Thursday, June 16, 2016

She's Got Legs - Part 1 Burda Pant 10-2011 127


Sometimes I use the contests on sewing sites and blogs to motivate my sewing.  More often than not I do the research and planning, purchasing, and finish a project, but rarely enter the contest.      My enjoyment comes from the process and the finished product.

This time it was the Pants Contest on Pattern Review.  I have lots of black, navy,  and gray work pants and the usual selection of jeans, straight leg, skinny, flared etc. So what kind of pant to make?  I love to do google searches where I put in a descriptive term, the word “pant” and look at the images.  You never know what will pop up. I sewed two pairs of pants

The first one was a flare leg pant. Picture source: Illustrated Fashion Alphabet Check out this site for great fashion info and history.

.


I have to alter the back of every commercial pant pattern  I sew and it gets old. About a year ago I attended a pant fitting workshop with Rae Cumbie .  We sewed and fit muslin of her Eureka Pants that Fit pattern.


 I left the workshop that day with a great fitting trouser with a slightly tapered leg. I have sewn several pairs of them for work.   But I wanted some other style pants with the same great fit.  Yes, in theory I could have drafted flare leg on the Eureka, but after  reading several  different methods in my drafting library and being totally overwhelmed,  I  decided to try superimposing the Eureka  pant pattern over a Burda  pant  pattern that had the leg shape I wanted.  And that was this pattern.


 
"These mid rise boot cut trousers are ultra-flattering. They lengthen the leg with a slight flare. The back is left smooth but the front has decorative patch pockets for a finished look." The pattern is available for download at this link.       Burda Pant 10/2011 #127

  The first thing I did was establish the center line on the front and back pattern pieces, of both the Eureka pants and the Burda pants. I assumed both patterns had been drafted using standard pants drafting techniques, which puts the middle of the front halfway between the side and the crotch point.    And midway between the inseams and out seams from hem to knee on both front and back. Continue the  fold to waistline. This establishes the center on each piece, which should be parallel to the grain line. Note: grain line is often marked on the pattern, but is not necessarily in the center.

   I lined up the crotch line of both front patterns. This will work on pants styles where the crotch is worn/drafted at a normal level.   It would not necessarily work for culottes and wide leg pants which often have dropped crotches.   My front Eureka pattern matched the Burda pattern pretty closely, front crotch curve,  side seam and waist seam. That made me feel more comfortable about using this superimpose method   The back pattern piece is where all the differences were.

My bottom is low and flat so I do not need all the fabric, waistline darts, and the center back dart (back wedge)  needed for a higher, curvier bottom.  I used the Eureka pattern shape above the crotch line on the back. And the Burda leg shape below the crotch line.  Below is the Eureka pattern (pale yellow and outlined in green on top of the Burda flare pattern (white).

 

 


The fabric was purchased from Marcy Tilton a couple of years ago and supposedly it was used by a French company for pants.  The fabric has a tiny bit of stretch. It was sold by the panel and  expensive.  The border print ran along one end of the panel. There were some white (unprinted) spots in the print and the fabric was actually in my give away pile when I thought.."what have I got to lose…"  I did have to so some descrete piecing in the back crotch.


These pants have an interesting patch pocket with a welted opening.   I had the welt lines marked on the front pants pattern pieces when I decided to read the directions and discovered the welts were made in the patch pocket pieces.  Hmm nice design.  If you mess up the welts, the pants are not a loss.

1. Make welts in the patch pocket shape


welts basted in place

Welts sewn and basted shut with zigzag stitch

2.Sew lining to patch pocket shape on three sides.

lining sewn to patch pocket

3.In lining, cut slit under welts and hand sew  to  welt seam


Sew patch pocket to pant front. I used an edge stitch foot.


 
 
 
 A fun pair of pants with a retro flare!


16 comments:

  1. What a fun pair of pants! That pocket is brilliant.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I totally LOVE these on you. And, whoa, to seeing your sloper imposed over the Burda. You really did have to do a lot of altering prior!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Loving your pants, funky fun and cute. Great job.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love these! Now I want border print pants too! That is a great idea to put the welts on the patch pocket...I usually leave welts off for fear of messing up.

    ReplyDelete
  5. These are so cute! I love how you incorporated the border into the welt and top pockets. What a fun idea!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Lovely pants. I love that idea to superimpose and am thinking to do that to make a pair of jeans from a Burda that fits pretty well. I love the patch welts... good idea to save messing up.

    ReplyDelete
  7. So glad you didn't give the fabric away- this is the garment it was waiting to be! Those pockets!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Audrey, thanks for sharing this post. My bottom is low and flat also. I have thought about trying the Eureka fit pant pattern. I like how you used it to superimpose over the Burda pant. I have an issue with my right leg and have to wear pants more than I used to. Sewing pants has been something I have stayed away from as success in sewing them has not always been very good. Reading what you did has been most helpful and inspirational. I saw your review of these pants on PR, I really like them.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Very cool use of a border print. They sing summer.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love the vintage 70's look and how you used the border print. You look great in your new jeans.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Love these! What a cool piece of fabric.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Love these pants and I appreciate you showing how you matched the patterns up. I also love those pockets - how cute!

    ReplyDelete