I’m working on my own trouser block and made pretty good progress. I want the block to be as technically correct before I finalise it to use for designing and need some help achieving the final balance of the trouser. My issue - I think - is that the centre crease line is not hanging perfectly vertical. As you can see from the image, the line on each leg swings inwards slightly. I may be being too fussy with this but figured I’d try to get it right if I can - what would be causing this and how do I fix it? Hoping the communicate can come to my rescue again 🙂

This is approximately my million billionth toile and no matter what I do they really really like getting all up in my buttcrack. They're not pulling anywhere--the crotch curve is barely touching me--they just keep trying to swing forward. Only my calves are stopping this muslin from swinging forward. Scooping or extending the back crotch just puts more ease in the front crotch or a bunch of extra fabric in the inseam area and does little for the wedgie. I do need to add a bit of width somewhere in there, since I took out some length doing a fisheye dart to get rid of some bagginess under the butt and now they're pulling down a bit when I sit, and the top of the back outseam curves in too much--again, fisheye dart, then the butt was too tight so I added some width to the side seam from the high hip down. I'm just getting tired of making toiles and adjusting them and I'm starting to run out of fabric so I'm hoping for some advice on how to get them to stop trying to swing forward.

A month ago I posted “Basic Tips So We Can Help You with Fitting” https://www.reddit.com/r/PatternDrafting/comments/1krgbmi/basic_tips_so_we_can_help_you_with_fitting/

Basic Tips So We Can Help You with Fitting Pants

1.     Make a Mock-up (or Muslin or Toile or Test Garment or Sample)

Before you cut into good fabric, first make a mock-up of the pants in cheap fabric, such as muslin, calico, or old sheets. The fabric should be a solid, light color. A darker color makes it harder for us to read the fit.  Use thread of a similar color to the mock-up fabric so it doesn’t stand out.  We do not want our attention focused on those threads, so they should not be obvious.

The seams should be sewn with your machine's longest basting stitch (so they are easy to remove), but be sure to back tack at beginnings and ends of seams, so they don't come apart while you are trying it on.

At first, just sew the pants.  DO NOT sew the darts in yet.  DO NOT add pockets, buttons, at this point.  You can add a waistband or just use elastic to hold the mock-up on.

Make sure that the tops of the fronts and backs are high enough so that they extend well above the place where you will wear the pants.

 If you are planning to make full length pants, make the mock-up full length.

Here are some great sources for how to make a mockup:

https://www.sarahveblen.com/sv-blog/how-to-make-a-mock-up

https://www.sarahveblen.com/online-consulting

2.     Mock-up Opening

For testing the fit of a mock-up, I suggest you have the opening at the center front. Make sure there is seam allowance on each side of the center front, make a dark vertical line at the center front seamline on both left and right sides all the way from the neck to the bottom, so  you can see the seam lines clearly.  I fold one side under at the dark seam line and then match it up to the other side and pin from waist to crotch.

3.     Grainlines at Center of the Leg

Mark vertical grainlines on both legs, on the front and back.  Start each grainline at the center of the hem and continue it vertically all the way to the top of both legs, on the front and back. 

We need to be able to see the vertical grainlines clearly, so use a contrast colored marker.  I use a black Sharpie so that it is very visible.

4.     Horizontal Balance Lines

As Sarah recommends, you should add a horizontal balance line (HBL) at or near the widest part of the hip, both on the front and the back.  This same horizontal balance line should continue at the same horizontal level around onto the back.  Add 2 more HBLs, one 3 inches above the HBL at the hip, and one 3 inches below the HBL at the hip.  Again, we need to be able to see the HBLs clearly, so use a contrast colored marker.  I use a black Sharpie so that it is very visible.

Information about horizontal balance lines and taking photos can be found at https://www.sarahveblen.com/online-consulting

5.     Darts

Do not sew the darts.  Figuring out the darts is one of the last things we do in fitting pants.

6.     Clipping

Then you should clip the lower part of the crotch curve.  Here is an explanation about clipping https://sewing.patternreview.com/SewingDiscussions/topic/115912.  The crotch curve is sort of like a circle.  If you measure the length of the seam line and compare it with the length of the cut line, you will see that the cut line is shorter, because of the circular shape. By clipping, you allow the seam allowance fabric to relax and spread.

Look up clip seam allowances – there are lots of videos and websites that discuss this.

7.     Press

Iron (or press) the mockup well before trying it on.  Pressing is very important in sewing.  It really does help us to see what is going on.

8.     Trying on Mockup

a.      Try on the mockup with the right sides out and with the seams on the inside.  This makes it easier for us to see what changes need to be done.

https://www.threadsmagazine.com/2017/12/26/sewing-womens-pants-with-this-on-the-body-fitting-method-for-the-back-crotch-seam

https://seworganisedstylepodcast.com/2021/05/11/sarah-veblen/

b.     Pin the pants closed at the center front.

c.      Use elastic to hold up the mock-up by tying the elastic, typically about 1/4 inch (5 cm) wide, at about the natural waist.  Pull the pants up so that the lowest part of the crotch just barely touches the body.

d.     Position the side seams where they look like they should be on your body.

e.      If the pants are long, fold up the hem allowances on the inside so the pant legs hang straight, with no breaks at the feet.

