Friday 17 June 2016

The Ultimate Guide to Sewing and Fitting Trousers



The Ultimate Guide to Sewing and Fitting Trousers is the latest class from Sew Over It and the first online course I've been tempted to buy. At £45 (or £35 in my case as there was an introductory £10 off) it's pretty good value for money - you have access to all the online tutorials plus two downloadable patterns: the Ultimate Trousers and the new Carrie Trousers.

The class focuses on two areas: basic trouser making for beginners (where you make the easy-fit Carrie trousers), then fitting and sewing the Ultimate Trousers for those who already have some trouser making experience.


I've made a few pairs of trousers (including the Ultimate Trousers), so the latter part of the course was what I wanted to focus on. With my first pair of Ultimates the fit wasn't too bad, but there were still a couple of things that bugged me about them:

- The waistline is too low for my taste and the trousers feel like they're riding down throughout the day.

- There's a weird bagginess around the front crotch which you can see in the blog photos here. I needed to find a way of removing this excess fabric.

So I sat down to watch the class to see if I could sort these issues out. The first bit was easy - there's a whole section on making style changes to the pattern, one of which is raising the height of the waistline! I made the adjustments to my pattern pieces as instructed and raised the waist by two inches. For reference the waistband now sits level with my belly button. It's worth noting that there's also a lesson on adding a waistband to the pattern, including a downloadable pattern piece - very handy.

This just left the baggy crotch to sort out…. The 'Fitting Surgery' section of the course is made up of seven downloadable PDFs. Each part focuses on a different fit issue and includes a line drawing, a photograph on a real body and a description to help you diagnose the problem. I went through each section several times before finally realising what my problem was - thin thighs! What?! I can honestly say that was the last thing I was expecting.  

Image: Sew Over It
The adjustment was quite easy, I measured around the fullest part of my thigh, then the crotch line on the front and back pattern pieces. The difference between the two measurements was the amount I needed to remove, spread equally between the inner and outer seams of each leg piece. In my case, this was 1cm from each seam. I then sewed up the trousers, tried them on and the fit was exactly what I wanted. Yay!


They're very fitted, in fact they look more like jeggings than trousers, but that's what I was after. The higher waist is a much better fit on me and stops the trousers riding down.


think that baggy crotch has disappeared...
The fabric is a stretch polka dot denim from Classic Textiles on the Goldhawk Road which is sturdier than the previous fabric I used, but still really comfortable to wear. I think I'll wear them a lot.


Based on what I've watched of the course so far (60% of it), I'm impressed. I've managed to sort out my fit issues, I have a fab new pair of trousers and a shiny new Carrie pattern to try out soon. All in all, a good investment! Has anybody else tried this class yet? I'd love to know what you think. x




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43 comments:

  1. they look great! i am planning to take this course at some point. i wish i had snapped it up when it was on offer!

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    1. I know, I think I got a bargain there! x

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  2. Your trousers look great. I still haven't managed to get good fitting trousers but think I have a direct class coming up otherwise I might go for this online class. I have the ultimate trousers pattern but haven't tried it. I definitely don't have thin thighs!!

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    1. I actually got a better fit with this pattern and the online fitting help than I did with my made to measure trouser block! x

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  3. The trousers look great. This class is my plan for August once all prom and holiday sewing (for other peeps) is out of the way. I've not had much luck with trousers so far so hopefully the class will resolve that. Holly

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    1. I hope so Holly, the class will be great to do when you have a bit of time to yourself. Good luck! x

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  4. They look great! I've purchased the course and have just printed off the patterns to stick together. I hope to have as much success with fitting as you had - my last trousers did not go so well!
    Anneli

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    1. Ah good luck with it! I found raising the waistband really helped with my particular shape, it's just working out what works for you. x

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  5. I bought the course and totally missed the part about adjusting the pattern - don't know how I did that. I felt disappointed as that is why I bought it, to hone my skills. Thanks for a great blog post and also for pointing out what I missed!!

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    1. Oh yes, you must go back to the fitting section, I think it will be really helpful. Very pleased to have jogged your memory! x

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  6. These look great! I was kind of put off buying the course, as I already own the Ultimate Trousers pattern, and other patterns similar to the Carrie, but I guess it might be worth focusing on the fitting part. I didn't realise it was so comprehensive. Thanks for posting about this!

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    1. I kind of felt the same as I already had the Ultimate Trousers pattern too, but I'm so glad I bought it now! I'll also be trying the Carrie trousers, but probably for lounge wear as they're a bit baggier than my usual style. x

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  7. I made my second pair of Ginger jeans in exactly that spotty denim. They are the best ones in terms of fit and wear and are often admired by non sewers. Great fabric.

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    1. That's very good to know, thanks! I've worn them two days running and the stretch recovery is great. I have enough fabric left over for a skirt too, hoorah! x

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  8. What a difference that alteration made! Wow. Your new pair looks awesome, and I love the fabric choice :)

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    1. I know! I think the fabric helps a lot too, it's gorgeous! x

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  9. What a fantastic fit you've got with these Jane, they look great! Trouser fitting can often seem daunting but it just requires that bit of extra time and effort and as you so well demonstrate it then pays off.

