kcwc spring 2012: day three
April 25th, 2012
I had planned for this post to be a little more colorful, with some nice bright tees and crazy socks, but the boys insisted on being perfectly matchy-matchy (their words) right down to matching bare feet. This’ll be yur summertime business casual for boys.
the pattern: This is a new pants pattern for me. I wanted to try it because it was a slimmer cut than my beloved pattern from Happy Homemade Vol. 2 and it had a back yoke (you know that sort of V-shaped part in the back of your jeans). The pattern is from a japanese sewing book called Polka Drops, or rather maybe the series is called polka drops and this specific book is called something else entirely. I know absolutely no Japanese, so your guess is as good as mine. If you follow the link, you’ll see the pants on the front cover.
the fabric: The fabric is the same dyed ikea curtain I used for my daughter’s skirt. I also used the same fabric for the purple pockets that I used in her skirt and for her Ayashe blouse too.
the sewing: The actual sewing of the pants went really well. There were pockets and flat felled seams and it all went swimmingly. The fit though, the fit is crap. They are a nice width–not wide leg, not skinny–but they are way too big in the crotch (it is an awful word, I know, but there isn’t any other that works). If I hike them up old man style, then they fit right, but eventually the crotch gets all saggy again. I don’t really know how to adjust the fit so it’s better. Maybe next time I’ll lob off some of the top on the pattern. If you have any suggestions I’m all ears. Even though my boys do like them (and love that they match) and they will get worn, every time they do wear them the phrase saggy crotch will go through my head. Not pleasant!
Here are some amazing clothes that will have you thinking only lovely things when you see them:
3. beetlebroek
There isn’t room here on the blog to show off all the super fantastic garments in the flickr pool, so I’ve been featuring some on facebook throughout the day too.
Saggy crotch drives me crazy! I’ve run into it on a couple of patterns now. The only quick fix I know of is to drop 1-2 inches off the top of the pattern (basically dropping the hem down. Maybe you can take these pants and flip the elastic hem down and topstich it. That would lose about an inch off the top and they wouldn’t be all Urkle looking…. :)
but then I loose the front pockets!
or maybe I’ll get them both big glasses and embrace the Urkle.
I expect you’ll find that a lot with Japanese pants patterns– different body proportions, you know? Long rises are the norm with Asian pants.
Hey! I got that same book and use it to sew the knit top for Day 1 of KCWC! The book title is called ‘Simple sewing for girls and boys’. I love the book and will be sewing more knit items from this book! Thanks for hosting the KCWC!
thanks for the knot shorts feature (and the awesome tutorial to make them)! i love the legs on the pants, but yeah, that rise is too long…i bet you could trim the front down and still save the pockets, you know? looks like you’ve got a lot of “extra length” to work with.
instead of crotch you could say the fit isnt right through the ‘saddle,’ and like others mentioned, the rise is too long. i’d just roll them over on these pants and fix it next time :)
yes, as these gals have already mentioned, just lower the rise of the pants by taking however many inches needed off the top of the pattern. the best way i’ve found to get the perfect rise is to find an excellent “crotch fitting” pair of pants and measure the rise- i measure the front rise separately from the back rise, so i’ll measure from the front wearing waist to the seam intersection at the crotch and then for the back i measure from the back wearing waist to the crotch seam intersection. but judging from the pictures i don’t really know how i would adjust these already made wtihout losing the front pockets. looks like you should be good with the back ones if you were to rip the waistband casing and lower the back a few inches. but that’s not something i would recommend without lowering the front too, otherwise your fit will be just as wonky :)
that is excellent advice! off to find a good pair of pants to measure…
so cute!!!!!!!!!!
To shorten the pattern you would take out the extra length some 5-6 inches below the waistband. But I’d agree with Kristin for a quick fix (flip hem down, topstich – maybe you can omit topstiching over the pockets?). Won’t sure look as nice as now … but the shirt would hide the waistband, right?
I’ve had the same problem with leggings (Japanese and Ottobre), the waist is up somewhere near the armpits and my daughter likes to wear her waistbands below her tummy. I usually end up taking more off the front than the back so they can sit diwn further at the front how she likes them and not look saggy. My suggestion for next time would be to lose those extra inches off the top before making them so you don’t lose the pockets, and learn to love the saggy crotches on these ones because you need good pockets when you’re a kid.
I’m loving the clothes you’ve made for this KCWC, they’re just beautiful, and so classic. Can’t get enough linen! Yay, so excited to see my outfit here, thanks Meg x
Hey – Love the idea of the challenge. The pants are great and I love the books in the link posted to the Etsy site. I would love to pick one up but there are so many to choose from. How did you decide which one?
When in doubt about pants this is my go to guide for the perfect fit.
http://www.afashionablestitch.com/2011/sewalongs/discussing-at-length-crotch-length/
Sarah, thank you so much. That link is perfect!
I think they are so cute! I made some pants for my guy that I love, but I got a bit carried away on giving him room to grow! http://wonderfullycrazyhome.blogspot.com/2012/04/kids-clothing-week-challenge.html
I love your use of the ikea fabric. I believe I have it in my house made into pillows (is it the linen one ?) but i can see it is so appropriate to make clothes too.
sorry i can’t help about the crotch (if they didn’t have any pocket i would of course suggest your lower the waist line) i have a daughter only, made her mostly tops & tunics from japanese sewing book, some leggings as well, but i have never had to adjust any of them (so far). that’s too bad because both pairs of trousers are so well made… as for adult i have notice straight sleeves on japanese patterns seem to be very narrow…
well done on the photo shooting, the grey & white look awesome !
I love the pants and the fit. They look so stylish and grown up on them. I woudn’t change a thing. The fabric is also fabulous. Love it!
It looks like the name of the book translates to “Quick and Uncomplicated Girls and Boys clothes” (The parts in pink and blue say girls and boys clothes, respectively) My long-ago college Japanese is a bit wiggly though.
Polka dots is the name of the pattern company (a la clever charlotte). They have a pattern site:
http://tinyurl.com/7pxccyd
and a blog: http://tinyurl.com/7jpoapo