I've been having a problem making clothes to fit my DD2. I finished some rather simple pull on shorts the other day and while they seem to fit ok in the back they are way too big in front. I have a Kwik Sew basic pattern and thought I would try it next. It's supposed to be for a knit fabric but it has 4 inches of ease at the hip and this sounds like just too much ease for a knit.
In any event, I was thinking of tracing off the front in one size (at the outer seam) and the back in the larger size. Will this work? I'm afraid if I use the smaller size for both the front and the back that the shorts will be too right across the backside. But I also don't want that large amount of extra fabric in the front.
I've just spent the last day picking out the navy stitching on navy knit and my eyes are almost crossing today but I am anxious to get these completed and fitting correctly. I hope.
Judie, My Granddaughter is very tall and very thin so using a pkged pattern never works for me. I solve this by finding a pair of purchased shorts, pants, shirt whatever that fits her nicely and take it apart and use that as my pattern. It works perfectly every time. Hope this helps.
That would work but she has nothing in her wardrobe that would be suitable. She has always hated pull-on pants of any kind, never even wore sweatpants. She is expecting in February and just wanted something to get her through that "awkward stage" until she needs to start wearing regular maternity clothes. And if we need to go out and buy something and then take it apart that would seem sort of self-defeating, if you know what I mean.
In the meantime I have taken apart and re-cut the shorts I made the other day and will either put them together with safety pins or baste them together for a trial. I hope this works, but seems sort of silly right now as it is cooling off here in Western New York.
My DDIL is expecting in December and doesn't want to buy maternity clothes. I found Mc Call's pattern 5112, that is multi-size, so I can make one size for the front and the other for the back. I use her pre-pregnancy size for measuring the legs and length. Since they live some 1000 miles away, it's impossible for me to fit them; but the ones I've sewn so far fit well. Emily
One should never use good fabric for a new pattern until it has been fitted. You can find cheap knit fabric to make a muslin for a knit design. Is this a maternity pattern? That could be why it's way too big in front. Regardless, the answer is to pin out the extra fullness in the front until your model can sit comfortably and the pants hang smooth. That means that the navy you so carefully took apart probably can't be saved because of the nature of the alteration. Find a pattern that comes close; make a muslin by basting the fronts and backs together. Then make what changes are required by pinning ON THE OUTSIDE (we differ left to right). Leave these adjustments in place with lots of pins. Then chalk over the changes on the inside and sew the changes in place. Then, use the muslin as your pattern. If you like the results, don't use any other pattern for pants until this one no longer fits. Pants fitting is the hardest part of making a pair; they're easy to sew, and don't change that much.
Seems quite reasonable to me, it's an old trick when using multi-size patterns to cut different bits out on different sizes to get the fit you want.
Just be careful that length top to bottom stays the same across both sizes.
If your DD is expecting, then extra room in the front isn't going to be a problem for long! (says me at 38 weeks + 2 days.......). I'd just put some buttonhole elastic in and be done with it - the shorts will go an extra month or 2 that way.
For in-between clothes for pregnant ladies - i.e. the ones you need when your wardrobe no longer fits and you are too small for maternity wear, the best bets are:
1) Elastic waist skirts bought a couple of sizes above your normal size
2) Shopping at charity shops (goodwill stores) for clothes 2 sizes bigger than normal.
3) Loose fitting shirts / blouses / T-shirts
Draw a chalk line across the shorts at the fullest part of the hip, both front and back. Fold each leg in half, matching the side seam to the inseam. Mark the creases you've just made, from the center front and center back of each leg to the waist (that's the true grainline of the shorts/pants).
Stand DD2 up in the shorts, preferably up on a table or bench so you can see what's going on easily.
Scooch the shorts around on her so the side seams are straight up and down, the grainlines are straight up and down, and the horizontal lines you drew are straight across.
Now take a good look at what's going on. Is the horizontal line in front sagging down? Does the waist need to be lowered in center front? If so, mark the new waistline and do whatever you need to do at the top to get the horizontal line horizontal. Is the whole torso portion of the shorts too long for her (the rise)? If so, pull them up equally front and back until the crotch length is correct and mark the waistline.
Take a look at the other possible "too big" spots... the crotch may be mis- shaped for her, and the next crotch curve needs to be changed to something more like McCalls #6985 here:
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is a wretched pattern for women, but a good curve for many littlegirls) The other possibility is that the front was cut too wide. To deal with that, pin out the excess fabric on the front vertical lines you made (crease lines).
When you're done, the shorts should have all the vertical lines (and the side seams) vertical, and the horizontal lines horizontal. If they're not, there's a fitting issue still needing to be addressed. The grainlines don't lie about fit. If they're not straight, if they're sagging, you've got troubles still.
Transfer your corrections to the pattern and make another muslin-- chances are it'll be fine.
Your Kwik-Sew basic pattern is probably going to be easier to fit. If you think 4" of ease is too much, just cut a smaller size and lengthen the rise.
I wouldn't do that. It'll destroy the balance of the shorts and they'll hang funny and just give you more things to fix.
Kay (who finds it faster to draft a pants pattern by hand than fix a commercial pattern.)
I finished the shorts and they came out very well. I cut the smaller size for the front at the outside seams and the shorts hang perfectly at the side seams and what would be a lengthwise crease if there was one.
Now I can use this method to make a couple of longer pants for her since the leaves are already beginning to turn.
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