Back in 2014, when I made myself a new set of
ritual robes to wear at
our godson's Wiccaning, I bought a whole bolt of the main fabric to reduce the per-yard cost. The rest has been sitting in a corner of my bedroom gathering dust until this weekend. I have made several attempts previously at creating a
custom pants pattern for myself, but met with no success. The geometry simply evaded me over and over again.
I wound up taking an online class from the makers of
Garment Designer and that helped clear up some of the mysteries. I didn't realize that the basic shapes for pants inside the software were so far from the final pattern shapes. It took about nine trial runs making muslins out of remnant fabrics from other projects before I felt confident with both the fit issues and the complex structure of a cut-on fly with a zipper shield to try it for reals.
This weekend, though, it finally worked. I made myself a pair of pants from the same black cotton flocked velvet as my ritual robes. The fit isn't quite perfect yet. The waist is about a half inch too big, but the next generation of pattern will be completely perfect. In addition to the zippered fly, this was my first venture into patch pockets for pants. It was a bit tricky at first, but I got the hang of it. The front pockets are little narrow, but I've already re-drafted those pattern pieces for the next pair.
These are a pair of take-me-out pants if there ever was one. So, who's going to take me out in them first? Applications are being accepted.
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| Fly front from audience |
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| Sassy pockets |
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| Fly from operator perspective |
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| Sassy pockets during construction |
This weekend, though, it finally worked. I made myself a pair of pants from the same black cotton flocked velvet as my ritual robes. The fit isn't quite perfect yet. The waist is about a half inch too big, but the next generation of pattern will be completely perfect. In addition to the zippered fly, this was my first venture into patch pockets for pants. It was a bit tricky at first, but I got the hang of it. The front pockets are little narrow, but I've already re-drafted those pattern pieces for the next pair.
