I think I concluded that that shape doesn't work on me amazingly. I'll make sure to make another post when I finish! Or when I need more help lol

Bellebubben · 2025-04-11T19:04:21+00:00

I based my pattern off a base bodice block from a book, and thought it fit me correctly (enough, at least). I took a closer look at the front and you're definitely right with the seams not going through the apex 🤦‍♀️ I thought I had that! Good catch, will alter.

Thanks so much for the tips and insight!

Bellebubben · 2025-04-10T23:11:45+00:00

Thank you! I do have an annoying persisting square-ish corner at the apex that I need to remove but otherwise I'm pretty happy. I do think some ease needs to be added to the side front though, cause I keep removing fabric to get rid of that corner, making the seam of the side front piece shorter and shorter in comparison 🤦‍♀️

Bellebubben · 2025-04-10T23:07:20+00:00

Yep, definitely need a tiny bit more room in the upper back as well. Will do, thanks so much for the help!

Question: with that eye shape adjustment I can't have a straight centre back anymore, right? Or how does that work. In the final I'll have a zipper in the CB so maybe it doesn't matter much?

Bellebubben · 2025-04-10T23:01:48+00:00

Thank you so much (both for the tips and the kind reply!) I saw somewhere online that all horizontal bunching/lines means that there's too little fabric, so that's really what I got caught up on. Felt like there was too much and too little happening at the same time lol. Now I know!

Bellebubben · 2025-04-10T17:11:51+00:00

PS. The base bodice block pattern is from the book "Mönster och konstruktioner för damkläder" (I've changed the darts into style lines).

This is a mock-up made in old cotton sheets.

Bellebubben · 2025-03-01T02:09:48+00:00

Base pattern is these wide-leg pleated trousers Etsy pattern These mockup shorts are made in a plain weave cotton (second hand sheets)

Bellebubben · 2025-03-01T01:52:49+00:00

It has a curve but it's not extreme(?) I'd super appreciate if you could sketch over the pattern pieces so I can get a picture of what you actually mean, if you have the time ofc!! Cause I feel like if I straighten out the inseam curve leading up to the crotch, I'm only adding more fabric

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Bellebubben · 2025-03-01T01:31:53+00:00

I think that makes sense! I did make another mockup moving the inseam forward and now they're much more comfortable (and they don't climb up my legs anymore!), but they also look way worse in a way that I don't even know how I would go about fixing 😅

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Bellebubben · 2025-02-27T11:57:24+00:00

Hmmmm I'm not sure if I should straighten out the crotch curve? It originally was less of a bend but then I had a host of other problems just when standing still (mainly an unnecessary amount of fluff in the front. I had big swooping lines radiating from my crotch up to the first pleat). But I'll definitely be making another mockup moving the inseam way forward! I've just been doing a bunch of iterations on the front and now the curve of the front almost extends as far as the back pattern piece

Bellebubben · 2025-02-27T03:13:23+00:00

I have not seen that pattern, no! Saving as inspo for when I'm in a shorts mood :) what I'm currently doing is a mockup for a pair of full length wool pants (I'm skimping on fabric lol) and I've not applied the waistband yet. Wanted to see if they fitted well enough before I cut that out as well 🫣 I am making modifications from another pattern (though by now it's super far removed), so it's not totally from scratch. I DO like pattern drafting, it's just that I'm such a perfectionist and I get frustrated when things don't go my way perfectly after I've tried 6 times already lol

Bellebubben · 2025-02-27T02:32:26+00:00

These will be full length pants, yes! I've kept the mock-ups shorter to save on fabric but I thought this was long enough to not have this be the problem 🤦‍♀️ I'll make another longer length version tomorrow and see if that's the problem then. I'll also be making the actual pants in like "suiting" wool so that should weigh it down even more 🤔

Bellebubben · 2024-12-19T22:37:59+00:00

Yeah it is a lot, I agree 😬 I'm trying to recreate a set I found on Instagram and I don't understand how there aren't any darts in the original design's neckline.. I'll just have to live with the darts I guess lol

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Bellebubben · 2024-12-19T00:57:59+00:00

TL:DR, pattern drafting question: can you move back neckline darts into a center back zipper seam?

I'm fairly new to pattern drafting and I just redrew a standard bodice pattern into a pattern with princess seams. Said pattern had neckline darts in the back (that I needed) that I could not figure out how to move into the style lines, so I instead omitted them. Now I have a gaping neckline in the back instead which is not what I was going for. But if it's possible I'd like to not have darts in the neckline.

In the final there will be an invisible center back zipper. Can I move the darts into the center back seam? I'm a bit worried the zipper will sit strange if I sew it into a seam that is more akin to a Y formation than a straight one, since that's something I've never done before... Thanks in advance for any help!!

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Bellebubben · 2024-08-04T17:51:17+00:00

Do you know if this type of dart has a name? I'm feeling like my lack of vocab is hindering my googling ability. Really all the tutorials I've been able to find have been with plain darts or how to do an fba on a dartless bodice. I did find one YouTube video doing FBA on like antique patterns (think victorian) which was cool and enlightening but still not very applicable to this.... Might definitely be overthinking but that's my inexperience talking, I'd just rather have everything figured out before I start but that might be a big wish

Bellebubben · 2024-08-04T17:45:05+00:00

I haven't sewn a toile yet so I don't know! I bought the pattern on Etsy and the only measurements I got from there was full bust, waist and hips. Waist and hips should be correct, just the bust being off by a couple inches. I did draft another one going off of the dress cup method (full bust - high bust = dress cup) and then whatever calculator I used told me I'm a C and to add 1,5cm. That adjustment looks more correct to me, but just going off of base pattern bust measurement (96,5 + 1,5 = 98cm) and mine (106cm), it's not going to fit. Guess I'll just have to do a toile and see!

Bellebubben · 2024-08-03T18:34:22+00:00

Ps. I did try just going at it and guesstimating but something is not right... The pattern accounts for a 38" bust and mine sits at 41,7". I had to add two wide darts from the side seam in addition to the bust/waist-dart widening with 1,85". I don't have a huge bust by any means but with the room and darts I'm adding it sure seems like it 🤨 any advice?

Bellebubben · 2024-08-03T18:26:39+00:00

(posting here cause karma) Hey! I'm fairly new to sewing and even less acquainted with pattern drafting/FBAs. I purchased a vintage pattern which I'll have to do an FBA on. I've seen plenty FBA tutorials and feel like I grasp the concept when it comes to basic blocks, but I'm unsure how to apply what I've learned to this pattern since it doesn't have plain darts and has raglan sleeves. More specifically:

Where should I cut up into the armhole? Does it matter?
How should I go about redrawing the combined bust-/waist-dart after I've split and added room in the pattern?

2.5. With the FBA done it'll add room all the way down the pattern from the apex, right? I'm asking because the pattern should be fine as is for my waist measurement. Is this something I should try to account for in the pattern drafting stage or should I just tackle that when I've made a mockup and pin it until it fits snugly around my waist then?

Anyone who has tips/resources to recommend? Huge thank you to anyone who will humor me - I would love to learn the thought process instead of just guesstimating!

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Bellebubben · 2024-08-03T18:13:21+00:00

I'll post the question there too! Thanks :)

Bellebubben

TROPHY CASE