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.
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| 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.
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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| I think that baggy crotch has disappeared... |
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
