Theresa over at Runamuck Weaving is amazing. Very skilled, very generous with her time, very encouraging, very rational. She has encouraged me every step of the way with my pants fail. One of her appropriate thoughts (my paraphrase) is, “Hey, it’s just fabric. If in the end it doesn’t work, you can always weave more.” That’s the approach I generally take with my weaving, but for some reason had totally lost with these pants.
Even with Theresa, I had to just let things sit for a while; I was too disheartened to proceed immediately. But I’m moving forward. I spent a huge amount of hours taking the awful pants apart. Very carefully, since the handwoven fabric is, well, handwoven, and not as ‘stable’ as commercial fabric. Regardless of whether I decided to try making the pants again myself or take them to a tailor, the failed pair needed to come apart.
Then I took the new pants I’d bought and followed some online advice on how to make a pattern from them. At Theresa’s suggestion I used pellon 830 to make the pattern.
The next step was to cut the pattern out of muslin and see how it fit.
I don’t have the waistband sewn on here, but it’s sooooo clear that these pants are an infinitely better fit than the store bought pattern.
I know I need to make some adjustments. The waist needs to be a little wider than my current pattern, and probably the legs above the knees, too, to allow for plenty of movement. Do I need to modify the crotch length?
With handwoven fabric I sure don’t want lots of stress on the seams every time I sit down. But I am SOOOOO encouraged.
Right now I need to consult with Theresa some more before I attempt to modify my pattern, and I’ve used all my muslin, so I need to put away the sewing machine for a few days and get myself to Joann’s, but I’m confident I can make this work.
What a GREAT step forward you have taken!!!
Hopefully it’s not one step forward and two steps back, Alma. 🙂
Peg, that pesky crotch thing, measure, adding length doesn’t always work, sometimes you have to cut the pieces a bit larger and scoop out more. In other words the U needs to be wider back to front not deeper, waist to floor. Clear as mud no doubt. Looks like you’ve got a nice start on the muslin remake! Handwoven pants 2.0! 🙂
Actually, Theresa, your answer is totally clear to me, and makes sense, too! I didn’t actually want the crotch closer to my knees, just roomier. THANK YOU!