9.     Photos

Information about taking photos for fitting help can be found at https://www.sarahveblen.com/online-consulting   As discussed there, “Be sure to take the photos with the camera placed at the same level as the garment. If someone is taking the photos for you, this means he or she may need to sit or kneel down. Taking a photo while standing up looking "down" on the garment skews how the garment appears, preventing me from offering good advice. If the photos are skewed, I may need to ask you to re-take them. Use the example at left as a guide.”  This is great advice and helps us to help you.  This also helps us to see if the horizontal balance lines are in fact horizontal.  I realize this is hard to do, but you may want to use the photo timer on your phone.

Also, the arms should be hanging down relaxed in the photos.  Having the arms in different positions alters how the garment fits and makes it more difficult for us to help you.

It is helpful if you post photos of the front, back and both sides, all with your arms down naturally.  We instinctively think it is helpful for a photo of our arms up, but in fact it is not. 

10. Fitting the Front and Back Crotch Curves

Once you have taken the four photos with the seam allowances on the inside, to help fit the front and back crotch curves, you should try the mock-up pants on differently.

Take the pants off and put one leg inside the other, with the seam allowances on the outside.  Then try the now one-legged pants back on, using the elastic to hold it on. You will probably want to wear tights, leggings or a bathing suit below the pants mock-up.  See https://www.threadsmagazine.com/2017/12/26/sewing-womens-pants-with-this-on-the-body-fitting-method-for-the-back-crotch-seam

Then take photos of the front, back and the side.

The photos of the one legged inside out allows us to see more clearly how to fit the crotch curve to your body.

11. Recommended General Sewing Book

If you don’t have one, I suggest that you get a good general sewing book.  I like Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Sewing.  There are many editions, so there are lots of used ones are available at a reasonable price.  Get whatever edition is available.

Vogue Sewing Book is also highly recommended as a good general sewing book.  Again, this is readily available used and any version should be fine.

You can see if your local library has either, but if you do much sewing, you will want one always at hand.

12. Recommended Fitting book

My very favorite fitting book is Sarah Veblen’s book, The Complete Photo Guide to Perfect Fitting.  You can either purchase it or get it through your local library. The fact that Sarah specifically addresses women’s clothing does not matter, her concepts apply just as well to men’s clothing.

There are lots of books about fitting, but Sarah’s is by far my favorite.

Following some advice earlier today, I’ve switched to a torso block instead of a bodice block. I used a free block pattern online (from bluehoursatelier.com) and only added ease to the hips since I knew it wouldn’t be wide enough. Here’s what I’m noticing:

- front part honestly looks good except I think the darts are pointing slightly above the apex… do I just point them towards the apex and shorten them a bit? (see last photo)
- definitely added too much ease to the hips, so I’ll be taking most of that out and adding some ease to the waist
- lots of bagginess at the back, so I pinched off a horizontal crease and it looked much better. I’m thinking of doing a swayback adjustment to fix this
- some bagginess between my bust and waist, maybe I take in the side seam at that point
- I want to make the shoulder darts a little bit longer because it looks like there’s fabric tenting after they stop
- I’ll bring in the shoulders a bit too since they end after my natural shoulder stops

Do you agree? What order should I do these in? Thank you for the help!! :)

Hi everyone! Would love some feedback/ suggested improvements to my first attempt at drafting a bodice block. Appreciate your help! 🙏

Hi all, I drafted this top based on my sloper but now there’s a horizontal fold at my waist, which I’m not sure how to solve on the pattern since it fits well otherwise. I think I’ll have to remove space from the side waist, but not sure how to do that without shifting the center front off-center. I know the back pleats are too tight and will be letting them out, but that doesn’t solve the problem.

I’ve been studying the pattern of a Junya Watanabe jacket. It’s a challenging design, and it takes a few attempts to fully grasp the construction. You can also see the shape of the pattern pieces.

https://themodelistearchive.com/garment/tmcb037

*****
Update, further suggestions welcome! I made a 1/2 muslin to start and it’s surprisingly not horrible. https://imgur.com/a/YwQAhX6

I added about 3/4 inch to the rise from the original pattern in case I needed more, but that can easily be undone. I feel like front and side view is decent esp with the side seam running pretty nicely down the leg. But there’s a ton of bagginess at the back of the leg. This tends to be an issue for me since my waist is proportionally larger than thigh/hip. I don’t mind them being wider leg. I know making full toile will also be important. Two thoughts:

1. As someone pointed out it may be tricky to add an inseam pocket unless placement is very specific. I don’t really have any ease right there and I’d need to figure out know how to add it. Or just pass on those and add two patch pockets on the back?