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    1. Thanks Wendy! I agree, trouser fitting can seem daunting, it really helps recognising what adjustments to make too. For me that's been the real breakthrough. x

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  10. They are great & you look amazing in them. I am yet to make trousers as there seem to be so many potential fit issues! But you have inspired me to check out this class and the Carrie style looks a good starting pair.

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    1. I think the Carrie trousers would be a great starting point! x

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  11. These look fantastic! I've got the course but have only watched a few lessons so far. I'm impressed with what I've seen though!
    I'm so glad you've been able to perfect the fit!

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    1. Thanks Vicki! They turned out better than I was expecting, the course was definitely money well spent! x

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  12. Hi Jane. I have this issue as well but am really confused by the adjustment. The example talks very big numbers. Did you reduce your measurement? It also talks about adding additional paper. Can you talk me through your calculations as another example. They look great. I bought the tutorial with the introductory offer. Also have navy with white spots (after I make yet another practice pair from an old duvet cover)

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    1. Hi Sharon, are you talking about the same adjustment? Thin thighs in the Fitting Surgery section? Because there's no mention of adding additional paper. What you're doing is taking width off the leg pieces. My calculations were as follows: thigh measurement (incl ease) 57cms, measurement of crotch line on front and back pattern pieces (minus S/A) 61cms. This needs to be divided in four, which in my case was 1cm. So I had to remove 1cm from the inner and outer seams of each leg piece, which doesn't amount to big numbers at all. Start at the crotch line for the inner seam and blend down to 1cm at the knee line. Start at mid thigh for the outer seam and blend down to 1cm at the knee line. It's all explained clearly in the PDF. I'd maybe read through all the different fitting issues as it sounds like you're thinking of a different one. Good luck with it! x

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    2. To be absolutely clear, the DIFFERENCE between the two thigh measurements, (which in my case was 4cms) needs to be divided by four, which gave me the measurement of 1cm.

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    3. Aha. Maybe I need to look at those PDF files. I downloaded the baggy crotch one, but will have a look at the others. It just has the same ruffled bit like yours. And actually my measurements are similar so I'll have a look at that one later. I'm trying to get the right pattern size as needing to grade it anyway :)

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  13. Hi Jane! Your trousers look fabulous! I too bought the course at £35 and have been working through making the Carrie trousers. I'm really enjoying the class and have nearly finished my trousers. Since the Carries are quite simple, the lessons are quite short (but still show what you need to see and know), so it's really good to know the Ultimate Trousers lessons are much more detailed, as those are the ones I really want to make! Thanks for the extra inspiration! :-D

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    1. Hi, yes I found the styling lessons really helpful (raising waistline, tapering legs, adding a waistband etc) as well as the fitting PDFs. Another good tip in the class was to mark your darts on your fabric, then make up a toile WITHOUT sewing the darts up. The darts can then be more accurately fitted to your body (or left out altogether in some cases). So glad I inspired you! x

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  14. Your trousers look really great. Nice fit!
    I always had problems crafting tightly fitting pants for myself, because I don't exactly fit the standard type. Perhaps this on-line course is exactly what I need :)

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    1. I think it's definitely worth a try! And thank you! x

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  15. I am not far away with trousers. I used Gerties Vintage casual book to fathom out my fit issues which were mainly solved by shortening the body through the crotch line and tapering in the waist. They look fab, now you can call them ultimate trousers. Jo xx

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    1. Yay! It's fab when you work out how to fix it isn't it?! x

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  16. Those trousers look terrific - so much better than the other ones! You could do worse than having thin thighs :-)

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    1. Thank you, definitely better than the other ones! And having apparent thin thighs is no hardship! x

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  17. This is filling me with optimism! I bought the class as I had the ultimate trousers as part of a pattern bundle last year and to say they didn't turn out too well is polite! I'd been hoping to find a weekend to get down to London and do the course but saw the new online class and bought that instead. I've been working through the online classes for the Carrie trousers while I wait for my fabric to arrive and I'm impressed with their clarity so I'm hoping for good things when I get to the ultimate trousers. Here's hoping I get a fit anything like as good as yours!

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    1. Ah so pleased Rebecca! I hope so too, best of luck with it. x

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  18. Wow! Those trousers look great! You have certainly resolved any and all issues you may have had with them.

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  19. What a great feeling to fix a mind boggling fit issue! So difficult to diagnose our own fit issues! These trousers look great on you and I bet you get some fab wear out of these beauties!!!

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  20. Such an improvement - high five! I've bought this class too but have yet to do anything with it.... I might try to print out the patterns at work tomorrow - thanks for the inspiration!

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  21. They are just perfect. I would wear those every day! Might just have to go out and get myself some polkadot denim.

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  22. really good - thanks for sharing your views regarding the online class. I’ve done one with another provider regarding fitting but although the content seemed good it really didn’t help me fit my garments any better! Probably a specific pattern fit online class would be better.

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