It’s officially October (how did that happen, by the way?), and that means it’s time for another sewalong! Are you guys ready to make some Clovers?
I know what the big holdup is when it comes to making trousers. One word: fit. Let’s face it, when it comes to pants, getting a great fit is not something that can be left to dumb luck.
So this sewalong will have a big fit focus. In fact, pretty much all of next week is devoted to pants fitting! And I’m going to walk you through what I’ve found to be a good method for fitting this particular pair of pants. In other words, take a deep breath… we’re going to work through it together.
The great news is that these pants are exceedingly simple to construct, so we can take our time with fit and fly through the construction pretty quickly. And once you get these fitted the way you want, imagine the possibilities and variations!
This Thursday 10/06, I’m going to post a pants fitting cheatsheet that should hopefully help you work out problems with your muslin. And I would love it if you guys could help each other out in the forums, since it might be difficult for me to answer all fitting questions that come up. Plus, I’m sure some of you have more direct experience with certain fitting problems. But we’ll help out as much as possible!
So here is the schedule we’re planning:
10/06: Making a muslin and fitting cheatsheet
10/10: Crotch adjustments
10/11: Back adjustments
10/12: Thigh adjustments
10/13: Derriere adjustments
10/14: Tummy adjustments
10/18: Choosing your seam finish
10/20: Pockets and darts
10/25: Assembling pants and final fitting tweaks
10/27: Waistband and zipper
And of course, no sewalong would be complete without buttons. Please feel free to paste these codes into your own blog, if you so desire!
Some related posts you may be interested in:
- Choosing the right fabric for Clover: Some tips on fabric choice that we wrote up in advance for this sewalong.
- Some pants fitting basics: Get a head start on pants fitting by looking over this post, which includes some great resources.
- How to sew piping in a seam: Piping is a great detail on pants.
- Glowing Clovers: One of my own pairs of Clovers, for further inspiration!
Yay! I’m so excited!
So excited about this! I’m going to have to just follow along for now (darn schedule pushing out all sewing at the moment!), but am looking forward to using what I read and learn in the future. :)
Yay!!! I’ve been eagerly awaiting this. I’m not sure if this is covered in the muslin-making stage or not, but I was tracing my pattern this weekend and had a question. I’m one size in the waist and another in the hips, and while generally I grade between the two, I’m wondering if it makes more sense to take the extra out in the back dart rather than the side seams. Any thoughts??
It depends. I’ll cover some different fitting adjustments, but in general adjusting the back darts is going to influence the shape around the curve of your butt, while the side seams influence the shape around the hips. So having a round or flat butt is a good reason to change the darts, whereas having wide or narrow hips is a good reason to change the side seams.
Yay! I am excited to start my first pair of pants. Thank you for holding my hand along the way.
This timing is so absolutely perfect! I sewed the final pass on my muslin late last night & tried them on, crossing my fingers that no adjustments would be necessary. Really wanted to sport red Clovers at the Sewing Summit. Of course, there are always adjustments with trousers :) I’m so glad next Monday is a work holiday!!! Off to swap out my Rooibos sewalong button!
I have been not so patiently waiting for this, so happy it is finally here!!! I cut out a muslin, but have done nothing else. I am a size 6 in the hips and a size 14 in the waist, so no clue how to fix that lol Once I get this fit, I plan on making lots of lots of Clovers : )
I am very similar with my waist being larger, while my hips are pretty small and narrow.
A Canadian pair of pants is on its way! I should get my pattern today, and received my stretch wool tweed on Friday, so I am VERY ready for this. I’m a long legged girl who has trouble finding length to match my rather average (imho) waist and hip size.
Luckily, you have a super easy adjustment to make!
I really want to make these pants, but at 4’11″ I read that these are the worst pants for petite ladies, Does anyone have any tips on how I could wear them without making myself look smaller.
I’m ready! I actually paid full price for this pattern — first time ever.
Naomi P,
I don’t think these will be wrong for you as long as you don’t make the shorter version. If you make a pair that hits just above your inner ankle bone they will actually make you look lean. It’s capri pants at mid-calf length that shorten. The longer version of these I think of as cigarette pants like these.
Woohoo!! Fantastic, can’t wait to get started!
Too excited for this! My yellow stretch cotton twill is on its way to me. I’d also love to find a source for nice stretch wool tweeds. I’ll ask on the forum!
I just got some swatches of stretch tweeds from Mood. I’ll warn that they took forever to ship, but the swatches are GORGEOUS.
I haven’t ordered the pattern quite yet (there’s a gift-giving occasion approaching soon, and I don’t want to spoil it just in case my hints haven’t fallen on deaf ears) but I do have two or three fabrics washed & ready to go! I’m definitely looking forward to reading fit-tips while I wait!
Like everyone before, excited excited excited! I just need to get my fabric – never bought this kind of fabric before. That will be an adventure too :-)
Hi! My friend just bought the pattern for me, and I bought some red stretch cotton twill this weekend. Woo hoo!
I don’t have an invisible zipper foot. Has anyone tried putting in an invisible zipper with a regular zipper foot? Or should I go and buy one?
I’d recommend the invisible zipper foot, but if you prefer not to, you could just put in a standard centered zipper instead.
Still, an invisible zipper foot is a really handy thing to have. Invisible zips look great, are easy to sew, and it’s super easy to get a nice finish when you need to attach facings or linings to them!
Should the muslin fabric have some stretch to it? Or would a woven work just fine?
I’m going to cover this, but the short answer is that something with a similar amount of stretch is preferred.
Has the best fabric for muslins been addressed? Can you buy stretch muslin? Any suggestions?
I like Caroline’s suggestion below. Just an inexpensive stretch cotton should be fine.
Yes, please address appropriate muslin fabric! I mean, I understand it needs to stretch a little too, just like the fashion fabric in order for us to get the fitting correct but what’s a good cheap muslin option for Clover?
Actually…a cheap stretch cotton poplin would work, or something like that. To the fabric store!
For anyone interested, stretch poplin (3% Lycra) is now on sale at Fabricmart.com for only $1.99! I just ordered 6 yards in chocolate brown and red for these pants. There were other colors but I had to control myself!
I love the look of the clover on everyone I’ve seen modeling them but I’m afraid of making them. I wonder if there is a way to make them so that they don’t emphasize my,” all in the wrong places”, bulges that just won’t go away anymore no matter how much weight I lose and that are the main reason that I like to wear skirts instead.
I’m so excited for this! I just got a rust colored stretch twill and a dark teal stretch twill in the mail yesterday.
I ordered the pattern, and I am anxiously awaiting for it to arrive. I managed to make a trouser pattern fit well for my mother. We’ll see how handy I can be at making myself one. I am going fabric shopping this weekend!
I was so waiting for this sew along to start and will make the first muslin tomorrow. I don’t have the fabric yet, but I have whole next week, I believe, since it will be all about fitting.
This will be my first self-made pair of pants since ages, so I am anxious :-)
I’m in! These were actually on top of my list, so the timing is perfect!
I’ve already got the pattern, as well as fabric….yay!
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