Fitting Pants: How to Get Started

If you’ve completely given up on sewing pants, you can be sure you’re not alone. Fitting pants is not easy, fast or fun for most of us, but just in case you want to give it another go, I’ve got a series of videos lined up that will help you understand how to go about fitting pants and hopefully eliminate some of the confusion on your next attempt.

Today we’re going to kick off the video series with some basics so you understand why pants are so difficult to fit and what you can do to make the pant fitting process go a bit more smoothly.

Let’s start with why pants are so difficult to fit. In order to fit, pants must address the crotch length, the crotch depth and the crotch shape as well as the distribution of the measurement around the waist, hip and thighs. The fit of pants are complicated even further by the shape of the legs, the posture of the person wearing them and the dynamic movements our body can make when we’re walking or sitting. We’re asking a lot of the fabric to transition smoothly through all these areas of the body as it moves. However, it is possible to make pants fit, but it will take some work and probably a few trade offs for most of us.

Here's a summary of four things you can do to make the fitting process easier:

1. Choose the Appropriate Pattern Size (I give you some pointers to help you do this.)

2. Draw in the Horizontal and Vertical Balance Lines on the Pattern (you'll learn why it's important for fit assessment.)

3. Measure the Pattern (I tell you where.)

4. Transfer the Horizontal and Vertical Balance Lines to the Muslin Sample (I show you what that looks like)

Here are the resources I mentioned in the video:

The Perfect Fit Guide

The Complete Photo Guide to Perfect Fitting

Sarah Veblen's Pant Class on Pattern Review

Enjoy!

All My Best,
Alexandra