pants tailoring--possible for a beginner?

Hi--

I'm a relative beginner at sewing. I did pretty much sewing when I was young, but kids, career, gardening & the convenience of off-the-rack drew me away from sewing.

Now I am finding that I cannot get a pair of pants to fit me without taking it to the tailor. My problem is that the waist is always too small and the hips are way too big. So I find myself buying the pants to fit the waist and then having the tailor take the pants in on the outside seam. All she does is evenly take the outside seam in per the amount of excess fabric. She charges around $15 per pant, which is probably a fair charge for this. Except she never gets the pants "just" the way I want them to be. Which is why I'd like to do this myself.

The only issue that I see is that these particular pants have a flat-felled outside seam. I've never done a flat-felled seam. Am I asking for a case of frustration and/or ruined, not-good-looking pants if I attempt this on my own? (My daughter will do the pinning for me. She wants to learn this, too.)

Any expert/not-so expert opinions appreciated!

Thank you--

Reply to
in her garden
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Flat-felled seams are tedious, but not difficult. The only problem I foresee is that the stitching on flat-felled seams shows -- and some pants use a thick, bright-colored thread to make it show a LOT. But if you take out the entire seam, you can use a matching thread if you prefer, and that makes any unsteadiness lower key. It might be wise to practice a bit on a similar fabric.

My favorite flat-felling method was stolen from David Coffin's _Shirtmaking_ book. On one of the two pieces to be joined, turn a narrow strip to the RIGHT side of the fabric. (Remembering to turn it to the RIGHT side probably won't be as big a hassle for a beginner as for someone with years of experience in turning narrow strips to the wrong side.) The first time you try it, baste this turn by hand. I still baste when sewing unco-operative fabrics, but spraying a little starch on the edge will persuade most cottons and linens to stay folded. In pants-weight fabric, a quarter inch (half a centimeter) will be about right. Exact width doesn't matter, it can even vary from one end of the seam to the other (though I don't recommend it!) and the seam will correct for the variation automatically.

Then you pin the two pieces right sides together, with the raw edges matching, and sew the width of the original seam allowance from the fold. On one side, the allowance will be wider by the width of the strip you turned to the right side. On the other side, the allowance will be narrower by exactly the same amount that the other side is wider, so the fit will be exactly the same. If the turn-under was half the seam allowance, the original stitching lines will lie over one another in the center of the seam. If the turn-under was some other width, the seam will be shifted a little, but the seamlines will still match.

On some fabrics, I then press the seam to one side, so that the raw edges are covered, then top-stitch.

On a pants weight, I don't press, or only press as it lies, then turn to the right side and stitch close to the seam while finger-pressing the seam allowances to the correct side as I stitch. This often requires me to keep the fabric under a bit of tension: remember that the pulls must cancel out so that there is no net force at the needle. The first time, you can pre-press instead, but an iron-pressed seam doesn't look quite as nice as a finger-pressed seam. (On the other hand, you need only one row of top stitching for an iron-pressed seam.)

Then you must make another row of stitching to secure the folded edge of the seam allowance. If you stitch from the right side, stitch in the same direction as the first row of top-stitching. If you turn the work over and stitch from the wrong side, stitch in the opposite direction.

(If you are striving for the puckery seams found on some designer jeans, do it the other way around.)

Joy Beeson

Reply to
Joy Beeson

I was ready to say "probably not" when I ready your subject line, but after reading your message, I think you mean "altering" pants, not "tailoring", right? The difference is, "tailoring" usually refers to custom making a garment from scratch, "altering' refers to making changes to an existing garment.

The reason you don't get good results if your "tailor" takes all the excess out of the side seam *only* of RTW pants, is that throws off the grain line. To be properly altered, they should have a similar amount taken out of the side seams AND the center front, center back, and inseam. This is probably more alteration than would be worth paying for unless you are starting our with very expensive pants.

Since you are talking about a pair of pants with flat-felled side seams I'm guessing they are jeans or some other sporty fabric? In my experience, you will probably not be very happy undertaking this kind of alteration (there are probably front pockets, too?). Cea, who often posts to this group, has a nifty method for inserting an elastic godet in the center back waistline of pants in order to accommodate a larger waist to hip ratio. Maybe she'll chime in here.

Beverly

Reply to
BEI Design

I forgot to mention that you can buy a presser foot that has an adjustable guide on the right side. This is meant for blind hemming, so you can't get one with the guide on the left where you need it for topstitched hems, but the right-side guide does fine for flat-felled seams.

When I first got it, I was really enthusiastic about how wonderfully neat my topstitching suddenly was -- but it is such a royal pain to adjust it that when I finally get it stitching just the right distance from the fold, I don't want to change it for the next job. And I pretty soon learned that if I'm not going to change the setting, guiding the fold along the inside of the slot in my zig-zag foot works at least as well as using the guide foot. And, since the middle needle position is the right distance, I can stitch with the fold on either side.

Joy Beeson

Reply to
Joy Beeson

The O.P. was using "tailor" in the non-sewing sense: "We can tailor our curriculum to suit the needs of individual students."

It is confusing to use metaphorical senses in a context where one might be using a literal sense, and encouraging someone to say "tailor" when he means "alter" is not doing him any favor.

An no, it isn't nit-picky to fuss over clear communication -- people have *died* for grammatical errors. Ruining a length of cloth isn't in the same ballpark as The Charge of the Light Brigade, but it isn't a good introduction to the art of sewing..

Unless you are ruining it on purpose, of course. I have an old grade-school sewing text in which the children do all sorts of horrible things to a piece of unbleached muslin.

Footnote: in a grade-school sewing book I found on some vintage-sewing site, children too young to be allowed to use thread snips are expected to draft their own patterns! When did pattern- drafting become so intimidating?