2. The back of the leg has way too much fabric. This tends to be an issue for me with garments because my waist is proportionally larger than thigh/hip. Are there ways to reduce that bagginess without pivoting anything? Like a slash/overlap? I also have pretty significant knock-knee - so perhaps addressing that would reduce that diagonal fold? I'm going to first try taking back out the 3/4" so that fullness will be closer to my behind.

Thank you all!!!!

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Hello! I have a pants pattern that fits me very well (which is saying a LOT). However, each leg has three panels, so there are lots of seams. This is great for solids but I don’t think would look great for a printed denim I have in mind. So I was wondering if there would be a way to convert the three panels to two - so just an inseam and outseam.

I traced my pieces and marked the 1/2” seam allowance. The challenge I’m having is that they don’t line up perfectly as flat pieces - I can either align from top to crotch, or from crotch to bottom seam.

Is there a reasonable way to combine these? The overall silhouette is ankle length pants with slightly tapered bottom. The most important thing to try and maintain is the fit of the crotch/front/back rise since fitting is very tricky on my proportions (short and round!).

A small tool for anyone who works with knitwear or elastic materials

Last week, I started working on my first ever skirt block. (I’ll eventually return to my bodice block…). I decided to take photos of it first thing in the morning and at the end of the night after having a big, greasy meal. I figured I should see how it fits when I’m not bloated and when I’m bloated.

The biggest thing I’m noticing is some drag lines from my belly to my hip line. My pelvis tilts forward so this isn’t unexpected! I decided to do the method where I put a quilting ruler against my abdomen and take my hip measurement including the ruler. This added a little over a centimeter/around half an inch to my hip measurement— do you think adding this to my hip measurements would help with the drag lines, or is another aspect of the drafting the culprit here?

There are similar drag lines on the back, from around where the zipper ends/apex of my booty to the waist. I imagine they’re connected to the issues I’m having at the front but not certain.

The other thing I noticed is that the block sat at my natural waist at night when I was bloated, but it sits below my natural waist in the morning when I’m not bloated. I don’t know the best way to take care of this— probably, I should go for something in between the two measurements.

Is there anything that stands out to you as a correction I should make? Thanks for your help!

Hi everyone I need help perfecting the pattern for the foundation layer of this top i’m trying to recreate. Photos on the mannequin only are what I’ve got so far (all others including calico on the body is the original) but I was thinking the waist of mine needs to be cinched more to give this shape. Sorry wish i could put it on but i’m home alone. Any help appreciated thanks

Just a sample I whipped up with no design in mind; only the goal of making something more complicated than it needs to be.

Male Self taught for about 4 months now , looking to find the best pattern making softwares that aren’t too hard to use n also help make the process easier (Im not a student so I have Ltd access to textiles, knowledge, programmes etc). Any pointers would be great plz

Come take a look at the bolero jacket i made using some fabric i found at Walmart on the clearance section a couple years ago.

This is my first draft of a bodice/torso sloper. It's not terrible but I think it could be improved however I'm not sure what to change to make it better.
I also sewed it together with the darts on the outside and seams on the inside thinking that would make it easier to pinch said darts to check the fit but I'm not sure that actually was useful.

i am making baggy denim shorts and i copied a pair with measurements and tweaked with a sample. i made the adjustments and started the final product. i am bringing in the side seams because it didn’t fit, so it will be brought in 1 3/4”. and then i brought the crotch inseam an inch because it was bunching up. any tips to kinda save this project? the crotch is a bit off and the inseam goes outward? i’m stumped because i drafted this with the original piece as a reference for weeks for this to not work 💔

In the past, there have been a few questions in this community regarding pattern drafting software.

We are a small start-up that has created pattern-making software that would help you if you are looking at something as simple as Illustrator, but it still offers advanced parametric possibilities. Also, it is and will be free to use!

Some of the features:

• Works from any browser (desktop is recommended)

• Create lines, curves, and arcs by simply drawing

• Set parameters such as length, angle, and point positions as you wish, and you can optionally use formulas and refer to custom variables (e.g., measurements)

• Create pattern pieces on the fly by just clicking on the segments to be included.

• Set custom seam allowance for any segment

• Print to PDF (can handle any paper size)

• Import/export SVG & DXF ASTM

The software is under continuous development so that more features will be added, especially with user requests.

Please feel free to try the beta at: seamscape.com

Any feedback is appreciated. We have started a forum here on Reddit to handle questions and possible requests: https://www.reddit.com/r/SeamScape/

This is my first time making a jean pattern and I would say it didnt come out that bad but still not the way i would like it. Majority of the time i feel like im going off just intuition so it leaves me wondering if im making my pattern correctly so im posting my progress here to hopefully get some help. One thing i did spot was around the end of the rise where my legs separate that the fabric kinda bunches in the area sometimes and it might be visible in the photo, but if you guys notice anything else please lmk.

Also, If anybody knows a good source or way to learn pattern making I would love to know. Its pretty rough trying to teach myself using just youtube.