Footnote to footnote: "grade school" was the first six years, usually starting at age six.

Further footnote to footnote: I was thinking of

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Beeson

Reply to
Joy Beeson

Cea, Please have a nice stiff one, and call me in the morning! I thin you might try getting out of bed on the other side, as well. ;-)

Beverly, who was thinking OP isn't a highly skilled alterationist/tailor, and therefore.....

Reply to
BEI Design

"BEI Design" wrote in message

I wish! :-}

Reply to
BEI Design

Bookmarked, I love it! Thanks,

Beverly

Reply to
BEI Design

That didn't give the appearance of pattern drafting as much as it did a "create this mystery picture," and they certainly were not terribly fitted garments.

Reply to
Melinda Meahan - take out TRAS

:) I learned a lot of what is on that site when I was young but I'm not that old:) After lurking some time in this group I thought to jump into the deep end and introduce myself.

I'm Danuta and writing this in a small village in the Netherlands. I hope to learn here somethings new that I can use for my hobby. Please excuse my horrible english, its a long time ago that I used it.

I'm 51, 33 years with the same hubby, one daughter (19) with an extreme taste of clothes and the reason that I picked up the needle again after 30 years:)

I learned to sow by hand and later with a Singer machine with a foot peddle (not electric:)) now I'm strugling with a bit more modern machine (Janome

9000) and I found there are more bad words in my vocabulairy then I knew.......:)

I love to make vintage clothes, embroider on the machine (my hands don't want to do it anymore) and quilting(machine) and still learning..

Danuta

Reply to
Granny Waetherwax

There are a lot of instructions like this in my two 1930's sewing books. Great for slips, panties, and nightdresses, but the bra pattern would be useless for anyone with more than a AA fitting... ;)

Many garments for very little kids were fairly shapeless.

Reply to
Kate Dicey

Sounds like my bra pattern at last!! The french seem to think everyone wears a B cup and the smallest is an A. Good thing I pnly wear one on high days and Féte days.

Claire Owen

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Reply to
Claire Owen

Reply to
Melinda Meahan - take out TRAS

It's very nice to have you join us, Danuta. We are an international group, with members in the UK, France, Australia, Sweden, and the USA. (I'm sure I've missed some.) Your english is amazing, especially as you haven't used it for a while. I wish I had as good a knowledge of some other language. (I did study a smattering of spanish and french as a youth.) Please feel free to ask any question you may have and someone here will be happy to help in any way. We have all grown quite friendly over the years and chat about other topics from time to time, but our passion is sewing and fabric. Please come aboard.

I am a wife of some 40 years and a grandmother of five. Born and raised in the state of Wyoming (USA), I went to business college in Utah. There I married a Pennsylvanian. We moved back to this lush state of PA to be near his family and raise our two children. As a child at the age of 10, I joined 4H (a club in agricultural areas - Head, Hands, Health, and Heart) and learned to sew there, with a lot of help from my mother. As a young wife I sewed for my daughter and myself, then put it aside for a number of years when I worked as a secretary. When I no longer did that (I still temp from time to time) and came back to sewing, much had changed. Machines were computerized. Apparel fabric shops began disappearing. Thanks to the internet, we can still find other passionate sewists in newsgroups who share our interest and buy fabric (a sorry substitute for being able to stand in shops and feel the fabrics on the bolts).

My old Singer Touch and Sew machine broke in 1997. I've been replacing it ever since. First I bought a Babylock with a lot of stitches. Then I bought a used White serger on eBay, then a Pfaff 4852 serger and a great old Viking 6570 the same way. The local Viking dealer sold me a beautiful used Viking #1+ about 15 months ago and I am enthralled with it. There is so much to learn about it. (We love to talk about our toys.) Now I have three granddaughters to teach and sew for as well as two grandsons who like pajamas occasionally.

It will be a pleasure chatting with you.

Sharon, in Pennsylvania

Reply to
Seeker

Thank you for your kind welcom:)

I was a porcelainpainter and designer, now I'm a nailstyliste when I have the time:)

My daughter loves special clothing and I'm trying to make little corsets, she is a perfect size 6 (to skinny for my taste) so it is fun to do when it all comes together, but it has its ups and downs.....because I learn as I go..

In the Netherlands there are not much textileshops also, but you can buy every week textiles from the local market, every village has a weekmarket, and 2 times a year there is a special market not far from here where you can find about 200 stalls with a broad range of textiles.

I'm always glad they don't take creditcards:)

I collect chinese satins and silks with embroidery, it was the main reason for me to buy a combimachine, now I can determine what is embroidered and where:)

I don't think I will have ever grandchildren but I like also quilting, in the early days I made them by hand, now I'm trying to make one on the machine:)

Danuta

Reply to
Granny Waetherwax

Hello Danuta and welcome to alt.sewing :) It's always nice to find someone else who loves vintage clothing.

Phae

Reply to
Phaedrine

hi from a lurker who lives in NL I don't sew much clothes wise but hang out so as to learn as much as I can from the experts here :-) most of the time I just quilt and hang out on Rec. crafts.textiles.quilting where there are a few more people who are or live in NL

Reply to
Jessamy

Hello Phae, I love vintage clothing, can't ware it myself, need to much fabric:)

When I find the right pattern I want to make a roaring twenties dress for a matrone.......:)

Danuta

Reply to
Granny Waetherwax

Hi:)

I think I will subscribe to that ng too I think:) There are no quilt or sewgroups in dutch and at the moment ,I find it to much work to try to set up a new nl.group, I did it ones and its hard work:)

Danuta

Reply to
Granny Waetherwax

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